States Producing The Most Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The European Commission’s report “GHG emissions of all world countries” puts global emissions at 54.1 Gt CO2eq (gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent), excluding land use and forestry. Its primary conclusion was: “China, the United States, India, the EU27, Russia and Indonesia were the world’s largest GHG emitters in 2025. Together they account for 50.1% of global population, 62.3% of global gross domestic product, 63% of global fossil fuel consumption and 62% of global GHG emissions.” Between 1990 and 2025, the sectors that grew the most were power, up 106%, and transportation, up 86%.

There are two ways to compare emissions across geographic or political areas: the absolute figure, which the EC uses, or a per capita figure, such as emissions per 100,000 people. The per-100,000 metric adjusts for population size, so large and small areas can be compared fairly.

We looked at all 50 states. On a per-100,000-person basis, the largest greenhouse gas emitters turn out, perhaps unexpectedly, to be sparsely populated states. The states that stand out share another trait: they are energy rich, typically in oil or coal production.

Wyoming has the highest carbon dioxide emissions per 100,000 people of any state, at approximately 8.5 million metric tons. That is 23% higher than the next state, North Dakota, and six times the national average. The data, which include emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas, come from the Energy Department’s state-level data for 2024. We also used an EIA analysis of how each state‘s CO2 emissions have risen or fallen since 2005, along with the agency’s data on energy-related CO2. Population data came from the Census. The figures reflect energy produced, not energy consumed by each state’s population. (On an absolute basis, Texas leads by that measure.)

Wyoming produces 37% of the nation’s coal, nearly double the share of any other state, yet ranks 50th in population at 587,618. Its coal is used almost exclusively in power plants. Coal accounted for 17% of US electricity generation in 2025. Because coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, efforts to phase it out have reduced its use over the last 20 years, but there is concern that the electricity demands of AI data centers will push coal use back up. North Dakota makes the list because it produces large amounts of oil, coal, and natural gas.

Most of the states at the bottom of the list have large populations and small energy industries. They include California, New York, and Maryland, which ranks 50th.

Here is the Climatecrisis247 ranking:

Rank	State	Tons per person	Tons per 100,000 people
1	Wyoming	85.2	8.52 million
2	North Dakota	69.5	6.95 million
3	Alaska	59.7	5.97 million
4	West Virginia	40.9	4.09 million
5	Louisiana	40.5	4.05 million
	US average	14.1	1.41 million
50	Maryland	7.8	0.78 million