Transformed by the gold rush of 1859, it has since reinvented itself through ranching, aerospace, and technology, becoming one of the fastest growing states of the twenty-first century.

The third smallest state by area, it punched well above its weight for two centuries as a manufacturing powerhouse before deindustrialisation reshaped its economy from the 1970s onwards.

The first state to ratify the Constitution in 1787, its tiny size belies its outsized influence — more than half of all US publicly traded companies are incorporated here.

Barely populated until air conditioning arrived, it has added more people than almost any other state since 1950 and is now the third most populous in the nation.

Atlanta’s rise as a regional powerhouse transformed the state’s fortunes. Growth was steady through the twentieth century before accelerating sharply as the Sun Belt drew migrants from across the country.

The most geographically isolated state in the union, it was the last to join in 1959 and remains the only state where Asian Americans form the largest ethnic group.

Long one of America’s least populated states, it has seen extraordinary growth since 2000 as remote workers, retirees, and technology companies relocated from the Pacific Coast in search of more space and lower costs.

Chicago made it the dominant Midwestern state for over a century, but population has stalled since the 1970s as manufacturing declined and residents moved south and west.

A manufacturing heartland that rose with the automobile industry and fell with it, its population has grown modestly but steadily while neighbouring states declined.

Its population peaked relative to the nation in the 1880s at the height of the agricultural frontier, and has grown slowly ever since as farming became mechanised and rural communities shrank.

A wheat state at the heart of the Great Plains, it reached its population peak relative to the nation around 1900 and has grown slowly since as agricultural mechanisation emptied the rural landscape.

Settled early through the Cumberland Gap, it was among the most populous states in the union by 1800 but has fallen steadily in relative terms as industrialisation bypassed much of Appalachia.

Built on the Mississippi and shaped by French and Spanish colonial heritage, its population growth has been consistently interrupted by hurricanes, flooding, and economic volatility.

The northernmost state in the contiguous US, it has been losing young people to southern and western states for decades and is now among the oldest populations in the nation.

Its proximity to Washington DC has driven steady growth since the mid-twentieth century, transforming it from a tobacco and shipping economy into one of the wealthiest states in the union.

The most geographically isolated state in the union, it was the last to join in 1959 and remains the only state where Asian Americans form the largest ethnic group.

Long one of America’s least populated states, it has seen extraordinary growth since 2000 as remote workers, retirees, and technology companies relocated from the Pacific Coast in search of more space and lower costs.

Chicago made it the dominant Midwestern state for over a century, but population has stalled since the 1970s as manufacturing declined and residents moved south and west.

A manufacturing heartland that rose with the automobile industry and fell with it, its population has grown modestly but steadily while neighbouring states declined.

Its population peaked relative to the nation in the 1880s at the height of the agricultural frontier, and has grown slowly ever since as farming became mechanised and rural communities shrank.