which state has the most shoreline

Alaska has by far the most shoreline of any U.S. state, and its total tidal shoreline is longer than that of all the other states combined.

Quick Scoop

• The state with the most shoreline is Alaska , with about 33,900 miles of shoreline using NOAA-style tidal shoreline measures that include islands, bays, and inlets.

• This immense length comes from Alaska’s highly indented coasts on the Pacific and Arctic Oceans plus countless islands.

• Under the same measurement method, the next closest states are Florida and Louisiana, each with under 9,000 miles, which shows how extreme Alaska’s lead is.

In forum debates about “which state has the most shoreline,” the discussion often notes that Alaska’s coastline is so broken up and complex that it creates the classic “coastline paradox” problem: the more closely you measure, the more shoreline you get.

Ocean vs. freshwater twist

• If the question is narrowed to freshwater shoreline , Michigan is often highlighted as having the longest freshwater coastline because it borders four of the Great Lakes.

• But when people ask “which state has the most shoreline” in general, standard rankings that mix ocean and Great Lakes shoreline still put Alaska firmly at number one.

Information gathered from public data and discussions available on the internet and portrayed here.