Ten random US states
Practice ten different states in one short round. Perfect for learning a few locations each day.
Play Quick 10How well do you know the 50 U.S. states? Test your geography knowledge with a free US states quiz. Find each state on an interactive map, try a quick 10-question round, or challenge yourself to locate all 50—including Alaska and Hawaii. No account required.
Play the US states quizWe show a state name. You find it on the map. Choose a quick round or take on every state, including Alaska and Hawaii.
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Read the name of each state, then find it on the map. Start with 10 questions or take on all 50.
Practice ten different states in one short round. Perfect for learning a few locations each day.
Play Quick 10Find every state exactly once, including Alaska and Hawaii. Return later in the same browser to resume your challenge.
Find all 50 statesThree simple steps to practice state locations.
Look at the state name above the map. Zoom in or scroll if you need a closer view.
Click or tap its shape. You have three guesses. Use a hint or skip if you get stuck.
See the correct location, then move to the next state. At the end, review any states you missed.
Use coastlines, the Great Lakes, mountain ranges, and neighboring states as reference points. Study one region at a time.
Start with Maine and New York. Learn the smaller New England states next: Vermont and New Hampshire sit side by side, while Connecticut and Rhode Island lie farther south.
Use the Great Lakes to locate Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Then find North Dakota and South Dakota on the Great Plains.
Start with Texas and Florida at opposite ends of the southern states. Follow the Gulf Coast through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, then practice the inland states.
Use the Pacific coast to identify Washington, Oregon, and California. Learn the Four Corners states—Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico—then find Alaska and Hawaii below the main map.
Try identifying large, recognizable shapes first. California runs along the Pacific; Florida is the peninsula in the southeast; Texas sits on the southern border. Once those are easy, work on neighboring states and the smaller Northeast states.
Some neighboring states have similar shapes or names. Use these north–south and east–west clues to learn which is which.
Both lie above Massachusetts. Vermont is west, beside New York; New Hampshire is east, next to Maine.
North Dakota touches Canada. South Dakota is directly below it, above Nebraska.
Both reach the Atlantic. North Carolina is above South Carolina, which borders Georgia.
Virginia reaches the Atlantic coast, while West Virginia lies inland in the Appalachian Mountains.
Both have nearly rectangular outlines. Wyoming is above Colorado; Colorado is directly north of New Mexico.
Nebraska is directly above Kansas. Kansas borders Oklahoma to the south; Nebraska borders South Dakota to the north.
Mississippi is west of Alabama. Both touch the Gulf Coast, but Alabama is directly west of Georgia.
Rhode Island is the tiny coastal state just east of Connecticut. Connecticut is larger and borders New York.
A useful trick: first identify a well-known neighboring state, then check whether the answer is to its north, south, east, or west. For very small coastal states, zoom in or use the small-state buttons in the quiz.
Open a region to see every state, its two-letter abbreviation, and a location clue you can use while studying. Washington, D.C. and US territories are not among the 50 states.
Connecticut borders New York to the west, Massachusetts to the north, and Rhode Island to the east.
Maine is northeast of New Hampshire. It has a rugged Atlantic coast and borders Canada to the north and east.
Massachusetts borders Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south and reaches the Atlantic at Cape Cod.
New Hampshire sits between Vermont and Maine, with a short Atlantic coastline south of Maine.
New Jersey lies between the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean, east of Pennsylvania.
New York extends from the Great Lakes toward the Atlantic, with New England on its eastern side.
Pennsylvania lies between New York to the north and Maryland to the south, with Ohio to the west.
Rhode Island is the smallest US state by area. It borders Connecticut to the west and Massachusetts to the north and east.
Vermont is the western member of the Vermont–New Hampshire pair; it has no Atlantic coastline.
Illinois borders Lake Michigan at Chicago and sits between the Mississippi River and Indiana.
Indiana is between Illinois and Ohio, with Michigan to the north and Kentucky to the south.
Iowa sits in the Midwest between Minnesota and Missouri, bordered by the Mississippi River on the east.
Kansas is south of Nebraska and north of Oklahoma. Its western edge meets Colorado.
Michigan has an Upper Peninsula beside Lake Superior and a Lower Peninsula surrounded by the Great Lakes.
Minnesota borders Canada, lies above Iowa, and includes the western shore of Lake Superior.
