US States hangman words
50 US states words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 37 easy, 11 medium, 2 hard.
Average score
2.3
Across all 50 words
Hardest
kentucky
Scores 7.7
Easiest
tennessee
Scores -2.2
State names split into two groups and it matters which one you draw. The short ones adapted long ago, like Ohio, Utah and Iowa, are vowel-heavy and fall in two or three guesses. The transliterated and compound ones do not.
Mississippi is the famous one and it is genuinely easier than it looks, because four of its letters are the same and one correct guess reveals four positions at once. Repetition helps the guesser more than length hurts them.
The real difficulty sits in Kentucky, Kansas and Alaska, where a K arrives early in the word and almost nobody guesses K early. This list is also a geography lesson that hides itself, which is why it works in a classroom.
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Easy US states words37
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| alabama | Deep South state, capital Montgomery | 7 / 4 distinct | 1.4 | Easy |
| alaska | Largest by area, and the coldest | 6 / 4 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| arizona | Grand Canyon and a great deal of desert | 7 / 6 distinct | 0.4 | Easy |
| arkansas | Spelled nothing like it sounds | 8 / 5 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| california | Most populous, and two very different halves | 10 / 8 distinct | 1.4 | Easy |
| colorado | Where the Rockies do most of their work | 8 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| connecticut | Small, coastal, and hard to spell | 11 / 7 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
| delaware | First to ratify the Constitution | 8 / 6 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| georgia | Peaches, Atlanta and a country of the same name | 7 / 6 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| hawaii | The only state made entirely of islands | 6 / 4 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| idaho | Potatoes, mountains and very few people | 5 / 5 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| illinois | Chicago, and a silent S | 8 / 5 distinct | 0.4 | Easy |
| indiana | Famous for a five hundred mile race | 7 / 4 distinct | -1.4 | Easy |
| iowa | Four letters, three of them vowels | 4 / 4 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| kansas | Flat, central, and in a famous film line | 6 / 4 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| louisiana | Parishes instead of counties | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.8 | Easy |
| maine | The northeast corner, and the lobsters | 5 / 5 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| massachusetts | The longest state name of all | 13 / 8 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| minnesota | Ten thousand lakes, by its own count | 9 / 8 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| mississippi | Four S's, four I's, and two P's | 11 / 4 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| missouri | Where two great rivers meet | 8 / 6 distinct | 0.8 | Easy |
| montana | Big sky, small population | 7 / 5 distinct | 0.1 | Easy |
| nebraska | Prairie, and the only unicameral legislature | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| nevada | Desert, and a city that never sleeps | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| north carolina | First in flight, by its licence plates | 13 / 9 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| north dakota | Plains, oil, and long winters | 11 / 8 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| ohio | Four letters and three different vowels | 4 / 3 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| oregon | Coast, forest, and the end of a famous trail | 6 / 5 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| pennsylvania | Where the Declaration was signed | 12 / 9 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| rhode island | Smallest of the fifty, and not an island | 11 / 10 distinct | 2.9 | Easy |
| south carolina | First to secede, and full of low country | 13 / 11 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| south dakota | Four presidents carved into a mountain | 11 / 8 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| tennessee | Country music and the Smoky Mountains | 9 / 4 distinct | -2.2 | Easy |
| texas | Second largest, and it used to be a republic | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| virginia | Birthplace of eight presidents | 8 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| west virginia | Split from its neighbour during the Civil War | 12 / 10 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| wisconsin | Dairy, and very serious about cheese | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
Medium US states words11
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| florida | Peninsula, swamps and a lot of coastline | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| maryland | Wraps around a very large bay | 8 / 7 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| michigan | Two peninsulas and four Great Lakes | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| new hampshire | First in the primary calendar | 12 / 10 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| new jersey | Dense, coastal, and between two big cities | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| new mexico | High desert and very old adobe towns | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.5 | Medium |
| new york | A state and a city, frequently confused | 7 / 7 distinct | 6.1 | Medium |
| oklahoma | Panhandle, plains and a musical | 8 / 6 distinct | 4.3 | Medium |
| utah | Salt flats, canyons and five national parks | 4 / 4 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| vermont | Maple syrup and the Green Mountains | 7 / 7 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| washington | Shares its name with the capital, confusingly | 10 / 9 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
Hard US states words2
Rare letters, few vowels, or almost no repetition for a guesser to lean on.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| kentucky | Bourbon, bluegrass and a derby | 8 / 7 distinct | 7.7 | Hard |
| wyoming | Least populated, and home to Yellowstone | 7 / 7 distinct | 7.3 | Hard |
Questions
What are good US states words for hangman?
The ones that survive a normal opening. A guesser starts with E, A, R and the other common letters, so a good word is one those letters barely touch. On this page that is the score: 50 US states words are listed and 2 of them rate hard.
How many US states words are on this list?
50, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 37 easy, 11 medium and 2 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
KENTUCKY, at 7.7. The easiest is TENNESSEE at -2.2. Both numbers come from the same formula, which is published in full at hangmanwords.net/how-difficulty-is-scored/.
Can I play these words rather than read them?
Yes. The play link on this page loads a game that draws only from this us states list, so every word you get is one of the 50 below.