US states by average annual temperature

Florida had the highest average annual temperature of 50 states in 2017, at 72.8 °F. Alaska had the lowest, at 29.3 °F. The median was 53.6 °F and the figure for the United States was 54.5 °F. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest72.8Florida

Lowest29.3Alaska

Median53.650 states

United States54.5History

Map of states, 2017

Under 45
45 to 50
50 to 54
54 to 57
57 to 63
63 and over
No data

°F, 2017. 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, 2017

°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	2017 °F	Change on 2016
1	Florida	72.8	+0.4%
2	Louisiana	68.7	0%
3	Texas	67.3	+0.1%
4	Hawaii	66.7	-0.1%
5	Georgia	65.8	0%
5	Mississippi	65.8	-0.2%
7	South Carolina	65.1	+0.3%
8	Alabama	65	-0.5%
9	Arizona	63	+1.3%
10	Arkansas	62.5	-0.5%
11	Oklahoma	61.8	-0.8%
12	North Carolina	61	+0.3%
13	California	60.3	+0.3%
14	Tennessee	60	-0.5%
15	Kentucky	57.8	-0.2%
16	Delaware	57.6	+0.3%
17	Virginia	57.3	+0.4%
18	Missouri	57.2	-0.3%
19	Maryland	56.7	+0.4%
20	Kansas	56.5	-1.2%
21	New Mexico	56.4	+1.6%
22	New Jersey	54.6	-0.7%
23	Illinois	54.4	-0.5%
24	Indiana	54	-0.4%
24	West Virginia	54	-0.2%
26	Ohio	53.2	-0.7%
27	Nevada	52.2	+0.6%
28	Rhode Island	51.5	-1.3%
29	Connecticut	50.9	-1.7%
30	Nebraska	50.7	-1.9%
30	Utah	50.7	+1%
32	Pennsylvania	50.6	-0.6%
33	Iowa	50	-1.4%
34	Massachusetts	49.6	-1.4%
35	Oregon	48	-1.6%
36	Colorado	47.9	+1.3%
37	New York	46.9	-1.7%
38	South Dakota	46.8	-3.3%
38	Washington	46.8	-3.7%
40	Michigan	46.3	-2.3%
41	New Hampshire	44.9	-1.8%
42	Wisconsin	44.7	-3.2%
43	Idaho	44.3	-1.8%
44	Vermont	43.8	-2%
45	Montana	43.2	-3.1%
45	Wyoming	43.2	-1.6%
47	Minnesota	42.6	-4.5%
48	Maine	42.4	-2.1%
49	North Dakota	42	-5.4%
50	Alaska	29.3	-8.2%

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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_average_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2017.
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 72.8 °F in 2017, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest average annual temperature?

Alaska, with 29.3 °F in 2017.

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.