State capitals quiz

Why capitals are hard

The main trap is that most capitals are not the biggest or best-known city in their state. In 33 of the 50 states the capital is smaller than at least one other city. New York’s capital is Albany, not New York City; California’s is Sacramento, not Los Angeles; Illinois’s is Springfield, not Chicago; and Texas’s is Austin, not Houston. Pennsylvania’s is Harrisburg, Washington’s is Olympia and Nevada’s is Carson City.

Only 17 capitals are their state’s largest city. Phoenix, the biggest capital in the country, is one of them, along with Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Columbus, Nashville and Oklahoma City.

Pairs that trip people up

A few names cause confusion again and again. Columbia is the capital of South Carolina, while Columbus is the capital of Ohio. Charleston is the capital of West Virginia, but South Carolina’s largest city, not its capital. Portland is the largest city in both Maine and Oregon and the capital of neither: Maine’s capital is Augusta and Oregon’s is Salem. Jackson is the capital of Mississippi, and Jefferson City is the capital of Missouri.

In Minnesota, the capital is Saint Paul, the smaller of the Twin Cities; Minneapolis is the largest city.

Small towns and big cities

The capitals range from small towns to some of the largest cities in the country. Montpelier, Vermont, has fewer than 8,000 residents, and Pierre, South Dakota, about 14,000. At the other end, Phoenix has about 1.67 million people, and Austin and Columbus each have close to a million.

Many capitals were chosen precisely because they were not the largest city: a central location, a compromise between rival towns, or a site picked to be near the middle of the state. Each state’s capital page tells how its capital was chosen and lists every city that held the title before it.