US states by average annual temperature

Florida had the highest average annual temperature of 50 states in 2016, at 72.5 °F. Alaska had the lowest, at 31.9 °F. The median was 53.9 °F and the figure for the United States was 54.9 °F. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest72.5Florida

Lowest31.9Alaska

Median53.950 states

United States54.9History

Map of states, 2016

Under 46
46 to 50
50 to 54
54 to 57
57 to 63
63 and over
No data

°F, 2016. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, contiguous US and statewide. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

°F. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, contiguous US and statewide. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2016 °F	Change on 2015
1	Florida	72.5	-1.2%
2	Louisiana	68.7	+0.9%
3	Texas	67.2	+2.1%
4	Hawaii	66.8	-0.7%
5	Mississippi	65.9	+0.9%
6	Georgia	65.8	+0.8%
7	Alabama	65.3	+1.1%
8	South Carolina	64.9	+0.6%
9	Arkansas	62.8	+2.3%
10	Oklahoma	62.3	+2.5%
11	Arizona	62.2	+0.6%
12	North Carolina	60.8	+0.5%
13	Tennessee	60.3	+2.2%
14	California	60.1	-1.2%
15	Kentucky	57.9	+2.3%
16	Delaware	57.4	+1.8%
16	Missouri	57.4	+2.9%
18	Kansas	57.2	+1.6%
19	Virginia	57.1	+1.1%
20	Maryland	56.5	+2%
21	New Mexico	55.5	+1.1%
22	New Jersey	55	+2%
23	Illinois	54.7	+3.4%
24	Indiana	54.2	+3.6%
25	West Virginia	54.1	+1.9%
26	Ohio	53.6	+3.9%
27	Rhode Island	52.2	+3.6%
28	Nevada	51.9	-1.9%
29	Connecticut	51.8	+4%
30	Nebraska	51.7	+1.8%
31	Pennsylvania	50.9	+2.8%
32	Iowa	50.7	+2.8%
33	Massachusetts	50.3	+3.7%
34	Utah	50.2	-1%
35	Oregon	48.8	-3.2%
36	Washington	48.6	-2.8%
37	South Dakota	48.4	+1.9%
38	New York	47.7	+4.4%
39	Michigan	47.4	+5.1%
40	Colorado	47.3	-0.2%
41	Wisconsin	46.2	+3.1%
42	New Hampshire	45.7	+4.8%
43	Idaho	45.1	-2.8%
44	Vermont	44.7	+4.9%
45	Minnesota	44.6	+2.5%
45	Montana	44.6	-0.7%
47	North Dakota	44.4	+2.3%
48	Wyoming	43.9	-0.7%
49	Maine	43.3	+5.1%
50	Alaska	31.9	+6.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Mean air temperature from January to December, in degrees Fahrenheit: the average of the 12 monthly mean temperatures. 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, so a county with mountains and valleys has one value for very different local climates. 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 average temperature, 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/8/tavg/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 average temperature, contiguous US and statewide (US states by average annual temperature, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json

MLA 9

NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, contiguous US and statewide, US states by average annual temperature, 2016. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 2026. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, contiguous US and statewide. US states by average annual temperature, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, contiguous US and statewide, US states by average annual temperature, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_average_2016,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, contiguous US and statewide: US states by average annual temperature, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, 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/8/tavg/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 average temperature, contiguous US and statewide: US states by average annual temperature, 2016
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/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December average temperature, 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/8/tavg/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest average annual temperature?

Florida, with 72.5 °F in 2016, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest average annual temperature?

Alaska, with 31.9 °F in 2016.

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 average temperature, contiguous US and statewide. Retrieved 2026-10-12.