Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States, or simply the North or the Northeast, is a U.S. region defined by the United States Census Bureau. It consists of the Mid-Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey) and New England (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine). The border states of Delaware and Maryland and other states are sometimes included in other definitions of the Northeast, but the Census Bureau considers both states to be part of the Southern United States. Cities in the Northeast include Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City.
The following table provides information about the population, size (land area) and population density of states in the Northeast region as defined by the U.S. Census bureau. Population density is defined as the population divided by the area of land in the state or region. The rank column in the table shows how the states rank among the entire 50 states in population density. Note that New Jersey has the highest population density of any state and that the 4 highest density states are all in the Northeast. The rank for the Census divisions (in pink) is the rank in population density among the 9 total divisions in the country. Note that the two divisions in the Northeast (New England and Middle Atlantic) are ranked #1 and #2 in the 2013 population estimate. The South Atlantic region was close behind New England and is projected to surpass New England in the next population estimate because it is growing faster. Finally, note that the entire Northeast region is ranked #1 among the 4 Census Bureau regions. With 345.5 people per square mile, the population density of the Northeast is about 2.5 times the density or the #2 ranked region which is the South.
| Rank | State Division/Region |
Population (2023 est.) |
Land area (sqmi) |
Density (sqmi) |
Geog. sort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  Rhode Island |
1,781,511 | 1,034 | 1,017.1 | NEng |
| 3 |  Massachusetts |
10,432,824 | 7,800 | 858.0 | NEng |
| 4 |  Connecticut |
5,706,080 | 4,842 | 742.6 | NEng |
| 21 |  New Hampshire |
2,213,459 | 8,953 | 147.8 | NEng |
| 31 |  Vermont |
1,276,630 | 9,217 | 68.0 | NEng |
| 38 |  Maine |
2,748,302 | 30,843 | 43.1 | NEng |
| 2 | New England | 24,158,806 | 62,688 | 233.2 | NEast |
| 1 |  New Jersey |
13,429,332 | 7,354 | 1,210.1 | MdAtl |
| 7 |  New York |
28,946,127 | 47,126 | 417.0 | MdAtl |
| 9 |  Pennsylvania |
19,673,801 | 44,743 | 285.5 | MdAtl |
| 1 | Mid-Atlantic | 62,048,267 | 99,223 | 416.5 | NEast |
| 1 | Northeast | 86,213,073 | 161,912 | 345.5 | USA |