State of the United States

Massachusetts

Massachusetts is a state of the United States. It covers about 21,200 km² (8,170 mi²), the 45th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and 1.03× the size of El Salvador. About 7.0 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).

In area1.03×the size ofEl Salvador20,500 km² In people1.03×as many people asLaos6.9 million

50 km

Massachusetts
El Salvador

Facts

Area, measured	21,200 km²8,170 mi²
Official area	27,300 km²Wikidata · 23% above our measure
Share of the United States	0.2%of the area of the 51 states and districts
Rank by area	45th of 51states and districts of the United States
Population	7.0 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit
Density	332 people per km²
Capital	Boston
Latitude range	41°N to 43°N
Type	StateUS-MA

What the numbers say about Massachusetts

Massachusetts covers 0.2% of the area of the United States and ranks 15th of 51 by population, against 45th by area.
It would take 447 states and districts the size of Massachusetts to cover the United States.
Massachusetts holds 2.1% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 47.
The largest, Alaska, is 71.1× the size of Massachusetts; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 0.8% of it.
Closest in size within the United States: New Jersey (19,700 km², 1.08×) and New Hampshire (24,300 km², 1.15×).
Counted as a country, Massachusetts would be larger than 87 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 153rd by area, between Djibouti (21,800 km²) and El Salvador (20,500 km²).
With 7.0 million people it would rank 106th of 238 by population.
Massachusetts has 332 people per km², about the density of Japan, which has 331 per km².
That makes Massachusetts the 4th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 9.49× the average for the United States (35 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 42°N is drawn about 1.8× too large in area, so Massachusetts looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Massachusetts stretches about 182 km north to south and 296 km east to west.
Our measured 21,200 km² is 23% below Wikidata's official figure of 27,300 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Where Massachusetts ranks

Massachusetts is the 45th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.

Ranked within the United States

All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries

Compare Massachusetts

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method