About this chart race
New York leads this series from 1900 through 1962; California first takes the lead in 1963 and remains first through 2025. Texas first passes New York in 1994, and Florida does so in 2014. These are crossings in the annual July 1 estimates, not exact dates during the year.
At the 2025 endpoint, California has 39.36 million residents, Texas 31.71 million and Florida 23.46 million. The 2025 top ten were cross-checked against the Census Bureau's January 27, 2026 release: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/population-growth-slows.html
The race includes the 15 states that appear in the annual top ten of the available FRED state series during 1900-2025, with all 126 annual observations for each selected state. The 48 contiguous states were screened throughout; Alaska and Hawaii have FRED observations only from 1950, and neither enters the top ten in its available years. District of Columbia and territories are excluded. Ten bars are shown at a time; all selected states are enabled.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau resident population series, distributed by FRED and retrieved October 18, 2026. FRED's annual date labels use January 1, but the series notes specify estimates as of July 1. Values supplied in thousands of persons are multiplied by 1,000 to show people; older rounded figures do not have the precision of recent estimates. The historical series combines successive census-era estimates and can be revised; it is not one unrevised vintage. These are population levels, not migration flows or growth rates. Movement between annual observations is visual interpolation, not additional monthly data. No 2026 population or future projection is included.
This animated ranking shows how resident population (july 1) changed across 15 series between 1900 and 2025. The bars re-order themselves as the years advance, so overtakes are visible as they happen rather than hidden inside a table. Use the list on the left to choose exactly who competes, drag the slider to jump to any year, or open the table view to read the underlying numbers.
As of 2025, California leads with 39,355,309 people.
Included in this race
California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa.
Source
Data from US Census Bureau via FRED. Check the stated period and methodology. Animated transitions between source observations are visual interpolation, not additional measurements.
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