Memorizing the 50 states is half the work. The capitals are harder because most are not the biggest city. California's capital is Sacramento, not LA. Florida's is Tallahassee, not Jacksonville. New York's is Albany, not NYC.
This guide is structured the same way as our learn the 50 states guide: by region, with one capital per state. Once you can name the states, you only need to attach the capital. We'll flag the tricky ones.
Northeast capitals
New England (6 capitals)
- ▸Maine Augusta
- ▸New Hampshire Concord
- ▸Vermont Montpelier
- ▸Massachusetts Boston
- ▸Rhode Island Providence
- ▸Connecticut Hartford
Mid-Atlantic (3 capitals)
- ▸New York Albany ️
- ▸New Jersey Trenton
- ▸Pennsylvania Harrisburg ️
South capitals
South Atlantic (8)
- ▸Delaware Dover
- ▸Maryland Annapolis ️
- ▸Virginia Richmond
- ▸West Virginia Charleston
- ▸North Carolina Raleigh
- ▸South Carolina Columbia
- ▸Georgia Atlanta
- ▸Florida Tallahassee ️
East South Central (4)
- ▸Kentucky Frankfort ️
- ▸Tennessee Nashville
- ▸Alabama Montgomery
- ▸Mississippi Jackson
West South Central (4)
- ▸Arkansas Little Rock
- ▸Louisiana Baton Rouge ️
- ▸Oklahoma Oklahoma City
- ▸Texas Austin
Midwest capitals
East North Central (5)
- ▸Wisconsin Madison
- ▸Michigan Lansing ️
- ▸Illinois Springfield ️
- ▸Indiana Indianapolis
- ▸Ohio Columbus
Plains (7)
- ▸Minnesota Saint Paul
- ▸Iowa Des Moines
- ▸Missouri Jefferson City ️
- ▸North Dakota Bismarck
- ▸South Dakota Pierre ️
- ▸Nebraska Lincoln
- ▸Kansas Topeka
West capitals
Mountain (8)
- ▸Montana Helena
- ▸Idaho Boise
- ▸Wyoming Cheyenne
- ▸Nevada Carson City ️
- ▸Utah Salt Lake City
- ▸Colorado Denver
- ▸Arizona Phoenix
- ▸New Mexico Santa Fe
Pacific (5)
- ▸Washington Olympia ️
- ▸Oregon Salem
- ▸California Sacramento ️
- ▸Alaska Juneau ️
- ▸Hawaii Honolulu
Train your capitals daily
The Statedoku puzzle uses capitals as constraints regularly. Five minutes a day beats flashcards every time.
Play today's puzzleMnemonics for the 12 trickiest
- Pierre, SD, "Pierre is small like SD's population. The second-smallest state capital, after Montpelier."
- Frankfort, KY, "Frankfort sounds German. Named for Frank's Ford, where pioneer Stephen Frank was killed."
- Tallahassee, FL, "Florida is huge, but its capital is tucked in the top-left panhandle. Tallahassee = 'too far' from the rest of Florida."
- Albany, NY, "Alban + y. Sounds British, and it is: the English named it in 1664 for the Duke of York and Albany. Not NYC."
- Carson City, NV, "Kit Carson, the frontiersman. Not Vegas (Vegas didn't exist yet)."
- Olympia, WA, "Olympia → Olympic mountains. WA, not Seattle."
- Boise, ID, "ID = Idaho. Boise = 'Boy, See!' Bois (French for trees), French trappers named it."
- Jefferson City, MO, "Named after Thomas Jefferson, who signed the Louisiana Purchase that included MO. Not St. Louis."
- Annapolis, MD, "Anna + polis. US Naval Academy. Not Baltimore."
- Springfield, IL, "Where Lincoln practiced law. Not Chicago. (The Simpsons' Springfield is deliberately never placed in any state.)"
- Juneau, AK, "Joe-no. As in 'Joe, no, you can't drive there.' The only mainland capital no road reaches."
- Sacramento, CA, "Sacramento sounds Spanish (it is). Spanish missions, gold rush. Not LA, not SF."
How to drill them
The fastest way to lock these in: draw the US map blank, write states first, then add capitals. Day 1: capitals you already know (Boston, Austin, Atlanta, about 20 freebies). Day 2: the easy ones with state names that match (Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Honolulu). Day 3-5: the trickier mismatches (Annapolis, Pierre, Tallahassee, Frankfort). Day 7: full review of all 50 on a blank map.
Then play the daily Statedoku to keep recall fresh. Capital clues come up regularly.
The full 50-states guide
The 4 US regions explained
Quick capitals quiz
Browse all 50 state pages