US states by average annual temperature

Florida had the highest average annual temperature of 50 states in 2020, at 73.2 °F. Alaska had the lowest, at 27.5 °F. The median was 53.2 °F and the figure for the United States was 54.4 °F. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest73.2Florida

Lowest27.5Alaska

Median53.250 states

United States54.4History

Map of states, 2020

Under 45
45 to 50
50 to 53
53 to 57
57 to 62
62 and over
No data

°F, 2020. 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, 2020

°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	2020 °F	Change on 2019
1	Florida	73.2	0%
2	Louisiana	68.2	+0.7%
3	Hawaii	67.3	-0.4%
4	Texas	66.9	+1.5%
5	Georgia	65.6	-0.9%
6	Mississippi	65.5	+0.5%
7	Alabama	64.9	-0.8%
8	South Carolina	64.6	-0.6%
9	Arizona	62.6	+3.8%
10	Arkansas	61.2	0%
11	North Carolina	60.8	-0.8%
12	Oklahoma	60.7	+1.3%
13	California	60.5	+3.6%
14	Tennessee	59.3	-0.8%
15	Delaware	58	+0.9%
16	Virginia	57.4	-0.2%
17	Maryland	57.2	+1.1%
18	Kentucky	57.1	-0.7%
19	New Mexico	56	+2.8%
20	Missouri	55.8	+1.5%
21	Kansas	55.6	+3.3%
22	New Jersey	55.5	+2.2%
23	West Virginia	54	-0.4%
24	Illinois	53.3	+2.3%
24	Indiana	53.3	+1.7%
26	Ohio	53	+1.1%
27	Rhode Island	52.8	+4.3%
28	Nevada	52.4	+5%
29	Connecticut	51.8	+4%
30	Pennsylvania	51.2	+2.6%
31	Massachusetts	50.9	+4.9%
32	Nebraska	50.6	+6.5%
33	Utah	50.4	+5.2%
34	Iowa	49.2	+5.1%
35	Oregon	48.8	+3.6%
36	Washington	48.1	+3.4%
37	New York	47.8	+5.8%
38	Colorado	47.3	+4.4%
39	South Dakota	46.8	+10.6%
40	Michigan	46.5	+5.9%
41	New Hampshire	45.9	+6%
42	Vermont	44.8	+6.9%
42	Wisconsin	44.8	+6.4%
44	Idaho	44.3	+3%
45	Maine	43.5	+6.9%
46	Montana	43.3	+8.5%
47	Wyoming	42.8	+6.2%
48	Minnesota	42.4	+7.9%
49	North Dakota	42.3	+11.3%
50	Alaska	27.5	-14.6%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_average_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-annual-temperature/us-states?period=2020.
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 73.2 °F in 2020, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest average annual temperature?

Alaska, with 27.5 °F in 2020.

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.