State rankings
Black Bear Population by State
Alaska has the highest Black Bear Population (100,000), followed by California (35,000) and Maine (35,000). Rhode Island has the lowest (7).
Black Bear PopulationBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
40 of 51 statesBlack Bear Population
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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All 40 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
5,300
Middle half 1.2K – 18.1K
Average
11,987
40 states
Highest
100,000
Alaska
Lowest
7
Rhode Island
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
50 states · # = rank by Black Bear Population
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alaska | 100,000 | — |
| 2 |  California | 35,000 | — |
| 2 |  Maine | 35,000 | — |
| 4 |  Idaho | 30,000 | — |
| 5 |  Washington | 27,500 | — |
| 5 |  Oregon | 27,500 | — |
| 7 |  Wisconsin | 24,000 | — |
| 8 |  Pennsylvania | 20,000 | — |
| 8 |  North Carolina | 20,000 | — |
| 10 |  Colorado | 18,500 | — |
| 11 |  Virginia | 18,000 | — |
| 12 |  Minnesota | 15,500 | — |
| 13 |  West Virginia | 13,000 | — |
| 13 |  Montana | 13,000 | — |
| 15 |  Michigan | 12,000 | — |
| 16 |  Vermont | 7,750 | — |
| 17 |  New York | 7,000 | — |
| 18 |  New Hampshire | 5,600 | — |
| 19 |  Tennessee | 5,500 | — |
| 19 |  New Mexico | 5,500 | — |
| 21 |  Georgia | 5,100 | — |
| 22 |  Massachusetts | 5,000 | — |
| 22 |  Arkansas | 5,000 | — |
| 24 |  Florida | 4,050 | — |
| 25 |  Utah | 4,000 | — |
| 26 |  New Jersey | 3,158 | — |
| 27 |  Arizona | 2,500 | — |
| 28 |  Maryland | 2,000 | — |
| 28 |  Oklahoma | 2,000 | — |
| 30 |  Louisiana | 1,200 | — |
| 31 |  South Carolina | 1,125 | — |
| 32 |  Connecticut | 1,100 | — |
| 33 |  Kentucky | 1,000 | — |
| 34 |  Missouri | 800 | — |
| 35 |  Nevada | 600 | — |
| 36 |  Alabama | 200 | — |
| 37 |  Mississippi | 150 | — |
| 38 |  Texas | 75 | — |
| 38 |  Ohio | 75 | — |
| 40 |  Rhode Island | 7 | — |
| — |  Illinois | — | No known resident population |
| — |  Indiana | — | No known breeding populations, rare sightings |
| — |  Iowa | — | No known breeding populations, rare sightings |
| — |  Kansas | — | No breeding populations, common sightings |
| — |  Nebraska | — | No known breeding populations, occasional sightings |
| — |  Hawaii | — | There are no bears in the state of Hawaii |
| — |  Delaware | — | Extirpated |
| — |  South Dakota | — | No known breeding populations, occasional sightings in western parts of SD |
| — |  North Dakota | — | No known breeding populations, occasional sightings |
| — |  Wyoming | — | A robust black bear population exists, but data are unavailable |
What correlates with Black Bear Population?
Pearson r against 2,123 other state metrics sharing at least 24 states. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Black Bear Population tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Black Bear Population tend to score lower on these
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Black Bear Population?
- Alaska has the highest Black Bear Population, at 100,000, followed by California (35,000) and Maine (35,000).
- Which state has the lowest Black Bear Population?
- Rhode Island has the lowest Black Bear Population, at 7.
- What is the median Black Bear Population across US states?
- The median is 5,300 across the 40 US states with data.
- Where does this black bear population by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Black Bear Population by State - Wildlife Informer; Black Bear Population by State - AZ Animals.