This ranking measures 2024 general election turnout as a share of the voting-eligible population (VEP), the standard built by Professor Michael McDonald at the University of Florida Election Lab (the United States Elections Project). The numerator is total ballots counted as reported by state election officials. The denominator is the voting-age population adjusted to remove people ineligible to vote, principally non-citizens and, in most states, people disenfranchised for felony convictions. VEP is the honest denominator: registered-voter turnout flatters states with restrictive rolls, and voting-age-population turnout punishes states with large non-citizen populations for arithmetic reasons, not civic ones.
Figures are drawn from the UF Election Lab 2024 general election turnout dataset as compiled and reported by Ballotpedia, the Pew Research Center, and contemporaneous news analyses cited below. National VEP turnout in 2024 was about 63.7 percent, down from 66.4 percent in 2020, which was the modern record. Compilations differ by a few tenths of a point depending on when they snapshotted certified counts and how they estimated ineligible populations; the top two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, finished within a fraction of a point of each other, and final certified data reported in April 2025 put Wisconsin narrowly ahead. Where sources disagree, this report uses the later, certified-based figures and says so.
The table lists the top 15 states and the bottom 10. Turnout is an outcome, not a virtue score, and the ranking deliberately ignores which party won each state. Policy correlations (mail voting, same-day registration, competitiveness) are discussed in the narrative with attribution, not baked into the ranking.
", "entries": [ { "rank": 1, "name": "Wisconsin", "detail": "Top state, 2024 general election", "score": "76.6", "blurb": "Final certified data reported in spring 2025 put Wisconsin narrowly past Minnesota for the top spot, at roughly 76.6 percent of eligible voters (MPR News, 2025; Wisconsin Elections Commission, 2025). It was also the closest presidential state in the nation, decided by 0.86 points (official returns, 2024)." }, { "rank": 2, "name": "Minnesota", "detail": "Second, after leading most preliminary counts", "score": "76.4", "blurb": "Minnesota turned out 76.4 percent of its eligible voters, essentially tied with Wisconsin and first in the nation in youth turnout (Minnesota Secretary of State, 2025; Ballotpedia, 2025). The state has finished first or second in every presidential cycle this century (UF Election Lab data)." }, { "rank": 3, "name": "Michigan", "detail": "Third nationally", "score": "74.7", "blurb": "Michigan reached 74.7 percent VEP turnout in its first presidential election with nine days of early in-person voting, adopted by 2022 constitutional amendment (Ballotpedia, 2025). Its 1.42-point presidential margin made every point of turnout consequential (official returns, 2024)." }, { "rank": 4, "name": "New Hampshire", "detail": "Fourth nationally", "score": "74.4", "blurb": "New Hampshire posted 74.4 percent turnout with same-day registration and the closest Harris-won margin in the country, 2.78 points (Ballotpedia, 2025; official returns, 2024)." }, { "rank": 5, "name": "Colorado", "detail": "Fifth nationally", "score": "73.1", "blurb": "Colorado hit 73.1 percent under its universal mail-ballot system, in which every registered voter receives a ballot by mail (Ballotpedia, 2025). It was the highest-turnout state that was not a presidential battleground in 2024." }, { "rank": 6, "name": "Maine", "detail": "Sixth nationally", "score": "73.0", "blurb": "Maine turned out 73.0 percent of eligible voters with same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025). It has run above the national rate in every cycle since at least 2000." }, { "rank": 7, "name": "Montana", "detail": "Seventh nationally", "score": "69.5", "blurb": "Montana reached 69.5 percent despite hosting no top-tier statewide contest in 2024, evidence that high turnout there is habit, not hype (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 8, "name": "Oregon", "detail": "Eighth nationally", "score": "68.9", "blurb": "The nation's original all-mail voting state, all-mail since 2000, posted 68.9 percent (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025). Oregon also pioneered automatic voter registration in 2016." }, { "rank": 9, "name": "Pennsylvania", "detail": "Ninth nationally", "score": "68.4", "blurb": "The largest swing state turned out 68.4 percent of eligible voters while deciding its presidential result by 1.71 points (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025; official returns, 2024)." }, { "rank": 10, "name": "Vermont", "detail": "Tenth nationally", "score": "67.9", "blurb": "Vermont, which mails every active registered voter a ballot for general elections, reached 67.9 percent (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 