There are 50 states. Type every one you can remember against a live counter and the board fills in by region, then switch to the state capitals round. Washington, DC is not one of the fifty, and the quiz will say so if you try it.
By Team Geography··Last reviewed
Type a state
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Ready for the rest of the map? The world capitals quiz asks the same question of all 195 countries.
State capitals quiz
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Same game, bigger board: the world capitals quiz runs from Canberra to Ngerulmud.
The 50 states quiz, and what counts as a state
Fifty is the number, and it has been since 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted. Washington, DC is not the fifty first. It is a federal district, and it sends one delegate to the House of Representatives who may not vote when the House votes. The five inhabited territories sit in the same position: Puerto Rico has a resident commissioner, and Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands each send a delegate, none of whom can vote on the floor.
Type the states in any order. Postal abbreviations count, so CA, TX and WA all land, and so do the formal names: State of Ohio, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Washington State. The board is grouped into the Census Bureau's four regions, Northeast, Midwest, South and West, so you can see which corner of the country empties your head first. The ten minute timer is optional and off by default.
State names, postal abbreviations, capitals and regions come from one file this site keeps, built on 13 September 2026 from Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates, the Census state area measurements and the USAGov state directory.
The state capitals quiz is the round that catches people out
Only 17 of the 50 capitals are the largest city in their own state. The other 33 are the quiet answer: Albany rather than New York City, Sacramento rather than Los Angeles, Springfield rather than Chicago, Juneau rather than Anchorage. That gap is most of the difficulty, and it is why the capitals round is multiple choice with the three wrong answers drawn from the same region. Pick 10 questions, 25, or all 50, answer with the mouse or the keys 1 to 4, and the ones you missed are listed at the end. For the world version, the world capitals quiz takes the same idea across 195 countries.
Why there is no United States map quiz here
A map quiz asks you to click a shape. This page asks you to produce the name from memory, which is the harder skill and the one that survives the week. We would rather say that plainly than draw a map we do not have. If you want the outline of the continent instead, how many countries are in North America counts the 23 that the United States shares a continent with, and the name all the countries quiz is this same board at world scale.
Common questions
How many states are in the United States?
Fifty. The number has been 50 since 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted. Washington, DC and the five inhabited territories are not states, which is why this quiz counts to 50 and stops there.
Is Washington, DC a state?
No. It is a federal district. DC elects one delegate to the House of Representatives who may not vote when the House is voting, and it has no senators. Type DC into the quiz and it will tell you the same thing rather than counting it.
Does the 50 states quiz accept abbreviations?
Yes. Every postal abbreviation counts, from AL to WY, and so do the formal alternates: State of Ohio, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Washington State. Case, punctuation and accents are ignored. Nicknames are not accepted, because a nickname is not the name.
How long should it take to name all 50 states?
Most people who get all 50 do it in five to ten minutes, which is why the optional timer here is set to ten. The clock is off unless you turn it on. On a first run the useful number is not the time, it is which region went blank.
Why are state capitals harder than the states themselves?
Because the capital is usually not the city you have heard of. Only 17 of the 50 capitals are the largest city in their state, so the answer that feels right is wrong 33 times out of 50. Albany, Sacramento, Juneau and Springfield are the pattern, not the exceptions.
Is there a United States map quiz on this page?
No, and we would rather say so than pretend. This is a typing quiz with a board that fills in by region as you name each state. Recalling a name from nothing is harder than clicking a shape, and it is the version that sticks.
Are Puerto Rico and Guam states?
No. Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are inhabited US territories. Each is represented in the House by a delegate or, for Puerto Rico, a resident commissioner, and none of them can vote on the floor.
Is this quiz free, and is my score sent anywhere?
It is free, there is no sign up, and nothing leaves your browser. Your best score for each round is saved on that device only. The quiz runs entirely on the page, so it keeps working once the page has loaded.