American Women Outnumber Men in All But Nine States: Census Data

The U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics File, released today, reveals deeper data about the makeup of the American population, including information about how sex ratios differ in different geographic areas of the country.

In 2020, females accounted for 50.9% of the total U.S. population, or 168.8 million people, while males represented 49.1%, or 162.7 million. That works out to a national average sex ratio of 96.4 males per 100 females. The percentage of the female population increased slightly from 2010 data, when females were 50.8% of the total population, or 156.9 million people, vs 49.2%, or 151.8 million males. In the U.S., having more men than women was common until around 1950, when the female population began to exceed that of males.

While the overall percentage of females is higher throughout the country, there are nine states where the opposite is true, and the ratio is higher for males than females.

In Alaska, the data shows 108.4 males for every 100 females, while in North Dakota, there are 104.5 males for every 100 females. Alaska, with a population of 733,391 in 2020, is the least populated state, while North Dakota's population is slightly higher at 779,094.

All nine states with more males than females are located west of the Mississippi River. In addition to Alaska and North Dakota, that list includes Wyoming (102.8 males per 100 females), South Dakota (101.1), Utah (100.9), Colorado (100.9), Montana (100.8), Nevada (100.2), and Hawaii (100.1).

While no states reported a perfectly split ratio of 100 males per 100 females, Hawaii and Idaho came close. Hawaii reported 100.1 males per 100 females and Idaho reported 99.9 males per 100 females.

Three states had ratios close to 96.4 males per 100 females, the average ratio of the overall American population. Missouri reported 96.6 males per 100 females, slightly higher than the national average. Arkansas and Illinois each reported a ratio of 96.2 males per 100 females, just a smidge lower than the national average.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Delaware stands as the state with the highest ratio of females to males, with only 92.9 males per 100 females. Other states in the top five list of female-to-male ratios include Maryland (92.9 males per 100 females), Mississippi (93.4), Alabama (93.4), and South Carolina (93.5).