US states by annual precipitation

Connecticut had the highest annual precipitation of 50 states in 2023, at 61.52 inches. New Mexico had the lowest, at 10.86 inches. The median was 37.92 inches and the figure for the United States was 29.53 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest61.52Connecticut

Lowest10.86New Mexico

Median37.9250 states

United States29.53History

Map of states, 2023

Under 22
22 to 29
29 to 38
38 to 46
46 to 52
52 and over
No data

inches, 2023. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2023

inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2023 inches	Change on 2022
1	Connecticut	61.52	+40.3%
2	Hawaii	59.03	+55.6%
3	Massachusetts	57.68	+32.5%
4	Rhode Island	57.09	+21.4%
5	New Hampshire	56.3	+21.9%
6	Florida	54.45	-0.6%
7	Maine	54.15	+8.4%
8	Vermont	53.32	+21.4%
9	Arkansas	52.33	+1.2%
10	Georgia	51.95	+13.4%
11	South Carolina	51.6	+13.6%
12	Alabama	51.12	-11.6%
13	New Jersey	50.54	+14.7%
14	North Carolina	48.83	+4.7%
15	Tennessee	48.79	-11%
16	Mississippi	47.72	-19.9%
17	New York	46.92	+8.8%
18	Delaware	44.19	+7.1%
19	Kentucky	44.06	-10.6%
20	Louisiana	43.66	-21.4%
21	Pennsylvania	42.96	-4.4%
22	Alaska	42.34	-1.5%
23	Virginia	41.43	-9.1%
24	West Virginia	40.13	-18.7%
25	Maryland	38.08	-13.7%
26	Ohio	37.75	-6.2%
27	Indiana	37.05	-3%
28	Oklahoma	36.93	+24.9%
29	Washington	35.82	-15.5%
30	Missouri	35.8	-11.1%
31	Illinois	34.65	-7%
32	Michigan	33.43	+2.5%
33	Wisconsin	30.11	-6.7%
34	Oregon	28.84	-2.2%
35	California	27.38	+94.2%
36	Iowa	26.93	-1.4%
37	Kansas	25.6	+20.5%
38	Nebraska	24.81	+58.8%
39	Minnesota	24.16	-10%
40	Texas	24	+13%
41	South Dakota	23.33	+37.3%
42	Idaho	22.13	+0.4%
43	Colorado	19.05	+15.6%
44	Wyoming	18.88	+28.3%
45	Montana	18.41	+0.7%
46	North Dakota	17.45	-7.4%
47	Utah	15.02	+31.8%
48	Nevada	12.86	+51.7%
49	Arizona	11.03	-8.6%
50	New Mexico	10.86	-23%

Other periods

About this ranking

Total precipitation from January to December, in inches: rain plus the water content of snow and other frozen precipitation. NOAA computes it from its climate divisional dataset (nClimDiv): station readings interpolated onto a 5 km grid and averaged over the area.

Values are area averages, not the reading at one weather station. NOAA revises the last two years every month.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (2026). NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide (US states by annual precipitation, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json

MLA 9

NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide, US states by annual precipitation, 2023. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 2026. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. US states by annual precipitation, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2023.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide, US states by annual precipitation, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_annual_2023,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide: US states by annual precipitation, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2023. Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
TI  - NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide: US states by annual precipitation, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
PB  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2023.
N1  - Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/6/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest annual precipitation?

Connecticut, with 61.52 inches in 2023, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest annual precipitation?

New Mexico, with 10.86 inches in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. Retrieved 2026-10-12.