What does this water area ranking show?

It orders states by Share of the county that is water. It is a comparison of this one published measure, not an overall ranking of where to live.

Where do these figures come from?

U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb supplies this measure. States without a comparable published value are shown as not ranked rather than estimated.

How should I use this ranking?

Use it to narrow a search, then open a state or county profile for the underlying figures, source dates and caveats. A statewide number may not describe every neighbourhood.

Rankings · Geography

Lowest water area by state

Share of the county that is water.

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

Lakes, rivers, reservoirs and the coastal water inside the county boundary, as a share of the county's whole area. Neutral rather than good: water is why people move to some counties and why others flood. Read it with care on the coast, where a county line reaches miles out to sea and produces a high figure with no lake in it — Michigan and Minnesota counties score high for water you can actually reach, while a barrier island county scores high for ocean. Census TIGERweb, the same boundaries the land area comes from.

How to read this ranking

New Mexico has the lowest published water area in this comparison, at 0.2%. The next states shown are Arizona (0.3%) and Colorado (0.4%).

The table orders 51 states by share of the county that is water. It describes one published measure, not an overall judgment about where to live.

Use the result as a starting point, then compare the underlying source, dates, and local county figures before making a decision. Lakes, rivers, reservoirs and the coastal water inside the county boundary, as a share of the county's whole area. Neutral rather than good: water is why people move to some counties and why others flood. Read it with care on the coast, where a county line reaches miles out to sea and produces a high figure with no lake in it — Michigan and Minnesota counties score high for water you can actually reach, while a barrier island county scores high for ocean. Census TIGERweb, the same boundaries the land area comes from.

1New Mexico0.2%
2Arizona0.3%
3Colorado0.4%
4Kansas0.6%
5Nevada0.6%
6Iowa0.7%
7Nebraska0.7%
8Wyoming0.7%
9West Virginia0.8%
10Montana1.0%
11Idaho1.1%
12Missouri1.4%
13Indiana1.6%
14South Dakota1.7%
15Oklahoma1.9%
16Tennessee2.1%
17Arkansas2.3%
18Kentucky2.3%
19North Dakota2.4%
20Oregon2.4%
21Texas2.7%
22Utah2.7%
23Georgia2.9%
24Pennsylvania2.9%
25Mississippi3.1%
26Alabama3.4%
27Illinois4.2%
28New Hampshire4.2%
29Vermont4.2%
30California4.8%
31South Carolina6.2%
32Washington6.8%
33Virginia7.7%
34Minnesota8.4%
35Ohio8.9%
36North Carolina9.7%
37District of Columbia11.0%
38Connecticut13.0%
39Maine13.0%
40Alaska14.0%
41New York14.0%
42New Jersey16.0%
43Louisiana17.0%
44Wisconsin17.0%
45Delaware22.0%
46Maryland22.0%
47Florida25.0%
48Massachusetts26.0%
49Rhode Island33.0%
50Michigan41.0%
51Hawaii42.0%

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Frequently asked questions

What does this ranking show?: It orders states by Share of the county that is water. It is one measure, not an overall verdict on where to live.
Where do the figures come from?: U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb. States without a comparable published figure are listed as not ranked rather than estimated.
How should I use it?: Use it to narrow your search, then open a state or county profile for the source date, caveats and local context.

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<iframe src="https://movermath.com/embed/water-area" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Share of the county that is water by state"></iframe>

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb. · How this is built

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