US states by annual precipitation

Louisiana had the highest annual precipitation of 50 states in 2024, at 71.66 inches. Nevada had the lowest, at 9.46 inches. The median was 41.48 inches and the figure for the United States was 31.64 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest71.66Louisiana

Lowest9.46Nevada

Median41.4850 states

United States31.64History

Map of states, 2024

Under 20
20 to 36
36 to 41
41 to 45
45 to 53
53 and over
No data

inches, 2024. 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, 2024

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	2024 inches	Change on 2023
1	Louisiana	71.66	+64.1%
2	Mississippi	57.9	+21.3%
3	Florida	56.82	+4.4%
4	Rhode Island	56.66	-0.8%
5	Alabama	56.51	+10.5%
6	Georgia	56.47	+8.7%
7	Arkansas	54.69	+4.5%
8	Hawaii	53.55	-9.3%
9	Tennessee	53.15	+8.9%
10	North Carolina	53.09	+8.7%
11	South Carolina	52.89	+2.5%
12	Connecticut	52.03	-15.4%
13	Kentucky	51.61	+17.1%
14	Massachusetts	48.06	-16.7%
15	Vermont	46.36	-13.1%
16	New Hampshire	45.73	-18.8%
17	Virginia	45.48	+9.8%
18	Pennsylvania	44.86	+4.4%
19	New York	44.29	-5.6%
20	Missouri	43.94	+22.7%
21	Maine	42.9	-20.8%
22	Indiana	42.86	+15.7%
23	New Jersey	42.58	-15.7%
24	Washington	42.38	+18.3%
25	West Virginia	42.09	+4.9%
26	Illinois	40.87	+18%
27	Maryland	39.46	+3.6%
28	Ohio	37.88	+0.3%
29	Delaware	37.63	-14.8%
30	Alaska	37.57	-11.3%
31	Iowa	37.05	+37.6%
32	Wisconsin	36.98	+22.8%
33	Oregon	36.54	+26.7%
34	Oklahoma	36.45	-1.3%
35	Michigan	34.61	+3.5%
36	Minnesota	29.57	+22.4%
37	Texas	29.42	+22.6%
38	Kansas	27.42	+7.1%
39	California	26.09	-4.7%
40	Nebraska	22.4	-9.7%
41	Idaho	22.34	+0.9%
42	Colorado	19.22	+0.9%
43	South Dakota	19.02	-18.5%
44	North Dakota	18.47	+5.8%
45	Montana	17.04	-7.4%
46	Wyoming	13.3	-29.6%
47	New Mexico	12.78	+17.7%
48	Utah	12.71	-15.4%
49	Arizona	9.84	-10.8%
50	Nevada	9.46	-26.4%

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/16/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, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/16/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, 2024. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/16/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2024. 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, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/16/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2024.

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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/16/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_annual_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/16/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2024. 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/16/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, 2024
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/16/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2024.
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/16/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest annual precipitation?

Louisiana, with 71.66 inches in 2024, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest annual precipitation?

Nevada, with 9.46 inches in 2024.

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.