Alaska is the largest U.S. state by land area with 570,641 square miles or 1,477,953 square kilometers. That is not the only record the state is holding. It also holds the title of largest state by water area and total area.
Known for its world-class fishing and seafood, the State of Alaska occupies a 16.15% of the land area of the United States of America. The U.S. is sitting on 3,531,905 sq mi of land area.
To know how large The Last Frontier state’s land area is, the state is more than twice the size of Texas, the second U.S. state by land area which sits on 261,232 sq mi.
If that isn’t enough to make you look amazed at how large Alaska is, take a look at the size of Rhode Island which is 1,034 sq mi in comparison with Alaska. More than 551 land area of Rhode Island.
The State of California (CA) is the third largest with 155,779 sq mi or 403,466 sq.km. The Golden State has the highest number of expensive cities to buy property in the U.S. and is also the most populated state.
Away from CA, let’s move to a state that is known for its abundant natural mineral resources, Montana is the fourth largest with 145,546 sq mi or 376,962 sq.km. But in terms of population, the State of Montana is 44th and 20th on the happiest state ranking list.
New Mexico with 121,298 sq mi of land area is the fourth in the U.S. 99.75% of New Mexico’s total area is land unlike state like Michigan where land area takes only 58.46% while water area takes the rest.
Smallest States in the U.S. by Land Area
Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by land area followed by Delaware with 1,949 sq mi; Connecticut is the third smallest, it sits on 4,842 sq mi of land. Hawaii whose 41.24% of its total area is covered with water is the fourth smallest by land area with 6,423 sq mi while New Jersey is the fifth with 7,354 sq mi.
The land area includes the desert, all other water (intermittent, glacier, and marsh/swamp) except perennial waters is included in the U.S. land area.
According to U.S. Census Bureau, the table below shows the ranking of U.S. states, including the District of Columbia and territories by their land area:
| Rank | State | Land Area |
| 1 | Alaska | 570,641 sq mi 1,477,953 sq km |
| 2 | Texas | 261,232 sq mi 676,587 sq km |
| 3 | California | 155,779 sq mi 403,466 sq km |
| 4 | Montana | 145,546 sq mi 376,962 sq km |
| 5 | New Mexico | 121,298 sq mi 314,161 sq km |
| 6 | Arizona | 113,594 sq mi 294,207 sq km |
| 7 | Nevada | 109,781 sq mi 284,332 sq km |
| 8 | Colorado | 103,642 sq mi 268,431 sq km |
| 9 | Wyoming | 97,093 sq mi 251,470 sq km |
| 10 | Oregon | 95,988 sq mi 248,608 sq km |
| 11 | Idaho | 82,643 sq mi 214,045 sq km |
| 12 | Utah | 82,170 sq mi 212,818 sq km |
| 13 | Kansas | 81,759 sq mi 211,754 sq km |
| 14 | Minnesota | 79,627 sq mi 206,232 sq km |
| 15 | Nebraska | 76,824 sq mi 198,974 sq km |
| 16 | South Dakota | 75,811 sq mi 196,350 sq km |
| 17 | North Dakota | 69,001 sq mi 178,711 sq km |
| 18 | Missouri | 68,742 sq mi 178,040 sq km |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 68,595 sq mi 177,660 sq km |
| 20 | Washington | 66,456 sq mi 172,119 sq km |
| 21 | Georgia | 57,513 sq mi 148,959 sq km |
| 22 | Michigan | 56,539 sq mi 146,435 sq km |
| 23 | Iowa | 55,857 sq mi 144,669 sq km |
| 24 | Illinois | 55,519 sq mi 143,793 sq km |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 54,158 sq mi 140,268 sq km |
| 26 | Florida | 53,625 sq mi 138,887 sq km |
| 27 | Arkansas | 52,035 sq mi 134,771 sq km |
| 28 | Alabama | 50,645 sq mi 131,171 sq km |
| 29 | North Carolina | 48,618 sq mi 125,920 sq km |
| 30 | New York | 47,126 sq mi 122,057 sq km |
| 31 | Mississippi | 46,923 sq mi 121,531 sq km |
| 32 | Pennsylvania | 44,743 sq mi 115,883 sq km |
| 33 | Louisiana | 43,204 sq mi 111,898 sq km |
| 34 | Tennessee | 41,235 sq mi 106,798 sq km |
| 35 | Ohio | 40,861 sq mi 105,829 sq km |
| 36 | Virginia | 39,490 sq mi 102,279 sq km |
| 37 | Kentucky | 39,486 sq mi 102,269 sq km |
| 38 | Indiana | 35,826 sq mi 92,789 sq km |
| 39 | Maine | 30,843 sq mi 79,883 sq km |
| 40 | South Carolina | 30,061 sq mi 77,857 sq km |
| 41 | West Virginia | 24,038 sq mi 62,259 sq km |
| 42 | Maryland | 9,707 sq mi 25,142 sq km |
| 43 | Vermont | 9,217 sq mi 23,871 sq km |
| 44 | New Hampshire | 8,953 sq mi 23,187 sq km |
| 45 | Massachusetts | 7,800 sq mi 20,202 sq km |
| 46 | New Jersey | 7,354 sq mi 19,047 sq km |
| 47 | Hawaii | 6,423 sq mi 16,635 sq km |
| 48 | Connecticut | 4,842 sq mi 12,542 sq km |
| 49 | Delaware | 1,949 sq mi 5,047 sq km |
| 50 | Rhode Island | 1,034 sq mi 2,678 sq km |
| District/Territories | ||
| Puerto Rico | 3,424 sq mi 8,868 sq km | |
| Island Areas | 603 sq mi 1,562 sq km | |
| Guam | 210 sq mi 543 sq km | |
| Northern Mariana | 182 sq mi 472 sq km | |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 134 sq mi 348 sq km | |
| American Samoa | 76 sq mi 198 sq km | |
| District of Columbia | 61 sq mi 158 sq km | |
| TOTAL | 3,531,905 sq mi 9,147,593 sq km |
Conclusion:
The data obtained from the Census Bureau of the U.S. shows that 93.024% of the area of the U.S. is land while water area takes 6.97%.
Ranking the 50 states based on land area, Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, and New Mexico are the top five largest while Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, and New Jersey are the smallest in that order.
