United States is a large country in terms of land size, but population density is high in only a few states. There are 16 “ghost” states which have fewer residents than does the small island of Manhattan. The entire state of Wyoming has a total population of 532,000 people. Vermont has 621,000, North Dakota has 641,000, and Alaska has 686,000 residents. These states have the same number of senators as California (36.7 million), Texas (24.3 million), and New York (19.5 million) do. There are only 10 states that are more populous than New York City is. Here are the 2009 populations of each state in America:
| State | Population |
| 1. California | 36,756,666 |
| 2. Texas | 24,326,974 |
| 3. New York | 19,490,297 |
| 4. Florida | 18,328,340 |
| 5. Illinois | 12,901,563 |
| 6. Pennsylvania | 12,448,279 |
| 7. Ohio | 11,485,910 |
| 8. Michigan | 10,003,422 |
| 9. Georgia | 9,685,744 |
| 10. North Carolina | 9,222,414 |
| 11. New Jersey | 8,682,661 |
| 12. Virginia | 7,769,089 |
| 13. Washington | 6,549,224 |
| 14. Arizona | 6,500,180 |
| 15. Massachusetts | 6,497,967 |
| 16. Indiana | 6,376,792 |
| 17. Tennessee | 6,214,888 |
| 18. Missouri | 5,911,605 |
| 19. Maryland | 5,633,597 |
| 20. Wisconsin | 5,627,967 |
| 21. Minnesota | 5,220,393 |
| 22. Colorado | 4,939,456 |
| 23. Alabama | 4,661,900 |
| 24. South Carolina | 4,479,800 |
| 25. Louisiana | 4,410,796 |
| 26. Kentucky | 4,269,245 |
| 27. Oregon | 3,790,060 |
| 28. Oklahoma | 3,642,361 |
| 29. Connecticut | 3,501,252 |
| 30. Iowa | 3,002,555 |
| 31. Mississippi | 2,938,618 |
| 32. Arkansas | 2,855,390 |
| 33. Kansas | 2,802,134 |
| 34. Utah | 2,736,424 |
| 35. Nevada | 2,600,167 |
| 36. New Mexico | 1,984,356 |
| 37. West Virginia | 1,814,468 |
| 38. Nebraska | 1,783,432 |
| 39. Idaho | 1,523,816 |
| 40. Maine | 1,316,456 |
| 41. New Hampshire | 1,315,809 |
| 42. Hawaii | 1,288,198 |
| 43. Rhode Island | 1,050,788 |
| 44. Montana | 967,440 |
| 45. Delaware | 873,092 |
| 46. South Dakota | 804,194 |
| 47. Alaska | 686,293 |
| 48. North Dakota | 641,481 |
| 49. Vermont | 621,270 |
| 50. District of Columbia | 591,833 |
| 51. Wyoming | 532,668 |
