US States Quiz: Click the 50 States on a Map

How to play the US states quiz

The map shows the 48 states that border each other, with Alaska and Hawaii in boxes at the lower left. Every round asks about all 50 states in a random order, so no two games are the same.

• Click the map. The quiz names a state ("Click Ohio") and you click it. A wrong click tells you which state you hit, so even mistakes teach you something.
• Type the name. One state lights up and you type its name. Spelling is forgiving: "Missisippi" counts, and "St." works for "Saint," but a different real state never counts.
• Multiple choice. Pick the highlighted state from four names. The wrong answers are usually its neighbors, so you have to really look.
• Drag labels. All 50 names sit in a word bank. Drag each one onto the map, or tap a name and then tap its state.

Each mode has its own best score. Practice has no timer and brings missed states back a few turns later. The Quiz is timed: you get three tries per state, and only first-try answers count toward your score. Challenge gives you 60 seconds; every five correct answers in a row multiplies your points, and finishing early earns a time bonus.

How many states are in the United States?

There are 50 states. Washington, D.C. (the District of Columbia) is the nation's capital, but it is a federal district, not a state, so this quiz leaves it out. Puerto Rico, Guam and the other US territories are not states either.

Delaware became the first state on December 7, 1787, when it ratified the Constitution. Hawaii became the 50th and newest state on August 21, 1959, a few months after Alaska became the 49th. No new state has joined since.

The five regions of the United States

Learning 50 shapes at once is hard. Learning five groups of about ten is much easier. Most elementary geography books use National Geographic's five regions:

The US Census Bureau groups states a little differently, into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, South and West. Neither system is wrong; they were made for different jobs. If your child's textbook uses the Census regions, Delaware and Maryland move to the South, and so do Texas and Oklahoma.

Learn mode shows each state's region when you tap it, and Hints in the click quiz tell you which region to look in.

Tips to memorize the 50 states

Children who learn the map fastest usually do a little every day instead of one long session. These steps work well at home:

1. Start with home. Find your own state, then its neighbors. Ask which states you would drive through to visit a relative.
2. Learn one region at a time. Use Learn mode with Names turned on, then turn Names off and take a Practice round. Move on when the region feels easy.
3. Use shapes and stories. Michigan looks like a mitten, Oklahoma like a frying pan, and Louisiana like a boot. Four states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah) meet at a single point called the Four Corners.
4. Mix the modes. Clicking teaches location, typing teaches spelling, and multiple choice is a gentle start for younger children. Dragging labels is the closest match to a paper test.
5. Retry the misses. The results screen lists every state you missed. Retry missed runs just those, which is the fastest way to close the gaps.
6. Finish on paper. Print the blank US map worksheet or the label-the-states worksheet to check that the learning sticks without a screen.

A good goal for a first week is one region a day, with a full 50-state quiz on day six.

Which states are hardest to find on a map?

The small states in the Northeast trip up almost everyone. Rhode Island is the smallest state at about 1,545 square miles, and Delaware is the second smallest. Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts are tiny next to the big western states.

On this map, those states also appear as small boxes beside the Atlantic coast, joined to their state by a line. Clicking a box counts the same as clicking the state. The optional magnifier enlarges Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, and you can pinch or use the + button to zoom in anywhere.

At the other end, Alaska is the largest state at about 665,384 square miles, more than twice the size of Texas. On most US maps, including this one, Alaska is shrunk into a box, so it looks much smaller than it is. That is worth pointing out to children: map insets are not drawn to scale.

States with the most and fewest neighbors

A state's neighbors are the best clue to where it is, which is why List mode describes each state by the states it borders.

• Most neighbors: Missouri and Tennessee each share a border with eight states.
• Only one neighbor: Maine borders just New Hampshire.
• No neighbors: Alaska and Hawaii don't border any other state.

Tap any state in Learn mode to see its neighbors, then tap a neighbor to hop across the map.

All 50 states, capitals and statehood

Use this table as a study sheet. The number in brackets is the order each state joined the Union (1 is Delaware, 50 is Hawaii).

Why does the US map look curved?

Look closely and you will see that the northern border with Canada curves gently instead of running in a straight line. That is because the Earth is round and a map is flat, so every map has to stretch or squeeze something. This quiz uses an Albers equal-area projection, the same family of projection the US Census Bureau and the US Geological Survey often use for maps of the whole country. It keeps each state's area in proportion, so Texas really does take up about as much of the map as it does of the country, and lines of latitude bend into soft arcs.

Alaska and Hawaii are the exception. They are moved into boxes and resized so they fit on the page, which is why Alaska looks smaller than Texas here even though it is much bigger. Talking about this with your child is a quick lesson in how maps work: every map makes choices, and a good map reader notices them.

The state outlines come from the Census Bureau's public cartographic boundary files, simplified so the map loads quickly on a school Chromebook. Capitals, regions and statehood dates in Learn mode come from the sources listed at the end of this page.

What grade learns the 50 states?

Most US schools introduce map skills and the regions of the United States in 3rd to 5th grade social studies, and naming all 50 states is a common goal by 4th or 5th grade. Standards vary by state, so check your state's social studies standards or your curriculum's scope and sequence. Younger children can enjoy Learn mode and multiple choice long before they are ready for the timed quiz, and older students can use Challenge mode to keep the map fresh.

Make it part of a bigger lesson

A states quiz is a great start, but a full geography or social studies program connects the map to history, landforms and the people who live there. Programs like Little Passports and Beautiful Feet Books build geography into stories and projects, and many families pay for programs like these with a state scholarship or education savings account. Check what your state offers, and when you need a science break, try the interactive rock cycle.