How Many US State Capitals Do You Know?
Twenty questions on the capital cities of US states. Test your knowledge of the famous ones, the tricky ones, and the ones almost nobody gets right.
About This Quiz
State capitals are one of those things almost everybody learned in grade school and almost everybody has forgotten chunks of by adulthood. The famous ones are easy. Sacramento, Boston, Honolulu, Atlanta, Denver. The tricky ones are tricky for a reason: in most US states, the capital is not the biggest city, and our brains keep reaching for the biggest city when the question gets asked. New York's capital is not New York City. Illinois is not Chicago. Florida is not Miami. Texas is not Houston or Dallas. The reason is historical and political: when these states were drawing up their constitutions, they often chose smaller cities on purpose to keep the capital out of the hands of any one big urban interest.
This quiz mixes the famous capitals with the tricky ones to give you an honest score. There are twenty questions covering all four regions of the country, and each one comes with a short explanation so you actually learn something whether you got it right or not.
How This Quiz Works
Each of the twenty questions asks for the capital of one US state, with four plausible options. Pick the one you think is right. The quiz tracks your score as you go, and at the end you get a numbered result and a full review of every question, your answer, the correct answer, and a one-sentence explanation. The whole quiz takes about six minutes.
Who This Quiz Is For
This quiz is for students studying for geography or social studies tests, teachers looking for a classroom warm-up, trivia night regulars, anyone who took the citizenship test or is studying for one, parents quizzing their kids, and anyone who just wants to find out how much of fifth grade actually stuck.
Frequently Asked Questions
Albany was chosen as the capital in 1797 to keep the seat of state government away from the commercial dominance of New York City. This pattern repeats across many states: smaller capital cities were often chosen on purpose to balance political power away from large urban centers.
Only seventeen of the fifty state capitals are also the most populous city in their state. Examples include Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Honolulu, Phoenix, Indianapolis, and Salt Lake City. The other thirty-three are not.
The classic trip-ups are Pierre (South Dakota), Frankfort (Kentucky), Augusta (Maine), Montpelier (Vermont), Dover (Delaware), Jefferson City (Missouri), Topeka (Kansas), and Carson City (Nevada). None of them is the biggest city in its state, which is exactly why they trip people up.
Yes. Every answer is a current US state capital as of the latest official designation, and every explanation is grounded in standard reference sources.
About six minutes. Twenty questions, tap to answer, no typing required.