Name all the... › US State Capitals
Name All the US State Capitals
The states are given. All you have to supply is fifty capital cities, and this is where the quiz turns cruel.
Answers register as you type, so there is nothing to submit. Spelling counts, capitals and punctuation do not.
State capitals are the classic trap, because the capital is so often not the city you would name first. New York's is Albany, not New York City. California's is Sacramento, not Los Angeles. Illinois answers Springfield rather than Chicago. Only a handful of states put their government in their largest city, and the ones that do, like Arizona with Phoenix, feel almost like a gift by the time you reach them.
The pattern is historical. Many capitals were placed near the geographic centre of a state, or in a town that was central when travel meant a horse, and the population later grew somewhere else entirely.
The full list of 50 answers
- Alabama: Montgomery
- Alaska: Juneau
- Arizona: Phoenix
- Arkansas: Little Rock
- California: Sacramento
- Colorado: Denver
- Connecticut: Hartford
- Delaware: Dover
- Florida: Tallahassee
- Georgia: Atlanta
- Hawaii: Honolulu
- Idaho: Boise
- Illinois: Springfield
- Indiana: Indianapolis
- Iowa: Des Moines
- Kansas: Topeka
- Kentucky: Frankfort
- Louisiana: Baton Rouge
- Maine: Augusta
- Maryland: Annapolis
- Massachusetts: Boston
- Michigan: Lansing
- Minnesota: Saint Paul
- Mississippi: Jackson
- Missouri: Jefferson City
- Montana: Helena
- Nebraska: Lincoln
- Nevada: Carson City
- New Hampshire: Concord
- New Jersey: Trenton
- New Mexico: Santa Fe
- New York: Albany
- North Carolina: Raleigh
- North Dakota: Bismarck
- Ohio: Columbus
- Oklahoma: Oklahoma City
- Oregon: Salem
- Pennsylvania: Harrisburg
- Rhode Island: Providence
- South Carolina: Columbia
- South Dakota: Pierre
- Tennessee: Nashville
- Texas: Austin
- Utah: Salt Lake City
- Vermont: Montpelier
- Virginia: Richmond
- Washington: Olympia
- West Virginia: Charleston
- Wisconsin: Madison
- Wyoming: Cheyenne
Frequently asked questions
Why is the capital rarely the biggest city?
Most were chosen for being central and reachable when travel was slow, or as a compromise between rival towns. Commerce then grew up around ports and rail hubs somewhere else.
Which state capitals catch people out most?
Albany for New York, Sacramento for California, Springfield for Illinois, Jefferson City for Missouri and Olympia for Washington. All five have a far more famous city next to them.
Is Saint Paul or St. Paul accepted?
Both, along with St Paul. Punctuation is ignored, so any of the usual spellings registers as correct.
Prefer multiple choice?
The trivia rounds give you four options and an explanation after every answer. General KnowledgeGeographyScienceHistory