List Of 48 Contiguous United States | Capitals By State

People ask for a list when they’re labeling maps, building a spreadsheet, studying for a quiz, or sorting a dataset. You don’t want Alaska or Hawaii mixed in when the task is the “Lower 48,” and you don’t want Washington, D.C. treated like a state.

This page gives you the list of 48 contiguous united states in one spot, plus the two-letter mail code and each capital city. After the main table, you’ll get ways to sanity-check a list you already have, then a quick grouping table you can copy into notes.

Quick definition here: “contiguous” means the states touch each other by land in one unbroken block. Alaska and Hawaii are U.S. states, yet they sit apart from that block, so they’re not part of the contiguous set.

List Of 48 Contiguous United States with capitals and USPS codes

If you just need the names, you can scan the first column. If you’re formatting mail lines, saving a file, or labeling a chart, the USPS codes save space. Capitals are handy for school work, trivia nights, and quick reference.

State	USPS code	Capital
Alabama	AL	Montgomery
Arizona	AZ	Phoenix
Arkansas	AR	Little Rock
California	CA	Sacramento
Colorado	CO	Denver
Connecticut	CT	Hartford
Delaware	DE	Dover
Florida	FL	Tallahassee
Georgia	GA	Atlanta
Idaho	ID	Boise
Illinois	IL	Springfield
Indiana	IN	Indianapolis
Iowa	IA	Des Moines
Kansas	KS	Topeka
Kentucky	KY	Frankfort
Louisiana	LA	Baton Rouge
Maine	ME	Augusta
Maryland	MD	Annapolis
Massachusetts	MA	Boston
Michigan	MI	Lansing
Minnesota	MN	St. Paul
Mississippi	MS	Jackson
Missouri	MO	Jefferson City
Montana	MT	Helena
Nebraska	NE	Lincoln
Nevada	NV	Carson City
New Hampshire	NH	Concord
New Jersey	NJ	Trenton
New Mexico	NM	Santa Fe
New York	NY	Albany
North Carolina	NC	Raleigh
North Dakota	ND	Bismarck
Ohio	OH	Columbus
Oklahoma	OK	Oklahoma City
Oregon	OR	Salem
Pennsylvania	PA	Harrisburg
Rhode Island	RI	Providence
South Carolina	SC	Columbia
South Dakota	SD	Pierre
Tennessee	TN	Nashville
Texas	TX	Austin
Utah	UT	Salt Lake City
Vermont	VT	Montpelier
Virginia	VA	Richmond
Washington	WA	Olympia
West Virginia	WV	Charleston
Wisconsin	WI	Madison
Wyoming	WY	Cheyenne

Two quick notes so you don’t trip over edge cases. First, Washington, D.C. sits between Maryland and Virginia, yet it isn’t a state, so it doesn’t belong in the 48-state set. Second, some names are easy to mistype, like “Massachusetts” or “Rhode Island,” so it helps to copy from the table when you need exact spelling.

What “contiguous” means in plain terms

Think of the contiguous set as one connected piece you can drive across without boarding a plane or crossing an ocean. You can start in Washington state, head south to California, then go east to Maine, all while staying within states that connect by land.

That land-connection idea is why you’ll see “contiguous U.S.” in shipping rules, weather maps, and government reporting. A lot of charts and calculators treat Alaska and Hawaii separately because distances, time zones, and logistics work differently there.

Contiguous vs. continental vs. “Lower 48”

These labels get mixed up. “Contiguous” is the tightest set: the 48 connected states. “Continental” often means those 48 plus Alaska, since Alaska is on the North American continent. “Lower 48” is everyday speech that usually matches the contiguous set, though writers don’t always define it.

If your task is grading a geography assignment, building a list in code, or matching a government table, write down which label you’re using before you start. It saves a lot of cleanup later.

Where the codes come from and why they matter

The two-letter codes in the table match the ones used on mailing labels. If you ever need to confirm a code, the USPS two-letter state abbreviations page is the reference many style guides point to.

For data work, you may also run into government files that list state names with the same abbreviations. One widely used reference is the Census text file called state.txt, which pairs each state with a numeric code and the standard two-letter label.

When a code helps more than a full name

Codes shine when space is tight. Mailing labels, chart axes, file names, and classroom handouts all benefit from short labels. Codes also cut down on spelling slips, which can break a lookup in a spreadsheet or a join in a database.

If you’re writing for students, teach the code alongside the full name. It’s a small habit that pays off once they start using maps, data tables, and forms that assume the two-letter format.

