Data / Rankings / Greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory) / US states

US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory)

Texas had the highest greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory) of 51 states in 2016, at 832.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 3.44 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The median was 108.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Highest832.43Texas
Lowest3.44District of Columbia
Median108.851 states

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 138.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska: 33.93 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona: 108.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas: 92.33 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia: 425.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado: 129.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut: 38.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware: 16.79 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia: 3.44 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida: 273.34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia: 165.42 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii: 18.88 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho: 34.58 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois: 252.12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana: 217.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa: 119.66 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas: 115.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky: 154.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana: 214.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine: 18.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland: 70.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts: 70.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan: 191.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota: 135.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi: 78.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri: 155.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana: 54.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska: 88.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada: 45.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire: 15.68 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey: 113.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico: 80.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York: 196.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina: 150.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota: 85 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio: 239.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma: 147.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon: 50.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania: 270.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island: 10.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina: 83.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota: 40.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee: 118.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas: 832.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah: 74.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont: 8.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia: 130.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington: 86.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia: 127.37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin: 127.09 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming: 91.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent
  • Under 36
  • 36 to 77
  • 77 to 110
  • 110 to 130
  • 130 to 190
  • 190 and over
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 2016. Source: EPA state greenhouse gas inventory, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

