This Is America’s Largest State Capital

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published May 20, 5:00PM EDT

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This Is America’s Largest State Capital — © rarrarorro / iStock via Getty Images

State capitals are not always the largest cities in a state by population. Often, they are little-known for people who live outside these states. How many people realize that Lansing is the capital of Michigan, for instance? (Shouldn’t the decision have been to locate the capital in Detroit?)

Sometimes, though, a state’s capital is also its largest and most famous city. Boston and Indianapolis are good examples. Another one is America’s largest state capital: Phoenix, Arizona.

In the book “American Capitals: A Historical Geography,” author Christian Montès points out that capitals were often picked by state legislatures, but some were chosen by governors or popular vote. Another notable fact about state capitals is how few are named after people. There are a small number of exceptions, like Jefferson City, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska. (Click here to see the strangest town names in every state and where they came from.)

To determine America’s largest state capital, and to note where other capitals rank in size, 24/7 Wall St. used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to review all 50 state capitals based on population.

Click here to see America’s largest state capital

Some are unusually small. Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, is the smallest of all, with a population of less than 8,000. Pierre, South Dakota, has fewer than 14,000 people, and the population of Augusta, Maine, is less than 20,000.

Phoenix, on the other hand, has a population of 1.7 million. Phoenix became a city in 1881, 31 years before Arizona became a state – and today it is the only U.S. state capital with more than a million residents. (See the largest city in every state.)

50. Vermont
> Capital city: Montpelier
> Population: 7,372

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49. South Dakota
> Capital city: Pierre
> Population: 13,867

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48. Maine
> Capital city: Augusta
> Population: 18,697

47. Kentucky
> Capital city: Frankfort
> Population: 27,755

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46. Alaska
> Capital city: Juneau
> Population: 31,974

45. Montana
> Capital city: Helena
> Population: 33,124

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44. Delaware
> Capital city: Dover
> Population: 38,166

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43. Maryland
> Capital city: Annapolis
> Population: 39,223

42. Missouri
> Capital city: Jefferson City
> Population: 42,708

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41. New Hampshire
> Capital city: Concord
> Population: 43,627

40. West Virginia
> Capital city: Charleston
> Population: 46,536

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39. Pennsylvania
> Capital city: Harrisburg
> Population: 49,271

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38. Washington
> Capital city: Olympia
> Population: 52,882

37. Nevada
> Capital city: Carson City
> Population: 55,916

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36. Wyoming
> Capital city: Cheyenne
> Population: 64,235

35. North Dakota
> Capital city: Bismarck
> Population: 73,529

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34. New Jersey
> Capital city: Trenton
> Population: 83,203

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33. New Mexico
> Capital city: Santa Fe
> Population: 84,683

32. New York
> Capital city: Albany
> Population: 96,460

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31. Illinois
> Capital city: Springfield
> Population: 114,230

30. Michigan
> Capital city: Lansing
> Population: 118,210

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29. Connecticut
> Capital city: Hartford
> Population: 122,105

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28. Kansas
> Capital city: Topeka
> Population: 125,310

27. South Carolina
> Capital city: Columbia
> Population: 131,674

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26. Mississippi
> Capital city: Jackson
> Population: 160,628

25. Oregon
> Capital city: Salem
> Population: 174,365

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24. Rhode Island
> Capital city: Providence
> Population: 179,883

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23. Florida
> Capital city: Tallahassee
> Population: 194,500

22. Arkansas
> Capital city: Little Rock
> Population: 197,312

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21. Alabama
> Capital city: Montgomery
> Population: 198,525

20. Utah
> Capital city: Salt Lake City
> Population: 200,567

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19. Iowa
> Capital city: Des Moines
> Population: 214,237

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18. Louisiana
> Capital city: Baton Rouge
> Population: 220,236

17. Idaho
> Capital city: Boise
> Population: 228,959

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16. Virginia
> Capital city: Richmond
> Population: 230,436

15. Wisconsin
> Capital city: Madison
> Population: 259,680

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14. Nebraska
> Capital city: Lincoln
> Population: 289,102

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13. Minnesota
> Capital city: Saint Paul
> Population: 308,096

12. Hawaii
> Capital city: Honolulu
> Population: 345,064

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11. North Carolina
> Capital city: Raleigh
> Population: 474,069

10. Georgia
> Capital city: Atlanta
> Population: 506,811

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9. California
> Capital city: Sacramento
> Population: 513,624

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8. Oklahoma
> Capital city: Oklahoma City
> Population: 655,057

7. Tennessee
> Capital city: Nashville
> Population: 670,820

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6. Massachusetts
> Capital city: Boston
> Population: 692,600

5. Colorado
> Capital city: Denver
> Population: 727,211

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4. Indiana
> Capital city: Indianapolis
> Population: 876,384

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3. Ohio
> Capital city: Columbus
> Population: 898,553

2. Texas
> Capital city: Austin
> Population: 978,908

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1. Arizona
> Capital city: Phoenix
> Population: 1,680,992

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.