Do You Know When Your State Was Founded? Find Out With This Interactive Map

The road to 50 states spanned more than 170 years, starting with Delaware in early December of 1787 and ending with Hawaii in August 1959. Do you know what number your state is?

Find the answer below, plus a map to help you visualize the data, some fun facts about U.S. statehood dates, and a quiz.

1. Quiz: Put These U.S. States in Order From Oldest to Newest
2. What Number Is Your State? See All 50 Ordered by Statehood Date
3. Map: See How Statehood Went From East to West
4. Fun Facts About U.S. Statehood Dates

Quiz: Put These U.S. States in Order From Oldest to Newest

Before you delve into the data, test your knowledge of statehood dates with this quiz. It features 10 states—your job is to put them in order from oldest to newest. You have five tries to get it perfect (but you can repeat the quiz as many times as you want).

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What Number Is Your State? See All 50 Ordered by Statehood Date

The first 13 states listed below were the original 13 colonies. Their so-called statehood dates are the day they ratified the U.S. Constitution. For all other states, the date is the day the U.S. officially admitted them to the country as a state.

Map: See How Statehood Went From East to West

USAFacts created a handy interactive map to help you visualize statehood progression. Hover over or tap on a state to view the year it gained statehood. The map is color-coded: The lighter blue a state is, the earlier it was admitted to the Union. The darkest blue is reserved for our two newest additions—Alaska and Hawaii, which both became states in 1959.

Broadly, the East Coast got organized into states the earliest. No surprise there—the original 13 colonies are all eastern. Midwestern and Southern states followed. Although the general trend is that annexation started east and moved west, states didn’t enter the union in exactly that order. California became a state in 1850, before a number of more easterly states (including Wyoming in 1890 and Oklahoma in 1907).

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Fun Facts About U.S. Statehood Dates

1. Two states were admitted on Valentine’s Day.

Oregon in 1859 and Arizona in 1912.

2. And one was admitted on Halloween.

Nevada in 1864.

3. More states were admitted in December than any other month.

December has nine. January is the runner-up with seven, followed by November and June (tied at six).

4. More states were admitted in 1788 than any other year.

The year 1788 welcomed eight states, but they were all colonies that simply ratified the U.S. Constitution that year. Apart from that, 1889 was the busiest year for annexation. Four states were added in November of that year: North and South Dakota, Montana, and Washington.

5. Between 1816 and 1821, one new state was admitted every single year.

Indiana started the run in 1816 and Missouri ended it in 1821. After that, nearly 15 years elapsed before another state got added (Arkansas).

6. We’re currently in the longest stretch without a new state in U.S. history.

It’s been about 66 years since the U.S. added a new state. The second longest gap is just short of 47 years: between Arizona’s admission in February 1912 and Alaska’s admission in January 1959.

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