11, "name": "Washington", "detail": "Eleventh nationally", "score": "67.4", "blurb": "Washington's all-mail system delivered 67.4 percent in a state with no competitive statewide contest at the top of the ticket (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 12, "name": "Iowa", "detail": "Twelfth nationally", "score": "67.0", "blurb": "Iowa posted 67.0 percent, more than 3 points above the national rate, despite a presidential margin of about 13 points (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025; official returns, 2024)." }, { "rank": 13, "name": "Virginia", "detail": "Thirteenth nationally", "score": "65.9", "blurb": "Virginia turned out 65.9 percent with 45 days of no-excuse early voting, among the longest early-vote windows in the country (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 14, "name": "Georgia", "detail": "Fourteenth nationally", "score": "65.2", "blurb": "Georgia reached 65.2 percent, above the national average, in a presidential race decided by 2.2 points (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025; official returns, 2024)." }, { "rank": 15, "name": "New Jersey", "detail": "Fifteenth nationally", "score": "63.8", "blurb": "New Jersey closed the top 15 at 63.8 percent, a tenth of a point above the national VEP rate of about 63.7 percent (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 41, "name": "Alabama", "detail": "Bottom 10 begins: 41st nationally", "score": "59.4", "blurb": "Alabama turned out 59.4 percent of eligible voters, more than 4 points below the national rate, with no same-day registration and excuse-required absentee voting (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 42, "name": "Indiana", "detail": "42nd nationally", "score": "58.7", "blurb": "Indiana posted 58.7 percent with a 6 p.m. poll-closing time, the earliest in the nation alongside Kentucky's (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 43, "name": "Tennessee", "detail": "43rd nationally", "score": "58.3", "blurb": "Tennessee turned out 58.3 percent, continuing a decades-long run in the bottom ten despite population growth (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 44, "name": "Mississippi", "detail": "44th nationally", "score": "57.7", "blurb": "Mississippi reached 57.7 percent with no early in-person voting and excuse-required absentee rules, among the most restrictive convenience-voting regimes (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 45, "name": "Oklahoma", "detail": "45th nationally", "score": "57.4", "blurb": "Oklahoma posted 57.4 percent, a bottom-five finish it has repeated across recent presidential cycles (UF Election Lab data via compiled rankings, 2025)." }, { "rank": 46, "name": "Texas", "detail": "46th nationally", "score": "56.0", "blurb": "The nation's second-largest state turned out 56.0 percent of its eligible voters, nearly 8 points under the national rate (Factually/UF Election Lab compilation, 2025)." }, { "rank": 47, "name": "New Mexico", "detail": "47th nationally", "score": "55.5", "blurb": "New Mexico posted 55.5 percent, a notable case because its election administration ranks near the top of MIT's Elections Performance Index; administration quality and participation are different measurements (Factually/UF Election Lab compilation, 2025; MIT Election Lab, 2026)." }, { "rank": 48, "name": "Arkansas", "detail": "48th nationally", "score": "55.0", "blurb": "Arkansas turned out 55.0 percent, third from the bottom, extending a streak of bottom-five finishes across the last several federal cycles (Factually/UF Election Lab compilation, 2025)." }, { "rank": 49, "name": "West Virginia", "detail": "49th nationally", "score": "52.2", "blurb": "West Virginia posted 52.2 percent, second lowest, down sharply from its own 2020 rate as its eligible population ages and shrinks (Factually/UF Election Lab compilation, 2025)." }, { "rank": 50, "name": "Hawaii", "detail": "50th nationally, the only state below 50 percent", "score": "47.5", "blurb": "Hawaii turned out 47.5 percent of eligible voters, last in the nation and 4.7 points behind 49th-place West Virginia, despite universal mail balloting adopted in 2020 (Factually/UF Election Lab compilation, 2025). Distance from mainland political competition is the standing explanation; the number is the fact." } ], "narrative": [ { "heading": "The measurement, and why it is the right one", "html": "Turnout claims are only as honest as their denominator. This ranking uses voting-eligible population, the standard maintained by Professor Michael McDonald at the University of Florida Election Lab. VEP starts with the voting-age population and removes non-citizens and, where state law disenfranchises them, people with felony convictions (UF Election Lab; McDonald, 2024). Registered-voter turnout is a different and softer statistic: a state that purges its rolls aggressively can post a flattering registered-turnout number while ranking low on VEP.
