List of U.S. states and territories by coastline

This is a list of U.S. states and territories ranked by their coastline length. Thirty states have a coastline: twenty-three with a coastline on the Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean (including the Gulf of Mexico), and/or Pacific Ocean, and eight with a Great Lakes shoreline. New York has coasts on both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Smaller border lakes such as Lake Champlain or Lake of the Woods are not counted. The five major U.S. territories have coastlines — three of them have a coastline on the Pacific Ocean, and two of them have a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea). The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands also have coastlines.

States shaded  dark blue  have ocean coastline.*
States shaded  light blue  have Great Lakes coastline.*
States shaded  white  have no coastline.
* New York has both ocean and Great Lakes coastline.

Two separate measurements are used: method 1 only includes states with ocean coastline and excludes tidal inlets; method 2 includes Great Lake shoreline and the extra length from tidal inlets. For example, method 2 counts the Great Bay as part of New Hampshire's coastline, but method 1 does not.

Method 1 does not include the coastlines of the territories of the United States, while method 2 does.

The data for method 1 was retrieved from a CRS Report for Congress[1] using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Coastline of the United States, 1975.[2] This is based on measurements made using large-scale nautical charts. The figure for Connecticut was arrived at separately and may not reflect the correct comparative distance. These numbers exclude the Great Lakes coastlines.

The data for method 2 is from a list maintained by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).[note 1] The state coastline lengths were computed by an unspecified method that includes tidal areas not included in the first method.[3] These numbers also include the Great Lakes coastlines, which do not have similar tidal areas. Data for the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands is from the CIA World Factbook.[4][5][6]

The figures also face the ambiguity inherent in all attempts at measuring coastlines, as expressed in the coastline paradox.

Table

State or territory Method 1 (CRS) Method 2 (NOAA) Ratio
(M2÷M1)
Area
[7] (mi2)
Coast/area ratio (ft/mi2)
CoastlineRankCoastlineRankMethod 1Method 2
 Alaska 6,640 mi (10,690 km)133,904 mi (54,563 km)15.11665,38453270
 Florida1,350 mi (2,170 km)28,436 mi (13,576 km)26.2565,758110680
 California840 mi (1,350 km)33,427 mi (5,515 km)54.08163,69527110
 Hawaii750 mi (1,210 km)41,052 mi (1,693 km)181.4010,932360510
 Louisiana397 mi (639 km)57,721 mi (12,426 km)319.452,37840780
 Texas367 mi (591 km)63,359 mi (5,406 km)79.15268,5967.266
 North Carolina301 mi (484 km)73,375 mi (5,432 km)611.253,81930330
 Oregon296 mi (476 km)81,410 mi (2,270 km)174.7698,3791676
 Maine228 mi (367 km)93,478 mi (5,597 km)415.335,38034520
 Massachusetts192 mi (309 km)101,519 mi (2,445 km)167.9110,55496760
 South Carolina187 mi (301 km)112,876 mi (4,628 km)1215.432,02031470
 Washington157 mi (253 km)123,026 mi (4,870 km)1119.371,29812220
 New Jersey130 mi (210 km)131,792 mi (2,884 km)1513.88,723791,100
 New York127 mi (204 km)142,625 mi (4,225 km)1320.754,55512250
 Virginia112 mi (180 km)153,315 mi (5,335 km)829.642,77514410
 Georgia100 mi (160 km)162,344 mi (3,772 km)1423.459,4258.9210
 Connecticut96 mi (154 km)17618 mi (995 km)216.445,54391590
 Alabama53 mi (85 km)18607 mi (977 km)2211.552,4205.361
 Mississippi44 mi (71 km)19359 mi (578 km)258.1648,4324.839
 Rhode Island40 mi (64 km)20384 mi (618 km)239.601,5451401,300
 Maryland31 mi (50 km)213,190 mi (5,130 km)1010312,406131,400
 Delaware28 mi (45 km)22381 mi (613 km)2413.62,48959810
 New Hampshire13 mi (21 km)23131 mi (211 km)3110.19,3497.374
 Michigan3,224 mi (5,189 km)996,714180
 Wisconsin820 mi (1,320 km)1965,49666
 Ohio312 mi (502 km)2644,82637
 Minnesota189 mi (304 km)2886,93611
 Pennsylvania140 mi (230 km)3046,05416
 Illinois63 mi (101 km)3557,9145.7
 Indiana45 mi (72 km)3636,4206.5
 American Samoa126 mi (203 km)[8]32
 Guam110 mi (180 km)[8]33
 Northern Mariana Islands206 mi (332 km)[8]27
 Puerto Rico700 mi (1,100 km)[8]20
 U.S. Virgin Islands175 mi (282 km)[8]29
U.S. Minor Outlying Islands70.21 mi (112.99 km)[4][5][6]34
Total12,479 mi (20,083 km)95,509 mi (153,707 km)[note 2]

Notes

  1. The data for the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands is from the CIA World Factbook.
  2. Figure is the "95,439 miles" number stated by the NOAA,[8] plus the 70 miles of coastline of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.

See also

References

  1. "U.S. International Borders: Brief Facts", Congressional Research Service, November 9, 2006
  2. United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1975). The Coastline of the United States. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. pp. 2–.
  3. "NOAA Office for Coastal Management | States and Territories Working on Ocean and Coastal Management". coast.noaa.gov. NOAA Office for Coastal Management. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  4. The World Factbook CIA World Factbook. United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  5. https://www.cia.gov/-library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wq.html CIA World Factbook. Wake Island. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  6. https://www.cia.gov/-library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bq.html CIA World Factbook. Navassa Island. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  7. "United States Summary: 2010, Population and Housing Unit Counts, 2010 Census of Population and Housing" (PDF) (PDF). United States Census Bureau. September 2012. pp. V–2, 1 & 41 (Tables 1 & 18). Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  8. https://coast.noaa.gov/data/docs/states/shorelines.pdf Coast.noaa.gov. Shoreline Mileage of the United States. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
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