The United States is made up of 50 states, and each has its own capital. Often it is not the state’s largest city: the capital of New York is not the famous metropolis of the same name but quiet Albany; the capital of California is neither Los Angeles nor San Francisco but Sacramento. This page gives the full list of all 50 state → capital pairs in alphabetical order, together with the official state seal of each state and a short note.
All 50 states and their capitals
| State | Capital | Seal |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Montgomery |  |
| Alaska | Juneau |  |
| Arizona | Phoenix |  |
| Arkansas | Little Rock |  |
| California | Sacramento |  |
| Colorado | Denver |  |
| Connecticut | Hartford |  |
| Delaware | Dover |  |
| Florida | Tallahassee |  |
| Georgia | Atlanta |  |
| Hawaii | Honolulu |  |
| Idaho | Boise |  |
| Illinois | Springfield |  |
| Indiana | Indianapolis |  |
| Iowa | Des Moines |  |
| Kansas | Topeka |  |
| Kentucky | Frankfort |  |
| Louisiana | Baton Rouge |  |
| Maine | Augusta |  |
| Maryland | Annapolis |  |
| Massachusetts | Boston |  |
| Michigan | Lansing |  |
| Minnesota | Saint Paul |  |
| Mississippi | Jackson |  |
| Missouri | Jefferson City |  |
| Montana | Helena |  |
| Nebraska | Lincoln |  |
| Nevada | Carson City |  |
| New Hampshire | Concord |  |
| New Jersey | Trenton |  |
| New Mexico | Santa Fe |  |
| New York | Albany |  |
| North Carolina | Raleigh |  |
| North Dakota | Bismarck |  |
| Ohio | Columbus |  |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City |  |
| Oregon | Salem |  |
| Pennsylvania | Harrisburg |  |
| Rhode Island | Providence |  |
| South Carolina | Columbia |  |
| South Dakota | Pierre |  |
| Tennessee | Nashville |  |
| Texas | Austin |  |
| Utah | Salt Lake City |  |
| Vermont | Montpelier |  |
| Virginia | Richmond |  |
| Washington | Olympia |  |
| West Virginia | Charleston |  |
| Wisconsin | Madison |  |
| Wyoming | Cheyenne |  |
Alabama
Capital: Montgomery
The Deep South, a centre of the 1950s–60s civil rights movement. The Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. began here in 1955.
Alaska
Capital: Juneau
The largest state by area, bought from the Russian Empire in 1867 for $7.2 million. The capital, Juneau, can be reached only by plane or ferry — there is no road to it by land.
Arizona
Capital: Phoenix
The Sonoran Desert and the Grand Canyon. The 48th state to join the Union (1912); Phoenix is consistently among the five largest cities in the USA.
Arkansas
Capital: Little Rock
A Southern state, known for the 1957 “Little Rock Nine” — the desegregation of Central High School under the protection of federal troops.
California
Capital: Sacramento
The third-largest state by area and the most populous. The country’s leader in technology (Silicon Valley), film (Hollywood) and agriculture.
Colorado
Capital: Denver
The heart of the Rocky Mountains. Denver is known as the “Mile-High City” — it sits exactly one mile (1,609 m) above sea level.
Connecticut
Capital: Hartford
One of the thirteen original states. Hartford was historically the insurance capital of the USA.
Delaware
Capital: Dover
The first state to ratify the US Constitution (7 December 1787) — hence its nickname “The First State”. Small in area, but a world capital of corporate law.
Florida
Capital: Tallahassee
The southernmost state of the contiguous USA, the “Sunshine State”. The spaceport at Cape Canaveral was the launch site of the Apollo missions and today’s SpaceX flights.
Georgia
Capital: Atlanta
The heart of the Deep South. Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympics and remains the headquarters of CNN and Coca-Cola.
Hawaii
Capital: Honolulu
The only island state, admitted in 1959. The attack on Pearl Harbor near Honolulu on 7 December 1941 brought the USA into World War II.
Idaho
Capital: Boise
Mountains, forests and famous potatoes. Boise is the largest city between Seattle and Salt Lake City.
Illinois
Capital: Springfield
Abraham Lincoln’s family lived in Springfield, where his home is now a museum. The state’s largest city is Chicago, on Lake Michigan.
Indiana
Capital: Indianapolis
The heart of the Midwest. The Indianapolis 500 is one of the world’s most famous motor races, held every year since 1911.
Iowa
Capital: Des Moines
The Corn Belt. The Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the presidential primaries, set the tone for the whole campaign.
Kansas
Capital: Topeka
The geographic centre of the contiguous USA. The 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, ruled in a case from Topeka, banned segregation in schools.
Kentucky
Capital: Frankfort
The home of bourbon whiskey and the Kentucky Derby horse race, on the border of the South and the Midwest.
