Every corner of the U.S. tells a different story, especially when you roam from icy Alaska to sunny Arizona, or hop from bustling New Jersey to serene Maryland. **Forests** don’t just grow; they transform, showing off a wild variety in scenery and species count.
The state with the most forested1 acres is Alaska with 127 million forested acres. This is more than double the next closest state Texas with 62.4 million forested acres. All states are different sizes, so a better way to view it would be to look at the percentage of the states that are forested.
Below we listed stated by forested acres, percentage of land forested, as well as trees per capita. See here for the states with the most trees in total.
The number in each state represents the percentage of forested acres.
Forested acres by state
| Forested acres | % of land forested | trees per capita | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 127,000,000 | 35.16% | 43,401 |
| Texas | 62,400,000 | 37.33% | 538 |
| Montana | 25,500,000 | 27.45% | 5,965 |
| Georgia | 24,800,000 | 67.28% | 584 |
| New Mexico | 24,700,000 | 31.99% | 2,945 |
| Colorado | 24,400,000 | 34.42% | 1,059 |
| Alabama | 22,800,000 | 70.57% | 1,163 |
| Washington | 22,000,000 | 52.74% | 722 |
| Idaho | 21,600,000 | 40.55% | 3,022 |
| Michigan | 20,000,000 | 55.62% | 501 |
| Mississippi | 19,800,000 | 65.07% | 1663 |
| New York | 18,900,000 | 62.88% | 243 |
| Arkansas | 18,700,000 | 56.31% | 1,549 |
| North Carolina | 18,600,000 | 59.73% | 443 |
| Maine | 17,700,000 | 89.46% | 3,292 |
| Minnesota | 17,300,000 | 34.08% | 767 |
| Pennsylvania | 16,900,000 | 58.60% | 330 |
| Florida | 16,000,000 | 50.68% | 186 |
| Oregon | 16,000,000 | 48.51% | 948 |
| Wisconsin | 16,000,000 | 48.98% | 687 |
| Virginia | 15,720,000 | 62.93% | 460 |
| Utah | 15,000,000 | 34.48% | 1,170 |
| Louisiana | 14,000,000 | 53.20% | 753 |
| Missouri | 14,000,000 | 35.16% | 570 |
| Tennessee | 14,000,000 | 52.83% | 513 |
| South Carolina | 13,000,000 | 68.19% | 631 |
| Kentucky | 12,400,000 | 49.35% | 694 |
| Oklahoma | 12,000,000 | 28.80% | 758 |
| West Virginia | 12,000,000 | 79.01% | 1,674 |
| Nevada | 10,600,000 | 15.89% | 860 |
| Wyoming | 10,500,000 | 18.42% | 4,536 |
| Ohio | 7,600,000 | 30.92% | 163 |
| Kansas | 5,200,000 | 4.78% | 446 |
| New Hampshire | 4,800,000 | 84.32% | 883 |
| Indiana | 4,500,000 | 21.06% | 167 |
| Vermont | 4,500,000 | 77.81% | 1,803 |
| Illinois | 4,400,000 | 13.64% | 87 |
| Arizona | 4,000,000 | 25.64% | 137 |
| Massachusetts | 3,220,000 | 60.57% | 117 |
| California | 3,200,000 | 32.71% | 20 |
| Iowa | 3,000,000 | 8.43% | 238 |
| Maryland | 2,700,000 | 39.36% | 112 |
| South Dakota | 1,940,000 | 3.93% | 548 |
| New Jersey | 1,900,000 | 41.72% | 53 |
| Connecticut | 1,680,000 | 55.24% | 118 |
| Nebraska | 1,570,000 | 3.20% | 203 |
| Hawaii | 1,150,000 | 42.53% | 203 |
| North Dakota | 796,900 | 1.72% | 261 |
| Rhode Island | 366,400 | 54.38% | 86 |
| Delaware | 340,568 | 27.26% | 87 |
| District of Columbia | 150 | 33.90% | Less than 1 |
Which states have the least forested acres?
The district of Columbia doesn’t really count with just 150 forested acres, so we are going to take the next one which is Delaware with 340,568 forested acres.
Next is Rhode Island with 366,400 and North Dakota with 796,900 forested acres.
State with the most trees per capita
Alaska wins this again hands down with 43,000 trees per capita followed by Montana a distant second with 5,965 trees per capita.
The worst state is California with just 20 trees per capita. This makes sense considering the population size.
Cities with the most trees
The cities with the greatest number of trees per capita are Minneapolis with 9,833 trees, followed by Kansas City and Cincinnati with 8,762 and 6,92 trees per capita respectively.
- Jesse, (2023) 10 U.S. States With the Most Forest Land. <https://tinytreehub.com/states-with-the-most-forest-land/> Accessed: 19-02-2024
