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New Study Reveals Most Overcrowded U.S. States

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Laurie Jo Miller Farr
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New Study Reveals Most Overcrowded U.S. States

By Laurie Jo Miller Farr•

This article published in Newsweek shows how places like North Dakota and West Virginia are the most “over-crowded” with visitors (compared to local population sizes), underscoring the need to ensure the local infrastructure is ready to meet demand.

West Virginia, with its 1.77 million residents, welcomes approximately 75 million visitors annually. Its reputation for outdoor adventures such as whitewater rafting, hiking, and rock climbing has made it a year-round draw. The result is a tourism pressure ratio of over 42 to 1, making it the nation’s most-saturated state by tourist volume per capita.

Rounding out the top-five most-overcrowded states are North Dakota (33 tourists per resident), Delaware (28), Rhode Island, and Vermont. Many of these states have relatively small populations, amplifying the effect of tourism surges.

15 U.S. States Most-Overcrowded With Tourists

  1. West Virginia
  2. North Dakota
  3. Delaware
  4. Rhode Island
  5. Vermont
  6. Ohio
  7. Tennessee
  8. New Mexico
  9. Idaho
  10. Wisconsin
  11. Connecticut
  12. Kentucky
  13. Arkansas
  14. Nevada
  15. South Dakota

15 Most-Visited U.S. States Overall

  1. New York
  2. California
  3. Ohio
  4. Pennsylvania
  5. Georgia
  6. Tennessee
  7. Florida
  8. Michigan
  9. New Jersey
  10. Wisconsin
  11. Illinois
  12. Washington
  13. Colorado
  14. Indiana
  15. Minnesota

Read more here and here.

Source: Based on a study by Go2Africa that looked at the number of international and domestic visitors in each state, using 2023/2024 data from national tourist boards, and comparing it against the 2023/2024 population data in each state to determine the tourist-to-resident ratio. (h/t Karyl Leigh Barnes, DCI)