Rankings · Geography

Lowest rivers by state

River miles per square mile.

This measure has no better end. The order describes the states, it does not rank them — see the other direction.

Miles of USGS NHD perennial Stream/River flowlines (FCode 46006), clipped to the county boundary, divided by land area. This counts mapped perennial channels, not seasonal creeks, water volume, or navigability. Map lines are a simplified selection of named rivers for legibility; the shading includes every qualifying NHD flowline.

  1. 1Arizona0.02
  2. 2New Mexico0.04
  3. 3Nevada0.05
  4. 4North Dakota0.08
  5. 5California0.16
  6. 6South Dakota0.23
  7. 7Florida0.25
  8. 8Texas0.27
  9. 9Colorado0.27
  10. 10District of Columbia0.28
  11. 11Minnesota0.28
  12. 12Nebraska0.31
  13. 13Wyoming0.32
  14. 14Kansas0.33
  15. 15Utah0.35
  16. 16Missouri0.36
  17. 17Illinois0.36
  18. 18Indiana0.39
  19. 19Arkansas0.41
  20. 20Wisconsin0.43
  21. 21Idaho0.44
  22. 22Iowa0.45
  23. 23Montana0.50
  24. 24Mississippi0.52
  25. 25Michigan0.56
  26. 26Oklahoma0.58
  27. 27Kentucky0.59
  28. 28New York0.63
  29. 29Ohio0.65
  30. 30Hawaii0.74
  31. 31Virginia0.78
  32. 32Louisiana0.78
  33. 33Pennsylvania0.91
  34. 34New Hampshire0.95
  35. 35Maine0.97
  36. 36South Carolina0.99
  37. 37West Virginia1.00
  38. 38North Carolina1.00
  39. 39Alabama1.03
  40. 40Georgia1.03
  41. 41Massachusetts1.06
  42. 42Rhode Island1.24
  43. 43Washington1.26
  44. 44Delaware1.31
  45. 45Maryland1.36
  46. 46Alaska1.44
  47. 47New Jersey1.44
  48. 48Tennessee1.45
  49. 49Oregon1.53
  50. 50Connecticut1.58
  51. 51Vermont2.50
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Source: U.S. Geological Survey National Hydrography Dataset. · How this is built