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Mapped: America’s Most Visited States by Tourists
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Key Takeaways
- Just four states—New York, Florida, California, and Nevada—attract 57% of all international visitors
- New York leads by a wide margin, with nearly 10 million tourists
- Illinois is the only Midwestern state to receive over a million foreign visitors in 2024.
With rugged, picturesque landscapes and some of the world’s most famous cities, the United States has long been a favorite destination for international travelers.
This map highlights the states which received the most visitors from overseas in 2024, excluding arrivals from both Canada and Mexico. It utilizes data from the ITA National Travel and Tourism Office.
Setting aside people coming from directly neighboring countries, the U.S. counted 48.9 million international visitors in 2024.
The Big Four Tourist Destinations
An impressive 57% of all overseas visitors went to just four states: New York (9.8 million), Florida (8.9 million), California (7 million), and Nevada (2.6 million).
The following data table ranks U.S. states by the number of overseas visitors they received in 2024.
| Rank | State or Territory | Number of overseas visitors, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | 9,802,000 |
| 2 | Florida | 8,860,000 |
| 3 | California | 6,954,000 |
| 4 | Nevada | 2,644,000 |
| 5 | Texas | 2,088,000 |
| 6 | Hawaii | 1,976,000 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 1,501,000 |
| 8 | Illinois | 1,410,000 |
| 9 | New Jersey | 1,227,000 |
| 10 | Arizona | 1,160,000 |
| 11 | Georgia | 1,069,000 |
| 12 | Washington | 858,000 |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | 805,000 |
| 14 | Guam | 802,000 |
| 15 | Utah | 640,000 |
| 16 | Virginia | 548,000 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 524,000 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 510,000 |
| 19 | Colorado | 461,000 |
| 20 | Maryland | 425,000 |
| 21 | Michigan | 418,000 |
| 22 | Louisiana | 387,000 |
| 23 | Ohio | 369,000 |
| 24 | Connecticut | 320,000 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 299,000 |
| 26 | Minnesota | 232,000 |
| 27 | Indiana | 222,000 |
| 28 | Oregon | 218,000 |
| 29 | Wyoming | 204,000 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | 193,000 |
| 31 | Missouri | 165,000 |
| 32 | Puerto Rico | 148,000 |
| 33 | Alaska | 137,000 |
| 34 | Kentucky | 130,000 |
| 35 | Maine | 127,000 |
| 36 | Alabama | 109,000 |
| 37 | Rhode Island | 105,000 |
| 38 | Idaho | 95,000 |
| 39 | New Mexico | 95,000 |
| 40 | New Hampshire | 81,000 |
| 41 | Oklahoma | 77,000 |
| 42 | Vermont | 77,000 |
| 43 | Arkansas | 74,000 |
| 44 | Iowa | 67,000 |
| 45 | Kansas | 63,000 |
| 46 | Montana | 56,000 |
| 47 | South Dakota | 53,000 |
| 48 | Mississippi | 49,000 |
| 49 | Nebraska | 49,000 |
| 50 | Delaware | 42,000 |
| 51 | West Virginia | n/a |
| 52 | North Dakota | n/a |
| — | Total | 48,925,000 |
New York’s chart-topping position is owed to the state’s namesake city, which is among the most popular international tourist destinations worldwide, as well as the picturesque Niagara Falls which line its border with Canada to the west.
California and Florida are both aided by their amusement parks and sprawling cities like Miami and Los Angeles, which remain popular with visitors from around the world.
In contrast to much larger states like Texas (2.1 million and Illinois (1.4 million) which depend in large part on Mexican and Canadian tourists respectively, the smaller Mountain West state of Nevada punches above its weight.
This is due to the state’s largest city, Las Vegas, which has been a global entertainment and gambling center for decades.
Tourist Drought in the Midwest
Illinois was the only Midwestern state to receive over a million overseas visitors in 2024. Indeed, the remainder of the region averaged just a few hundred thousand visitors, led by Michigan (418,000) and Ohio (369,000).
Despite boasting national parks like Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, states like South Dakota saw just 53,000 visitors in 2024 when excluding arrivals from Canada and Mexico. Distance from the coasts and more popular destinations, plus minimal airport connectivity, help in part to explain these low figures.
Nationally, Nebraska ties with Mississippi (both 49,000) as the second-lowest number of overseas visitors received, behind only tiny Delaware (42,000).
Hawaii’s Enduring Popularity
Hawaii joined the U.S. as a state in 1959, and by the 1960s had already become a popular tourist destination.
In 2024, the Aloha State received over 2 million overseas visitors, placing it well ahead of far larger states like Arizona (1.2 million) and Georgia (1.1 million). Visitors are drawn to the state’s stunning natural beauty and unique culture, as well as its geographic location far from the U.S. mainland.
In fact, Hawaii is the rare state to have received more international visitors than its entire population of 1.4 million, even as recent years have seen wildfires and natural disasters impacting its tourist economy.
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