State & Regional Distribution
Licensee mailing address, not operating location. Amateur Radio licenses carry no station coordinates.
| Rank | State / Territory | Valid Licenses | Share of Total | First Grants (12 Mo) | First-Grant Rate | Per 1,000 Residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CA California | 89,910 | 12.2% | +3,229 | 3.6% 3.5–3.7 | 2.29 |
| 2 | TX Texas | 53,293 | 7.2% | +2,333 | 4.4% 4.2–4.5 | 1.68 |
| 3 | FL Florida | 41,954 | 5.7% | +1,458 | 3.5% 3.3–3.6 | 1.79 |
| 4 | WA Washington | 32,558 | 4.4% | +1,099 | 3.4% 3.2–3.6 | 4.07 |
| 5 | OH Ohio | 26,558 | 3.6% | +813 | 3.1% 2.9–3.3 | 2.23 |
| 6 | NY New York | 25,915 | 3.5% | +1,437 | 5.5% 5.3–5.8 | 1.30 |
| 7 | PA Pennsylvania | 23,662 | 3.2% | +872 | 3.7% 3.5–3.9 | 1.81 |
| 8 | NC North Carolina | 23,476 | 3.2% | +1,061 | 4.5% 4.3–4.8 | 2.10 |
| 9 | AZ Arizona | 20,959 | 2.8% | +617 | 2.9% 2.7–3.2 | 2.75 |
| 10 | MI Michigan | 20,522 | 2.8% | +792 | 3.9% 3.6–4.1 | 2.03 |
| 11 | VA Virginia | 20,425 | 2.8% | +828 | 4.0% 3.8–4.3 | 2.30 |
| 12 | TN Tennessee | 20,240 | 2.7% | +684 | 3.4% 3.1–3.6 | 2.77 |
| 13 | OR Oregon | 19,877 | 2.7% | +705 | 3.5% 3.3–3.8 | 4.65 |
| 14 | CO Colorado | 19,381 | 2.6% | +710 | 3.7% 3.4–3.9 | 3.22 |
| 15 | GA Georgia | 18,985 | 2.6% | +887 | 4.7% 4.4–5.0 | 1.68 |
| 16 | IL Illinois | 18,713 | 2.5% | +717 | 3.8% 3.6–4.1 | 1.47 |
| 17 | UT Utah | 18,045 | 2.4% | +604 | 3.4% 3.1–3.6 | 5.10 |
| 18 | IN Indiana | 15,269 | 2.1% | +535 | 3.5% 3.2–3.8 | 2.19 |
| 19 | MO Missouri | 14,918 | 2.0% | +543 | 3.6% 3.4–4.0 | 2.38 |
| 20 | MA Massachusetts | 13,226 | 1.8% | +641 | 4.9% 4.5–5.2 | 1.85 |
| 21 | NJ New Jersey | 12,731 | 1.7% | +521 | 4.1% 3.8–4.5 | 1.33 |
| 22 | AL Alabama | 12,023 | 1.6% | +409 | 3.4% 3.1–3.7 | 2.31 |
| 23 | MN Minnesota | 11,196 | 1.5% | +409 | 3.6% 3.3–4.0 | 1.92 |
| 24 | WI Wisconsin | 11,171 | 1.5% | +397 | 3.5% 3.2–3.9 | 1.87 |
| 25 | ID Idaho | 11,077 | 1.5% | +367 | 3.3% 3.0–3.7 | 5.46 |
| 26 | SC South Carolina | 10,643 | 1.4% | +439 | 4.1% 3.8–4.5 | 1.91 |
| 27 | MD Maryland | 10,618 | 1.4% | +423 | 4.0% 3.6–4.4 | 1.70 |
| 28 | KY Kentucky | 9,736 | 1.3% | +344 | 3.5% 3.2–3.9 | 2.11 |
| 29 | OK Oklahoma | 9,634 | 1.3% | +327 | 3.4% 3.0–3.8 | 2.34 |
| 30 | NV Nevada | 8,041 | 1.1% | +274 | 3.4% 3.0–3.8 | 2.45 |
| 31 | AR Arkansas | 7,847 | 1.1% | +241 | 3.1% 2.7–3.5 | 2.52 |
| 32 | KS Kansas | 7,037 | 1.0% | +243 | 3.5% 3.0–3.9 | 2.36 |
| 33 | CT Connecticut | 6,942 | 0.9% | +230 | 3.3% 2.9–3.8 | 1.88 |
| 34 | IA Iowa | 6,362 | 0.9% | +252 | 4.0% 3.5–4.5 | 1.97 |
| 35 | NM New Mexico | 5,997 | 0.8% | +199 | 3.3% 2.9–3.8 | 2.82 |