Fast checks when you’re building your own list

Copying a list from one place to another invites small errors. A missing state can throw off totals. A swapped abbreviation can make a chart look odd. Run these checks before you hit publish or submit an assignment and avoid a re-do.

Count check

• Your list should have 48 states, no more and no less.
• If you see 50, Alaska and Hawaii slipped in.
• If you see 49, Washington, D.C. may have been added, or a state got missed.

Alphabet check

If you sort by state name A–Z, the first should be Alabama and the last should be Wyoming. If something lands outside that range, you may have a typo or a hidden space at the start of a line.

Nickname trap check

A few entries tempt people into nicknames. Write “Rhode Island” in full, not “Rhode.” Keep “New Hampshire” and “New Jersey” as two words. For capitals, “St. Paul” is the common spelling for Minnesota’s capital, while “Saint Paul” may show up in some datasets.

Using the table for school, travel, and data work

This list is a staple in U.S. geography lessons, yet it’s also practical outside the classroom. A state list helps you plan a road trip, label a weather tracker, or build a study sheet in minutes.

School and quizzes

If you’re studying capitals, hide the capital column with a sheet of paper, then quiz yourself state by state. Switch directions once you feel steady: read the capital and say the state. That flip catches weak spots fast.

Road trips and route planning

For road travel, the contiguous set matters because every state connects by highways to neighbors. You can build a loop that stays in the 48 without booking flights. When you plan, note that some states are long drives corner to corner, so a map with time zones helps with call times and hotel check-in.

Spreadsheets and coding

In spreadsheets, keep one column for state names and one for codes, then use a lookup to match them. In code, store the list once and reuse it. You’ll dodge repeated manual edits and you’ll keep reports consistent across projects.

Capitals that trip people up

A lot of folks can name the biggest city in a state, then assume it’s the capital. That guess is wrong in plenty of places, so it’s worth drilling the tricky ones.

Big city vs. capital pairs

• California: Sacramento is the capital, not Los Angeles or San Francisco.
• Florida: Tallahassee is the capital, not Miami or Orlando.
• Nevada: Carson City is the capital, not Las Vegas.
• New York: Albany is the capital, not New York City.
• Washington: Olympia is the capital, not Seattle.

Small city capitals that sound unfamiliar

Some capitals are smaller places that don’t show up in national news often. Jefferson City (Missouri), Montpelier (Vermont), and Pierre (South Dakota) are common misses.

If you’re studying, try a two-step drill. Step one: say the state, then the capital out loud. Step two: write the USPS code next to it.

Getting clean results in spreadsheets

If you’re using this list in Excel or Google Sheets, keep the state name column consistent. Drop extra spaces and stray punctuation. That alone prevents most match errors.

Grouping the 48 states when a single list isn’t enough

An alphabetical list is great for quick reference. A grouped list is better when you’re summarizing results, teaching a unit, or building charts by area. The table below uses the Census divisions that many textbooks and datasets follow.

Census division	States in the division	Common use
New England	Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont	Often used in school civics units
Middle Atlantic	New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania	Handy for Amtrak and major corridor maps
East North Central	Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin	Common in Great Lakes trade stats
West North Central	Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota	Good for prairie weather tracking
South Atlantic	Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia	Useful for Atlantic coast planning
East South Central	Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee	Shows a tight inland belt
West South Central	Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas	Pairs well with Gulf and plains maps
Mountain	Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming	Lines up with many national park routes
Pacific	California, Oregon, Washington	Runs along the West Coast

Quick classroom activity

Pick one division, then ask students to mark each state on a blank map. Next, have them label capitals for just that division. Working in smaller chunks keeps the task from feeling like a slog, and it builds confidence before a full 48-state run.

Copy-ready plain list

If you need a one-line entry for a form or notes, here’s a comma-separated line you can paste:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Common mix-ups and clean fixes

Most mistakes come from copying across formats. A PDF may wrap lines. A web page may add extra spaces. A class handout may use older abbreviations. When something looks off, return to the table and replace the odd entry with a fresh copy.

If you’re matching two lists, line them up by the USPS code. Codes are short, consistent, and easy to scan. Once codes match, you can pull the full name and capital with confidence.

For printing, try horizontal setup so the tables stay readable on paper. If you paste into a spreadsheet, freeze the header row so State, Code, and Capital stay visible while you scroll.

One last check: the list of 48 contiguous united states never includes Alaska, Hawaii, or any U.S. territory. Keep that rule front and center and your list will stay clean.