List of U.S. states and territories by coastline facts for kids
States shaded light blue have Great Lakes coastline.*
States shaded white have no coastline.
* New York has both ocean and Great Lakes coastline.
Have you ever wondered which U.S. states have the longest coastlines? This article lists all the U.S. states and territories of the United States, ranked by how long their coastlines are. A coastline is where the land meets the sea or a large lake.
There are 30 states in the U.S. that have a coastline. Most of these states (23) touch the Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean (which includes the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of Maine), or the Pacific Ocean. Eight states have a shoreline on the Great Lakes. Interestingly, New York is special because it has coasts on both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean! Smaller lakes like Lake Champlain or Lake of the Woods are not counted in these measurements. All five major U.S. territories also have coastlines, with three on the Pacific Ocean and two on the Atlantic Ocean (specifically the Caribbean Sea). Even the tiny United States Minor Outlying Islands have their own coastlines.
Contents
What is a Coastline?
A coastline is the boundary where land meets a large body of water, like an ocean or a huge lake. Measuring how long a coastline is can be more complicated than you might think! Imagine trying to measure every tiny curve, bay, and inlet. It's like trying to measure the edge of a crumpled piece of paper – the closer you look, the more details you find, and the longer the measurement becomes.
Two Ways to Measure Coastlines
Because measuring coastlines can be tricky, experts use different methods. This list uses two main ways to measure:
- Method 1: Ocean Coastline Only
- This method focuses only on states that touch the ocean.
- It measures the general outline of the coast, ignoring very small bays, coves, and tidal inlets (places where the sea comes inland).
- This method does not include the coastlines of U.S. territories.
- The data for Method 1 comes from a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for the United States Congress, based on information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1975. These measurements were made using detailed nautical charts.
- Method 2: All Coastlines, Including Details
- This method includes coastlines on the Great Lakes in addition to ocean coastlines.
- It also counts the extra length from all the tiny bays, coves, and tidal inlets. For example, a place like the Great Bay in New Hampshire would be included in this measurement, making the coastline appear much longer.
- This method includes the coastlines of all U.S. territories and the United States Minor Outlying Islands.
- The data for Method 2 comes from NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. The numbers for the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands are from the CIA World Factbook.
Why Measuring Coastlines is Tricky
The challenge of measuring coastlines is sometimes called the "coastline paradox." It means that the length of a coastline depends on how closely you measure it. If you use a ruler to measure a straight line, it's easy. But if you try to measure every single bump and curve of a coastline, the length will keep getting bigger the more detailed your measurement becomes! This is why Method 1 and Method 2 give very different numbers for the same state.