Louisiana
Capital: Baton Rouge
Creole and Cajun culture, the mouth of the Mississippi, New Orleans and the Mardi Gras carnival. A former French territory, bought from Napoleon in 1803.
Maine
Capital: Augusta
The northeasternmost state of the mainland. The Atlantic coast, lobster, lighthouses and deep forests.
Maryland
Capital: Annapolis
The US Naval Academy is based in Annapolis. The crab cake and Chesapeake Bay are the state’s main emblems.
Massachusetts
Capital: Boston
The landing place of the Pilgrims in 1620 and of the “Boston Tea Party” in 1773. Harvard and MIT are the heart of the American academic tradition.
Michigan
Capital: Lansing
Two peninsulas between the Great Lakes. Detroit is the birthplace of Ford, GM, Chrysler and the Motown record label.
Minnesota
Capital: Saint Paul
The “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. One of the country’s coldest states, historically settled by people from Scandinavia.
Mississippi
Capital: Jackson
The Deep South, at the mouth of the river of the same name. The Delta blues and the literature of William Faulkner were born here.
Missouri
Capital: Jefferson City
The “Gateway to the West”: the giant Gateway Arch in St. Louis is a monument to American expansion. The Missouri and Mississippi rivers meet in the state.
Montana
Capital: Helena
“Big Sky Country”. The Rocky Mountains and endless prairies; the fourth-largest state by area, but one of the least densely populated.
Nebraska
Capital: Lincoln
The heart of the prairies: cornfields and beef. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is headquartered in Omaha, the state’s largest city.
Nevada
Capital: Carson City
Desert and Las Vegas. The first state to legalize gambling, in 1931, which made it the global capital of casinos.
New Hampshire
Capital: Concord
A mountainous state with the motto “Live Free or Die”. The first in the country to vote in the presidential primaries — it sets the pace of the election cycle.
New Jersey
Capital: Trenton
The most densely populated state. The “Garden State”, with Atlantic beaches and the suburbs of New York and Philadelphia.
New Mexico
Capital: Santa Fe
A blend of Native American (Pueblo), Spanish and Anglo-American cultures. Santa Fe is the oldest state capital in the USA (founded in 1610).
New York
Capital: Albany
Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, Broadway and Wall Street. The state capital is Albany, not the city of New York of the same name — a frequent source of confusion for tourists.
North Carolina
Capital: Raleigh
On 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers made the first controlled flight. Tobacco and the Research Triangle are emblems of the modern state.
North Dakota
Capital: Bismarck
Prairies and the shale-oil boom of the Bakken formation. The Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered here in 1804–1805.
Ohio
Capital: Columbus
A “president-maker” state: seven occupants of the White House were born in Ohio. The aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers, also grew up here.
Oklahoma
Capital: Oklahoma City
A former “Indian Territory”, the destination of the “Trail of Tears” — the forced removal of Native tribes. Oil derricks and cowboy culture are the face of the modern state.
Oregon
Capital: Salem
The Pacific Northwest: rainforests, mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The end point of the historic 19th-century Oregon Trail of settlers.
Pennsylvania
Capital: Harrisburg
In Philadelphia the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the US Constitution in 1787. The Appalachians and Pittsburgh’s former steel mills are the state’s other face.
Rhode Island
Capital: Providence
The smallest state by area. Its founder, Roger Williams, made it the cradle of religious freedom in 17th-century America.
South Carolina
Capital: Columbia
At Fort Sumter near Charleston, on 12 April 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
South Dakota
Capital: Pierre
Mount Rushmore, with the faces of four presidents — Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt — is the main tourist attraction. The land of the Sioux-Lakota.
Tennessee
Capital: Nashville
Nashville is the capital of country music; Memphis is the home of the blues and of Elvis Presley’s residence (Graceland).
Texas
Capital: Austin
The second-largest state both by area and by population. Oil, the legacy of the Mexican-American War, cowboy culture and the tech boom of modern Austin.
Utah
Capital: Salt Lake City
The Great Salt Lake and the centre of the Church of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Vermont
Capital: Montpelier
The Green Mountains, maple syrup and small dairy farms. Montpelier is the least populous state capital in the USA (about 8,000 people).
Virginia
Capital: Richmond
The “Mother of Presidents”: eight occupants of the White House were born in Virginia. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Washington
Capital: Olympia
The Pacific Northwest. The Seattle area is home to the headquarters of Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing and Starbucks.
West Virginia
Capital: Charleston
Mountains and coal. In 1863 it split from Virginia, refusing to support the Confederacy — the only state born out of the Civil War.
Wisconsin
Capital: Madison
“America’s Dairyland” — butter, cheese, milk. To the north lie the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.
Wyoming
Capital: Cheyenne
Home to Yellowstone — the world’s first national park (1872). The least populous state, and the first to give women the right to vote, in 1869.