Active Duty Military Personnel in the U.S.
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According to the Department of Defense data, there were 1.195 million active-duty militaries and over 778 thousand reserve forces in 2021.
Table of Contents
- The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the military
- The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Army forces
- The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Navy
- The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Marine corps
- The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Air Force
- The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Coast Guard
- Active Duty Military Personnel Per capita
The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the military
| Rank | Rank | Total active-duty members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 162,362 |
| 2 | Virginia | 130,857 |
| 3 | Texas | 118,691 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 100,673 |
| 5 | Georgia | 69,834 |
| 6 | Florida | 69,290 |
| 7 | Washington | 63,427 |
| 8 | Hawaii | 41,815 |
| 9 | South Carolina | 38,476 |
| 10 | Colorado | 38,086 |
The Army is the largest, most senior, and oldest branch of the American military; and can be traced back to the Continental U.S. Army, which was founded to fight in the Revolutionary War. The American Army includes the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve and makes up the land warfare branch of the U.S. military.
Total active-duty members for the five armed services were 426,624 for the Army, 306,272 for the Navy, 147,846 for the Marine Corps, 275,298 for the Air Force Force, and 39,029 for the Coast Guard.
The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Army forces
| Rank | State | Total active-duty members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 73,152 |
| 2 | Georgia | 52,576 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 46,994 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 34,675 |
| 5 | Washington | 28,454 |
| 6 | Colorado | 27,661 |
| 7 | Virginia | 21,118 |
| 8 | Kansas | 18,327 |
| 9 | New York | 17,635 |
| 10 | Hawaii | 15,493 |
| Rank | State | Total active-duty members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia | 81,098 |
| 2 | California | 77,353 |
| 3 | Florida | 30,551 |
| 4 | Washington | 25,765 |
| 5 | Illinois | 15,760 |
| 6 | Hawaii | 12,571 |
| 7 | Maryland | 9,723 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 8,582 |
| 9 | Georgia | 6,340 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 6,174 |
The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Marine corps
| Rank | State | Total active-duty members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 54,048 |
| 2 | North Carolina | 41,334 |
| 3 | Virginia | 11,492 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 10,259 |
| 5 | Hawaii | 6,940 |
| 6 | Florida | 3,768 |
| 7 | Arizona | 3,246 |
| 8 | Texas | 2,282 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | 2,251 |
| 10 | Maryland | 2,163 |
The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Air Force
| Rank | State | Total active-duty members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 4,991 |
| 2 | California | 4,742 |
| 3 | Virginia | 4,347 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | 2,001 |
| 5 | New Jersey | 1,866 |
| 6 | Alaska | 1,781 |
| 7 | Texas | 1,777 |
| 8 | Washington | 1,670 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1,555 |
| 10 | Hawaii | 1,277 |
The top 10 U.S. states with the total active-duty members of the Coast Guard
| Rank | State | Total active-duty members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 4991 |
| 2 | California | 4742 |
| 3 | Virginia | 4347 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | 2001 |
| 5 | New Jersey | 1866 |
| 6 | Alaska | 1781 |
| 7 | Texas | 1777 |
| 8 | Washington | 1670 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1555 |
| 10 | Hawaii | 1277 |
Active Duty Military Personnel Per capita
The number of military personnel on active duty differs broadly, from state to state, from as few as eight active duty personnel per 100,000 residents in Iowa to 2,873 per 100,000 residents in Hawaii.
The map below shows the number of active duty military personnel per 100,000 residents.
| Duty State | Total | Per 100,000 Residents |
|---|---|---|
| HAWAII | 41815 | 2873.3479881067 |
| ALASKA | 20715 | 2824.5506148835 |
| VIRGINIA | 130857 | 1516.0588794879 |
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | 10939 | 1105.0075357494 |
| NORTH CAROLINA | 100673 | 964.35729757338 |
| NORTH DAKOTA | 7513 | 964.3252290481 |
| WASHINGTON | 63427 | 823.16271139236 |
| KENTUCKY | 35215 | 781.54198244233 |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | 38476 | 751.71561564348 |
| KANSAS | 21734 | 739.78515119746 |
| COLORADO | 38086 | 659.64472781298 |
| GEORGIA | 69834 | 651.92867601178 |
| NEW MEXICO | 12702 | 599.85209126517 |
| WYOMING | 3176 | 550.57545189312 |
| OKLAHOMA | 21435 | 541.37633093084 |
| DELAWARE | 3661 | 530.92981603811 |
| MARYLAND | 30112 | 487.46815721755 |
| CALIFORNIA | 162362 | 410.64566811715 |
| TEXAS | 118691 | 407.23603862757 |
| NEVADA | 12375 | 398.60027687822 |
| MISSISSIPPI | 11684 | 394.55924281366 |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | 3488 | 393.38331075815 |
| LOUISIANA | 15547 | 333.787271427 |
| RHODE ISLAND | 3581 | 326.32299324117 |
| NEBRASKA | 6353 | 323.88412157202 |
| FLORIDA | 69290 | 321.70767205243 |
| MONTANA | 3355 | 309.43761673084 |
| ARIZONA | 19017 | 265.91616698143 |
| MISSOURI | 15778 | 256.34805885965 |
| IDAHO | 3612 | 196.39977249816 |
| CONNECTICUT | 7060 | 195.78784362708 |
| ALABAMA | 8712 | 173.39801392399 |
| ILLINOIS | 21646 | 169.08310107125 |
| UTAH | 4641 | 144.76172176928 |
| ARKANSAS | 3833 | 127.27775040146 |
| NEW YORK | 20512 | 101.53827617292 |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | 1333 | 96.767472771898 |
| NEW JERSEY | 8327 | 89.643722452614 |
| OHIO | 6991 | 59.248534338217 |
| MAINE | 782 | 57.400435568011 |
| MASSACHUSETTS | 3417 | 48.606548270769 |
| OREGON | 1926 | 45.453944722717 |
| TENNESSEE | 2493 | 36.073762379103 |
| VERMONT | 157 | 24.413872677766 |
| MICHIGAN | 2052 | 20.362534484577 |
| PENNSYLVANIA | 2508 | 19.288301660424 |
| WISCONSIN | 1034 | 17.54410373893 |
| INDIANA | 1059 | 15.606744235673 |
| MINNESOTA | 642 | 11.250340401655 |
| WEST VIRGINIA | 186 | 10.36953453055 |
| IOWA | 265 | 8.0999726129228 |
In many U.S. states with high concentrations of active-duty service members, yearlong spending by the Department of Defense comes to thousands of U.S. dollars per resident. These expenses sustain the high numbers of armed forces, military bases, and other operations that can often assist shape state economies.