By the VEP standard, 2024 was the second-highest-turnout presidential election of the modern era: about 63.7 percent nationally, trailing only 2020's 66.4 percent (Pew Research Center, 2025; UF Election Lab, 2024). Roughly 89 million eligible Americans still did not vote (U.S. News, 2024).
" }, { "heading": "The top of the table barely changed. The winner did.", "html": "Minnesota led the nation in nearly every preliminary count, as it usually does. Then the certified data arrived. Final figures reported in April 2025 showed Wisconsin squeaking past Minnesota for the top spot, roughly 76.6 to 76.4 percent (MPR News, 2025). The margin between first and second place was smaller than the margin of estimation in most states' denominators. Treat them as co-champions if you like; the certified order is Wisconsin first.
The rest of the top five held familiar names: Michigan at 74.7, New Hampshire at 74.4, Colorado at 73.1 (Ballotpedia, 2025). Minnesota's lead over the national average, more than 12 points, exceeded the gap between the national average and every bottom-five state except Hawaii (Axios, 2025).
" }, { "heading": "Competition moves turnout. So does habit.", "html": "Six of the top nine states, Wisconsin, Minnesota (competitive by its own history), Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Georgia at fourteenth, were 2024 presidential battlegrounds where both campaigns spent heavily. That is not a coincidence, and the States United Democracy Center documented that turnout remained high specifically in key states (States United, 2025).
But competition is not the whole story. Colorado, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont all cleared the national average by 4 points or more without a single top-tier statewide contest among them. What they share is policy plumbing: universal or near-universal mail balloting in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont, and same-day registration in Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Michigan (state election statutes; UF Election Lab compilations). Habit, built by convenience, survives boring ballots.
" }, { "heading": "The bottom ten, stated without euphemism", "html": "Hawaii finished last at 47.5 percent, the only state below half, and did so despite mailing every voter a ballot, which complicates any single-policy explanation (Factually/UF compilation, 2025). West Virginia at 52.2, Arkansas at 55.0, New Mexico at 55.5, and Texas at 56.0 fill out the bottom five. Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, Indiana, and Alabama complete the bottom ten, all between 57.4 and 59.4 percent.
The bottom ten includes states governed by both parties over the relevant period and states with both restrictive and permissive voting rules. New Mexico ranks near the top of MIT's Elections Performance Index for administration quality while sitting 47th in participation (MIT Election Lab, 2026). The data supports a narrow claim, not a partisan one: non-competitive electoral environments and low-turnout histories travel together, whatever the rulebook says. If a simpler story was expected, the discomfort belongs to the reader, not the data.