| 36 | LA Louisiana | 5,866 | 0.8% | +248 | 4.2% 3.7–4.8 | 1.27 |
| 37 | NH New Hampshire | 5,783 | 0.8% | +184 | 3.2% 2.8–3.7 | 4.09 |
| 38 | WV West Virginia | 5,751 | 0.8% | +182 | 3.2% 2.7–3.6 | 3.26 |
| 39 | PR Puerto Rico Territory | 5,398 | 0.7% | +280 | 5.2% 4.6–5.8 | 1.70 |
| 40 | MS Mississippi | 4,775 | 0.6% | +126 | 2.6% 2.2–3.1 | 1.62 |
| 41 | MT Montana | 4,466 | 0.6% | +168 | 3.8% 3.2–4.4 | 3.90 |
| 42 | ME Maine | 4,449 | 0.6% | +163 | 3.7% 3.1–4.3 | 3.14 |
| 43 | NE Nebraska | 3,766 | 0.5% | +187 | 5.0% 4.3–5.7 | 1.87 |
| 44 | HI Hawaii | 3,403 | 0.5% | +141 | 4.1% 3.5–4.9 | 2.38 |
| 45 | AK Alaska | 3,186 | 0.4% | +118 | 3.7% 3.1–4.4 | 4.32 |
| 46 | WY Wyoming | 2,385 | 0.3% | +79 | 3.3% 2.7–4.1 | 4.05 |
| 47 | SD South Dakota | 2,152 | 0.3% | +70 | 3.3% 2.6–4.1 | 2.30 |
| 48 | VT Vermont | 2,031 | 0.3% | +51 | 2.5% 1.9–3.3 | 3.15 |
| 49 | DE Delaware | 1,880 | 0.3% | +91 | 4.8% 4.0–5.9 | 1.77 |
| 50 | RI Rhode Island | 1,877 | 0.3% | +58 | 3.1% 2.4–4.0 | 1.68 |
| 51 | ND North Dakota | 1,445 | 0.2% | +56 | 3.9% 3.0–5.0 | 1.81 |
| 52 | DC District of Columbia Federal district | 572 | 0.1% | +51 | 8.9% 6.9–11.5 | 0.82 |
| 53 | MP Northern Mariana Islands Territory | 268 | 0.0% | — | — | — |
| 54 | VI Virgin Islands Territory | 265 | 0.0% | — | — | — |
| 55 | GU Guam Territory | 249 | 0.0% | — | — | — |
Military Mail Codes
AA, AE and AP are Armed Forces postal codes, not places: licensees stationed abroad receive mail through them. They are listed here rather than ranked among the states, and have no population figure.
| Code | Valid Licenses | First Grants (12 Mo) |
|---|---|---|
| AE Armed Forces Europe | 149 | — |
| AP Armed Forces Pacific | 109 | — |
* The rows sum to 739,166 valid licenses across 57 reporting jurisdictions; the national valid total is 739,192. 3 jurisdictions with fewer than 25 licenses are suppressed under privacy protection thresholds (28 active licenses in total), and 40 active licenses have no usable state in their mailing address. A 12-month count below 25 shows as — and is left out of the total above. Licenses past their expiry date, in the FCC’s 2-year grace period, aren’t counted: they can be renewed, but their holders may not operate. A first-grant rate is shown over 500 or more valid licenses; below that, the range is its 95 % interval (Wilson score). Residents are the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates; smaller territories and the military mail codes (AA, AE, AP), which are not places, have none. See Methodology for how suppression thresholds are applied.