U.S. Coastline Lengths Table
This table shows the coastline lengths for U.S. states and territories using both measurement methods. You can see how much the numbers change depending on how the coastline is measured!
| State or territory | Method 1 (CRS) | Method 2 (NOAA) | Ratio (M2÷M1) |
Area (mi2) |
Coast/area ratio (ft/mi2) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastline | Rank | Coastline | Rank | Method 1 | Method 2 | |||
 Alaska |
6,640 mi (10,690 km) | 1 | 33,904 mi (54,563 km) | 1 | 5.11 | 665384 | 53 | 270 |
 Florida |
1,350 mi (2,170 km) | 2 | 8,436 mi (13,576 km) | 2 | 6.25 | 65758 | 110 | 680 |
 California |
840 mi (1,350 km) | 3 | 3,427 mi (5,515 km) | 5 | 4.08 | 163695 | 27 | 110 |
 Hawaii |
750 mi (1,210 km) | 4 | 1,052 mi (1,693 km) | 18 | 1.40 | 10932 | 360 | 510 |
 Louisiana |
397 mi (639 km) | 5 | 7,721 mi (12,426 km) | 3 | 19.4 | 52378 | 40 | 780 |
 Texas |
367 mi (591 km) | 6 | 3,359 mi (5,406 km) | 7 | 9.15 | 268596 | 7.2 | 66 |
 North Carolina |
301 mi (484 km) | 7 | 3,375 mi (5,432 km) | 6 | 11.2 | 53819 | 30 | 330 |
 Oregon |
296 mi (476 km) | 8 | 1,410 mi (2,270 km) | 17 | 4.76 | 98379 | 16 | 76 |
 Maine |
228 mi (367 km) | 9 | 3,478 mi (5,597 km) | 4 | 15.3 | 35380 | 34 | 520 |
 Massachusetts |
192 mi (309 km) | 10 | 1,519 mi (2,445 km) | 16 | 7.91 | 10554 | 96 | 760 |
 South Carolina |
187 mi (301 km) | 11 | 2,876 mi (4,628 km) | 12 | 15.4 | 32020 | 31 | 470 |
 Washington |
157 mi (253 km) | 12 | 3,026 mi (4,870 km) | 11 | 19.3 | 71298 | 12 | 220 |
 New Jersey |
130 mi (210 km) | 13 | 1,792 mi (2,884 km) | 15 | 13.8 | 8723 | 79 | 1,100 |
 New York |
127 mi (204 km) | 14 | 2,625 mi (4,225 km) | 13 | 20.7 | 54555 | 12 | 250 |
 Virginia |
112 mi (180 km) | 15 | 3,315 mi (5,335 km) | 8 | 29.6 | 42775 | 14 | 410 |
 Georgia |
100 mi (160 km) | 16 | 2,344 mi (3,772 km) | 14 | 23.4 | 59425 | 8.9 | 210 |
 Connecticut |
96 mi (154 km) | 17 | 618 mi (995 km) | 21 | 6.44 | 5543 | 91 | 590 |
 Alabama |
53 mi (85 km) | 18 | 607 mi (977 km) | 22 | 11.5 | 52420 | 5.3 | 61 |
 Mississippi |
44 mi (71 km) | 19 | 359 mi (578 km) | 25 | 8.16 | 48432 | 4.8 | 39 |
 Rhode Island |
40 mi (64 km) | 20 | 384 mi (618 km) | 23 | 9.60 | 1545 | 140 | 1,300 |
 Maryland |
31 mi (50 km) | 21 | 3,190 mi (5,130 km) | 10 | 103 | 12406 | 13 | 1,400 |
 Delaware |
28 mi (45 km) | 22 | 381 mi (613 km) | 24 | 13.6 | 2489 | 59 | 810 |
 New Hampshire |
13 mi (21 km) | 23 | 131 mi (211 km) | 31 | 10.1 | 9349 | 7.3 | 74 |
 Michigan |
– | – | 3,224 mi (5,189 km) | 9 | – | 96714 | – | 180 |
 Wisconsin |
– | – | 820 mi (1,320 km) | 19 | – | 65496 | – | 66 |
 Ohio |
– | – | 312 mi (502 km) | 26 | – | 44826 | – | 37 |
 Minnesota |
– | – | 189 mi (304 km) | 28 | – | 86936 | – | 11 |
 Pennsylvania |
– | – | 140 mi (230 km) | 30 | – | 46054 | – | 16 |
 Illinois |
– | – | 63 mi (101 km) | 35 | – | 57914 | – | 5.7 |
 Indiana |
– | – | 45 mi (72 km) | 36 | – | 36420 | – | 6.5 |
 American Samoa |
– | – | 126 mi (203 km) | 32 | – | – | – | – |
 Guam |
– | – | 110 mi (180 km) | 33 | – | – | – | – |
 Northern Mariana Islands |
– | – | 206 mi (332 km) | 27 | – | – | – | – |
 Puerto Rico |
– | – | 700 mi (1,100 km) | 20 | – | – | – | – |
 U.S. Virgin Islands |
– | – | 175 mi (282 km) | 29 | – | – | – | – |
 U.S. Minor Outlying Islands |
— | — | 70.21 mi (112.99 km) | 34 | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 12,479 mi (20,083 km) | 95,509 mi (153,707 km) | ||||||
See also