Texas: 832.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas832.43California: 425.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia425.43Florida: 273.34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida273.34Pennsylvania: 270.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania270.7Illinois: 252.12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois252.12Ohio: 239.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio239.94Indiana: 217.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana217.82Louisiana: 214.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana214.7New York: 196.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York196.49Michigan: 191.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan191.17Georgia: 165.42 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia165.42Missouri: 155.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri155.21Kentucky: 154.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky154.7North Carolina: 150.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina150.4Oklahoma: 147.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma147.19Alabama: 138.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlabama138.35Minnesota: 135.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota135.6Virginia: 130.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia130.62Colorado: 129.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado129.01West Virginia: 127.37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia127.37Wisconsin: 127.09 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin127.09Iowa: 119.66 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa119.66Tennessee: 118.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee118.01Kansas: 115.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas115.46New Jersey: 113.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey113.19Arizona: 108.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona108.8Arkansas: 92.33 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas92.33Wyoming: 91.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming91.03Nebraska: 88.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska88.46Washington: 86.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington86.97North Dakota: 85 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota85South Carolina: 83.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina83.16New Mexico: 80.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico80.25Mississippi: 78.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi78.63Utah: 74.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah74.24Massachusetts: 70.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts70.77Maryland: 70.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland70.21Montana: 54.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana54.98Oregon: 50.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon50.72Nevada: 45.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada45.5South Dakota: 40.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota40.63Connecticut: 38.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut38.35Idaho: 34.58 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho34.58Alaska: 33.93 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska33.93Hawaii: 18.88 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii18.88Maine: 18.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine18.49Delaware: 16.79 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware16.79New Hampshire: 15.68 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire15.68Rhode Island: 10.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island10.62Vermont: 8.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont8.71District of Columbia: 3.44 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia3.44Texas: 832.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTexas832.43California: 425.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentCalifornia425.43Florida: 273.34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentFlorida273.34Pennsylvania: 270.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentPennsylvania270.7Illinois: 252.12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIllinois252.12Ohio: 239.94 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOhio239.94Indiana: 217.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIndiana217.82Louisiana: 214.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentLouisiana214.7New York: 196.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew York196.49Michigan: 191.17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMichigan191.17Georgia: 165.42 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentGeorgia165.42Missouri: 155.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMissouri155.21Kentucky: 154.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKentucky154.7North Carolina: 150.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Carolina150.4Oklahoma: 147.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOklahoma147.19Alabama: 138.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlabama138.35Minnesota: 135.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMinnesota135.6Virginia: 130.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVirginia130.62Colorado: 129.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentColorado129.01West Virginia: 127.37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWest Virginia127.37Wisconsin: 127.09 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWisconsin127.09Iowa: 119.66 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIowa119.66Tennessee: 118.01 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentTennessee118.01Kansas: 115.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentKansas115.46New Jersey: 113.19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Jersey113.19Arizona: 108.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArizona108.8Arkansas: 92.33 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentArkansas92.33Wyoming: 91.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWyoming91.03Nebraska: 88.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNebraska88.46Washington: 86.97 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentWashington86.97North Dakota: 85 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNorth Dakota85South Carolina: 83.16 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Carolina83.16New Mexico: 80.25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Mexico80.25Mississippi: 78.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMississippi78.63Utah: 74.24 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentUtah74.24Massachusetts: 70.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMassachusetts70.77Maryland: 70.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaryland70.21Montana: 54.98 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMontana54.98Oregon: 50.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentOregon50.72Nevada: 45.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNevada45.5South Dakota: 40.63 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentSouth Dakota40.63Connecticut: 38.35 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentConnecticut38.35Idaho: 34.58 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentIdaho34.58Alaska: 33.93 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentAlaska33.93Hawaii: 18.88 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentHawaii18.88Maine: 18.49 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentMaine18.49Delaware: 16.79 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDelaware16.79New Hampshire: 15.68 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentNew Hampshire15.68Rhode Island: 10.62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentRhode Island10.62Vermont: 8.71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentVermont8.71District of Columbia: 3.44 million tonnes of CO2 equivalentDistrict of Columbia3.44
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Source: EPA state greenhouse gas inventory, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2016
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent		Change on 2015
1Texas832.43-2.2%
2California425.43-0.7%
3Florida273.34+1.8%
4Pennsylvania270.7-4.6%
5Illinois252.12-6.4%
6Ohio239.94-3.3%
7Indiana217.82-3.9%
8Louisiana214.7-0%
9New York196.49-2.7%
10Michigan191.17-4.4%
11Georgia165.42-1.1%
12Missouri155.21-5%
13Kentucky154.7-5.3%
14North Carolina150.4+0.8%
15Oklahoma147.19-3.5%
16Alabama138.35-4.7%
17Minnesota135.6+1%
18Virginia130.62+2.2%
19Colorado129.01-0.9%
20West Virginia127.37-1.2%
21Wisconsin127.09-2.9%
22Iowa119.66-3.8%
23Tennessee118.01+2.7%
24Kansas115.46-1.8%
25New Jersey113.19+1.2%
26Arizona108.8-4.3%
27Arkansas92.33+3%
28Wyoming91.03-6.5%
29Nebraska88.46-1.6%
30Washington86.97+0.6%
31North Dakota85-7.8%
32South Carolina83.16-1.4%
33New Mexico80.25-4%
34Mississippi78.63+0.6%
35Utah74.24-7.7%
36Massachusetts70.77-4.2%
37Maryland70.21-2.6%
38Montana54.98-4%
39Oregon50.72-0.6%
40Nevada45.5+2%
41South Dakota40.63-0.5%
42Connecticut38.35-5.9%
43Idaho34.58+2.4%
44Alaska33.93-4.3%
45Hawaii18.88-0.5%
46Maine18.49-3.7%
47Delaware16.79+6%
48New Hampshire15.68-9.5%
49Rhode Island10.62-10.5%
50Vermont8.71-2.3%
51District of Columbia3.44-4.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Gross greenhouse gas emissions of a US state or the District of Columbia, the sum of the transportation, electric power, industry, agriculture, commercial and residential sectors, without the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) net flux.

More on how it is measured
  • In million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases weighted by their 100-year global warming potentials (IPCC AR5), from the EPA inventory of US emissions by state, which allocates the national inventory to the states with the same methods for every state.
  • Emissions are counted where they occur, so electricity is counted in the state that generates it, not the state that uses it.

A separate series from ghg_emissions_total (the EEA inventories of European countries); both leave out LULUCF. EPA says these estimates are not official state data: a state's own inventory can differ because it uses other methods, data or scopes. Each annual edition recalculates the whole series back to 1990.

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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. 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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2025). EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals

MLA 9

EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2016. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 23 Apr. 2025, https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2025. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2025) EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{environmental_us_states_by_greenhouse_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}},
  title = {{EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2016}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
TI  - EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent: US states by greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory), 2016
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/04/23
PB  - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/state-greenhouse-gas-emissions/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State. EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissions-and-removals. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory)?

Texas, with 832.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Which state has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions (EPA state inventory)?

District of Columbia, with 3.44 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA greenhouse gas inventory by state: gross total of the six economic sectors, excluding LULUCF, million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings