About this puzzle
Plenty of state puzzles leave out a few names to make the grid easier. This one includes every state on the hard level, from tiny Rhode Island to enormous Alaska, so students can check them off like a map. Easy starts with 12 well-known states like Texas and Ohio. With all 50 words, the hard grid is larger than our usual puzzles, and the two-word states, like New Hampshire and South Dakota, are hidden with the space removed.
Below the grid, each state is listed with its capital and one fact, which turns this US states word search into a handy geography review. Teachers use it for a fifty-states unit or a substitute day, families bring it on cross-country drives, and it makes a good challenge for adults who want to see whether they can still find Connecticut faster than a fourth grader.
The 50 words in this puzzle
Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.
In every version (12)
- Alaska
- Capital: Juneau. The largest state by area, Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for about two cents an acre.
- Arizona
- Capital: Phoenix. Arizona is home to the Grand Canyon, carved over millions of years by the Colorado River.
- California
- Capital: Sacramento. California became the most populous state in the 1960s and is home to Hollywood and Yosemite National Park.
- Colorado
- Capital: Denver. Denver is nicknamed the Mile High City because its elevation is about one mile above sea level.
- Florida
- Capital: Tallahassee. Rockets launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, where the Apollo 11 Moon mission lifted off in 1969.
- Georgia
- Capital: Atlanta. Nicknamed the Peach State, Georgia is also one of the country's leading peanut growers.
- Hawaii
- Capital: Honolulu. The only state made up entirely of islands, Hawaii became the fiftieth state in 1959.
- Maine
- Capital: Augusta. The easternmost of the lower 48 states, Maine is famous for its lobster, lighthouses, and rocky coastline.
- New York
- Capital: Albany, not New York City. The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, has stood in New York Harbor since 1886.
- Ohio
- Capital: Columbus. Seven US presidents were born in Ohio, including Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley.
- Texas
- Capital: Austin. The largest of the lower 48 states, Texas was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845.
- Utah
- Capital: Salt Lake City. Utah has five national parks, including Zion and Arches, and the Great Salt Lake.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Iowa
- Capital: Des Moines. Iowa is one of the nation's top corn producers, and farms cover most of the state's land.
- Michigan
- Capital: Lansing. Michigan touches four of the five Great Lakes and is known as the home of the American auto industry.
- Nevada
- Capital: Carson City. Hoover Dam sits on the border between Nevada and Arizona, holding back the waters of Lake Mead.
- Oregon
- Capital: Salem. Crater Lake, formed in the remains of a collapsed volcano, is the deepest lake in the United States.
- Pennsylvania
- Capital: Harrisburg. Both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
- Tennessee
- Capital: Nashville. Known as Music City, Nashville is home to the Grand Ole Opry, a country music radio show since 1925.
- Virginia
- Capital: Richmond. Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America, and eight presidents were born in Virginia.
- Washington
- Capital: Olympia, not Seattle. It is the only state named after a president, George Washington.
Added in Hard (30)
- Alabama
- Capital: Montgomery. The Montgomery bus boycott began there in 1955 after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat.
- Arkansas
- Capital: Little Rock. At Crater of Diamonds State Park, visitors can dig for real diamonds and keep what they find.
- Connecticut
- Capital: Hartford. One of the original thirteen colonies, Connecticut is nicknamed the Constitution State for its early written plan of government.
- Delaware
- Capital: Dover. Delaware was the first state to ratify the US Constitution, on December 7, 1787, earning the nickname the First State.
- Idaho
- Capital: Boise. Idaho is famous for its potatoes and grows more of them than almost any other state.
- Illinois
- Capital: Springfield. Known as the Land of Lincoln, Illinois is where Abraham Lincoln built his law career before becoming president.
- Indiana
- Capital: Indianapolis. Each May the city hosts the Indianapolis 500, one of the most famous car races in the world.
- Kansas
- Capital: Topeka. The geographic center of the lower 48 states is near the small town of Lebanon, Kansas.
- Kentucky
- Capital: Frankfort. The Kentucky Derby has been run at Churchill Downs in Louisville since 1875.
- Louisiana
- Capital: Baton Rouge. Louisiana is divided into parishes instead of counties, and New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz.
- Maryland
- Capital: Annapolis. Francis Scott Key wrote the words to The Star-Spangled Banner after watching the 1814 attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
- Massachusetts
- Capital: Boston. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, and Harvard, the oldest college in the country, was founded there in 1636.