Missouri sits below Iowa and above Arkansas. The Mississippi River forms much of its eastern boundary.
Nebraska sits between Kansas and South Dakota and stretches westward toward Wyoming and Colorado.
North Dakota is the upper of the two Dakotas, with Canada to the north and South Dakota to the south.
Ohio sits between Indiana and Pennsylvania and has a northern shoreline on Lake Erie.
South Dakota is the lower of the two Dakotas, between North Dakota and Nebraska.
Wisconsin lies between Minnesota and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, along the western shore of Lake Michigan.
Alabama sits between Mississippi and Georgia. Its southern edge touches Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
Arkansas is an inland southern state between Missouri and Louisiana, east of Oklahoma.
Delaware is a narrow East Coast state between Maryland and Delaware Bay, below Pennsylvania.
Florida projects into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, directly south of Georgia and southeast of Alabama.
Georgia lies between Alabama and the Atlantic coast, immediately north of Florida.
Kentucky stretches east–west above Tennessee, with Ohio and Indiana on its northern side.
Louisiana sits at the mouth of the Mississippi River, south of Arkansas and west of Mississippi.
Maryland wraps around much of Chesapeake Bay and lies between Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Mississippi lies between Louisiana and Alabama, and its short southern coast reaches the Gulf of Mexico.
North Carolina runs eastward from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic, just above South Carolina.
Oklahoma lies above Texas. Its western panhandle reaches toward New Mexico and Colorado.
South Carolina sits beneath North Carolina and has Georgia along its southwestern border.
Tennessee runs from the Mississippi River toward the Appalachian Mountains, directly south of Kentucky.
Texas borders New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana and has a long border with Mexico.
Virginia stretches from the Appalachian Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast; West Virginia lies inland to its west.
West Virginia is inland and wraps around part of western Virginia, with Ohio to its northwest.
Alaska lies northwest of Canada, far from the other 48 mainland states. On this map, look below and to the left to find it.
Arizona borders California to the west and New Mexico to the east. The Grand Canyon is in northern Arizona.
California stretches along the Pacific coast, with Oregon to its north and Nevada and Arizona to its east.
Colorado is one of the Four Corners states. It sits between Wyoming and New Mexico and has a nearly rectangular outline.
Hawaii is the only US state made entirely of islands and sits in the central Pacific Ocean, not beside the mainland.
Idaho's irregular northern panhandle rises between Washington and Montana; its southern border runs above Nevada and Utah.
Montana is a wide northern state above Wyoming, with mountains in the west and plains in the east.
Nevada is mostly inland desert country between California and Utah, with a slanted border along California.
New Mexico is a Four Corners state southeast of Utah and directly south of Colorado.
Oregon lies below Washington and above California, with Idaho on its eastern side.
Utah lies between Nevada and Colorado and meets Arizona and New Mexico at the Four Corners.
Washington borders Canada and the Pacific Ocean and is directly north of Oregon.
Wyoming has a nearly rectangular outline directly above Colorado, between Montana and Nebraska.
The four regions follow the US Census Bureau's classifications. The Bureau includes Washington, D.C. in the South for statistical purposes, but D.C. is not a state and is not part of this quiz.
Answers to common questions about the 50 states map quiz.
The United States has 50 states. This game includes all 50, from Alabama to Wyoming.
Yes. Alaska and Hawaii are part of the 50-state collection. Both appear in All 50, and either may come up in a Quick 10 round. They are shown separately beneath the main map.
No. Washington, D.C. is the federal district, not a state, so it is not part of the 50-state challenge.
Practice a few states at a time. Start with recognizable coastlines, the Great Lakes, and the Four Corners. Review states you miss, then play another round.
Yes. Zoom in and scroll the map to find smaller states. Buttons below the map also make small northeastern states easier to select.
You have up to three different guesses per state. Your first-try score only counts states you locate on the first guess without using a hint; your found total includes states located on later guesses.
Try Guess the State by Shape to recognize state outlines, play our Flag Quiz to identify world flags, or take the quick geography quiz.
State boundaries are based on the US Atlas map compiled from US Census Bureau cartographic boundary files (2017 edition). Alaska and Hawaii are shown separately beneath the main map to keep all 50 states in view. Their positions and relative sizes are adjusted to fit.
We group the states into Northeast, Midwest, South, and West using the US Census Bureau's regional map. You can also read the map's license information. Last checked: .