" } ], "settled": "The evidence settles the 2024 turnout table: national VEP turnout was about 63.7 percent, second only to 2020 in the modern era; Wisconsin and Minnesota finished effectively tied at the top around 76.5 percent, with certified data putting Wisconsin narrowly first; and Hawaii finished last at 47.5 percent, the only state under 50. It is also settled that the top of the table is dominated by states with same-day registration or universal mail voting, and that presidential battlegrounds outperformed the national average.", "contested": "What remains contested is causation. Whether convenience policies raise turnout or high-participation states simply adopt convenience policies is a live research question, and Hawaii's last-place finish under universal mail voting is the standing counterexample to any single-variable story. Estimates themselves carry uncertainty: VEP denominators rely on modeled non-citizen and felon populations, and compilations differ by tenths of a point, enough to flip the Wisconsin-Minnesota order depending on the snapshot date.", "charts": [ { "type": "bar", "title": "Top 10 states, 2024 turnout of voting-eligible population", "unit": "% of VEP", "data": [ { "label": "WI", "value": 76.6 }, { "label": "MN", "value": 76.4 }, { "label": "MI", "value": 74.7 }, { "label": "NH", "value": 74.4 }, { "label": "CO", "value": 73.1 }, { "label": "ME", "value": 73 }, { "label": "MT", "value": 69.5 }, { "label": "OR", "value": 68.9 }, { "label": "PA", "value": 68.4 }, { "label": "VT", "value": 67.9 } ] }, { "type": "bar", "title": "Bottom 10 states, 2024 turnout of voting-eligible population", "unit": "% of VEP", "data": [ { "label": "AL", "value": 59.4 }, { "label": "IN", "value": 58.7 }, { "label": "TN", "value": 58.3 }, { "label": "MS", "value": 57.7 }, { "label": "OK", "value": 57.4 }, { "label": "TX", "value": 56 }, { "label": "NM", "value": 55.5 }, { "label": "AR", "value": 55 }, { "label": "WV", "value": 52.2 }, { "label": "HI", "value": 47.5 } ] } ], "sources": [ { "title": "University of Florida Election Lab, 2024 General Election Turnout (Michael McDonald)", "url": "https://election.lab.ufl.edu/2024-general-election-turnout/" }, { "title": "United States Elections Project, Voter Turnout Data", "url": "https://www.electproject.org/election-data/voter-turnout-data" }, { "title": "Michael McDonald, 2024 Turnout Rate (Substack analysis)", "url": "https://michaelmcdonald.substack.com/p/2024-turnout-rate" }, { "title": "Ballotpedia, Election results, 2024: Analysis of voter turnout in the 2024 general election", "url": "https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2024:_Analysis_of_voter_turnout_in_the_2024_general_election" }, { "title": "MPR News, Wisconsin squeaks past Minnesota for the top spot in voter turnout, April 2025", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/04/16/wisconsin-beats-minnesota-in-voter-turnout" }, { "title": "Pew Research Center, Voter turnout in the 2020 and 2024 elections: A detailed analysis, June 2025", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voter-turnout-2020-2024/" }, { "title": "Axios, The states with the highest and lowest voter turnouts in 2024, May 2025", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2025/05/01/trump-election-voter-turnout-states-dc" }, { "title": "States United Democracy Center, Voter Turnout in 2024 Remained High in Key States", "url": "https://statesunited.org/resources/2024-turnout/" }, { "title": "Minnesota Secretary of State, Minnesota Ranks 1st in the Nation in Youth Voter Turnout, 2nd Overall", "url": "https://www.sos.mn.gov/about-the-office/news-room/minnesota-ranks-1st-in-the-nation-in-youth-voter-turnout-2nd-overall/" }, { "title": "U.S. News and World Report, How Many People Didn't Vote in the 2024 Election?", "url": "https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-11-15/how-many-people-didnt-vote-in-the-2024-election" }, { "title": "Washington Post, Voter turnout in 2024: Map shows how states compare", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/06/voter-turnout-2024-by-state/" } ], "faq": [ { "q": "Which state had the highest voter turnout in 2024?", "a": "Wisconsin, by a hair. Final certified data reported in April 2025 put Wisconsin at roughly 76.6 percent of eligible voters, narrowly past Minnesota's 76.4 percent, which had led the preliminary counts. The two states finished within a fraction of a point of each other." }, { "q": "Which state had the lowest voter turnout in 2024?", "a": "Hawaii, at 47.5 percent of the voting-eligible population, the only state below 50 percent and 4.7 points behind second-lowest West Virginia (52.2 percent), despite Hawaii's universal mail-ballot system." }, { "q": "What was national turnout in 2024, and how does it compare historically?", "a": "About 63.7 percent of the voting-eligible population, per University of Florida Election Lab data. That is down from the modern record of 66.4 percent in 2020 but higher than every other presidential election since 1900 except 2020." }, { "q": "What is voting-eligible population (VEP) turnout?", "a": "Ballots counted divided by the population actually eligible to vote: voting-age residents minus non-citizens and, in most states, people disenfranchised for felony convictions. The measure was developed by Professor Michael McDonald of the University of Florida and is the standard for comparing states fairly." } ] }