- Minnesota
- Capital: Saint Paul. Called the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota actually has even more lakes than its nickname says.
- Mississippi
- Capital: Jackson. The state takes its name from the Mississippi River, which forms most of its western border.
- Missouri
- Capital: Jefferson City. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the tallest arch in the world, honors the westward expansion of the nation.
- Montana
- Capital: Helena. Montana is home to Glacier National Park and to part of Yellowstone National Park.
- Nebraska
- Capital: Lincoln. Arbor Day, the holiday for planting trees, began in Nebraska in 1872, when settlers planted about a million trees.
- New Hampshire
- Capital: Concord. The state motto is Live Free or Die, and New Hampshire traditionally holds the first presidential primary.
- New Jersey
- Capital: Trenton. Thomas Edison worked on the phonograph and the light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
- New Mexico
- Capital: Santa Fe. Founded around 1610, Santa Fe is the oldest state capital city in the United States.
- North Carolina
- Capital: Raleigh. The Wright brothers made the first powered airplane flight near Kitty Hawk in 1903.
- North Dakota
- Capital: Bismarck. Theodore Roosevelt National Park protects the badlands where Roosevelt ranched as a young man.
- Oklahoma
- Capital: Oklahoma City. In the Land Run of 1889, thousands of settlers raced to claim land in a single day.
- Rhode Island
- Capital: Providence. Rhode Island is the smallest state by area, yet it has hundreds of miles of coastline.
- South Carolina
- Capital: Columbia. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in 1861.
- South Dakota
- Capital: Pierre. Mount Rushmore, with the carved faces of four presidents, stands in the Black Hills.
- Vermont
- Capital: Montpelier, the least populated state capital. Vermont produces more maple syrup than any other state.
- West Virginia
- Capital: Charleston. West Virginia split from Virginia during the Civil War and became a state in 1863.
- Wisconsin
- Capital: Madison. Nicknamed America's Dairyland, Wisconsin is famous for its cheese, and many of its football fans proudly wear foam cheesehead hats.
- Wyoming
- Capital: Cheyenne. Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872, and Wyoming let women vote in 1869, while it was still a territory.
A few facts to share while you solve
- Alaska and Hawaii were the last two states to join the Union, both in 1959. Alaska joined in January and Hawaii in August.
- Four states officially call themselves commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
- Maine is the only state whose name has just one syllable.
Four versions of this puzzle
Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.
| Version | Words | Grid | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 11 × 11 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 15 × 15 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 50 | 23 × 23 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 11 × 11 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard us states word search: all 50 words on a 23 × 23 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.
Large print us states word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 11 × 11 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.
Printing this word search
Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.
How to play online
- Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
- Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
- Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.
Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.
Questions and answers
Does this US states word search include all 50 states?
Yes, on the hard level. Easy and Large print use 12 well-known states, Medium uses 20, and Hard uses every state, which is why its grid is larger than usual. Two-word names such as New Mexico and North Carolina are hidden without the space, so look for NEWMEXICO and NORTHCAROLINA as one long string of letters.
Why can I see Kansas inside Arkansas?
Kansas is spelled inside Arkansas, and Virginia is spelled inside West Virginia. Each state still counts as its own word, so after you find Arkansas, keep looking for a separate Kansas, and after West Virginia, a separate Virginia.
How can teachers use it for a fifty-states unit?
Have students circle each state in the grid, then find it on a blank map and write in the capital from the word list. For a challenge, ask them to group the states by region or put them in the order they joined the Union.
Is there an answer key for this us states word search?
Yes. Choose Print / PDF above the puzzle and keep “Add an answer key page” ticked. The key prints on its own page, with every word highlighted. While playing online, Show answers outlines any words you haven’t found yet.
Can I print copies for my class or group?
Yes. Every puzzle on BetterWordSearch is free to print for personal, classroom, library and homeschool use. Print as many copies as you need. To change the words or make several different versions of the grid, use the word search maker.
What changes between Easy, Medium, Hard and Large print?
Easy hides the 12 most familiar words, reading left to right and top to bottom. Medium uses 20 words and adds diagonals. Hard hides all 50 words in every direction, including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. Large print uses the same words as Easy on a small grid and prints with big letters.
