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Flyover States: 26 Years of Flight Data Show Which States America Flies Over

Updated , first published by
Updated 2026-09-09 with 26 years of flight data. This study was first published in November 2017 from a single year of flights. It now covers every year from 2000 through 2025, recomputed with one method, and adds two measures the original did not have: how often each state is flown over in absolute terms, and how rarely it is flown to per resident. The original 2017 figure (West Virginia, 195.4 overflights per arriving flight) used a different airport-to-state convention; the 2017 column below is that year recomputed the new way. For current travel conditions and destination advice, use our Best Time to Travel Tool.

“Flyover states” is a jab: the states people cross at 35,000 feet on their way somewhere else. We measure it every year. For every domestic flight in the United States we trace the flight path and record which states it crosses without landing, then compare that with the flights that actually land in each state.

West Virginia is the ultimate flyover state: in 2025 it was flown over 158.5 times for every flight that landed there (668,844 overflights against 4,220 arriving flights). It has held the top spot in 18 of the 26 years we measured; Delaware took it in 7 (2006 to 2007, 2013 to 2015, 2021 to 2022, each time an airline briefly flew scheduled service into Wilmington); Wyoming took it in 1 (2002). By raw count the most flown-over state is Virginia (861,539 overflights in 2025), but Virginia is also a busy destination, so its ratio is far lower.

Then there is Delaware. None of the major airlines that report to the on-time database flies there, so it had 0 of their scheduled arrivals in 2025 and 437,006 of their flights passing overhead. Flown over 437,006 times, landed at never. Ticket data tells the fuller story: about 46,580 passengers a year still arrive on smaller carriers the on-time database does not track, 44.3 for every 1,000 residents, the fewest of any state.

Three ways to be a flyover state

One number cannot carry the whole idea, and the original ratio has a known bias: it rewards small states that sit under the busiest corridors, between Los Angeles and New York or under the big airline hubs. So we now publish three measures:

  • Overflights per arriving flight (the original metric): how many planes pass over for every one that lands.
  • Most flown over: raw overflights. This is corridor geography, and it says as much about where the hubs are as about the state.
  • Least flown to: arriving passengers per 1,000 residents, counted where the passenger’s trip actually ends (ticket data), so a connection through Atlanta is not a visit to Georgia and the flight home is not a visit to the state you live in. This is the “nobody actually goes there” measure, and it does not reward a state for simply being small.

The flyover index combines the last two: a state ranks high only if it is both heavily flown over and rarely flown to per resident. It is the closest thing to what people mean when they use the phrase.

The flyover index, 2024

The index uses 2024, the latest full year of ticket data the Bureau of Transportation Statistics has published; the overflight table below runs through 2025.

Flyover index, top 15 states

Index rank State Most flown over (rank) Overflights Least flown to (rank) Arriving passengers per 1,000 residents
1 Ohio 6 738,823 9 412.0
2 West Virginia 11 680,030 2 88.4
3 Indiana 9 704,044 11 437.4
4 Oklahoma 13 612,611 12 482.2
5 Kansas 15 599,252 3 169.1
6 Pennsylvania 4 819,876 17 646.2
7 Alabama 17 571,490 6 289.9
8 Arkansas 18 567,614 8 377.9
9 Maryland 2 833,988 19 710.4
10 Mississippi 21 524,287 4 183.3
11 Kentucky 8 707,052 21 749.0
12 Iowa 22 506,783 7 329.2
13 Delaware 23 477,928 1 44.3
14 New Mexico 10 699,955 23 769.0
15 Nebraska 25 448,033 18 658.4
16 South Carolina 19 549,514 25 839.0
17 New Jersey 5 781,043 26 867.7
18 North Carolina 3 820,872 27 907.2
19 Michigan 30 300,060 14 592.2
20 Missouri 16 597,633 30 972.4
21 Wyoming 31 259,192 28 935.3
22 Connecticut 32 234,963 13 539.3
23 Idaho 33 225,138 24 812.0
24 Georgia 26 446,004 33 1066.2
25 Louisiana 29 350,944 34 1068.8
26 Texas 34 205,103 31 1017.6
27 New York 28 405,959 35 1120.1
28 Tennessee 7 719,116 36 1169.9
29 Wisconsin 36 181,868 10 435.9
30 Illinois 14 606,394 37 1177.8
31 South Dakota 37 165,648 16 613.1
32 Rhode Island 38 157,712 32 1019.7
33 Oregon 35 198,727 38 1268.2
34 Minnesota 40 73,691 29 941.5
35 Virginia 1 905,994 41 1395.7
36 North Dakota 41 62,743 20 713.5
37 Massachusetts 42 38,771 42 1429.4
38 New Hampshire 43 37,772 5 274.7
39 Utah 27 414,690 43 1491.8
40 Arizona 12 629,876 44 1704.2
41 California 44 30,405 39 1287.4
42 Montana 39 108,824 45 1768.2
43 Washington 45 21,996 40 1394.3
44 Vermont 46 18,761 15 609.6
45 Colorado 24 468,875 46 2379.6
46 Florida 47 0 47 2562.9
47 Nevada 20 532,081 48 5881.8
48 Maine 48 0 22 765.9

The index over time, 2000 to 2024

Indiana and Ohio have been in the top three on the index in every year since 2000, and West Virginia in 21 of the 25 years. Delaware has been the least flown-to state per resident in every one of those years. Number one on the index by year: West Virginia (2000 to 2004), Indiana (2005 to 2019), Ohio (2020 to 2021), Indiana (2022), Ohio (2023 to 2024).

Year Index #1 #2 #3 Least flown to per resident
2000 West Virginia Indiana Ohio Delaware
2001 West Virginia Indiana Ohio Delaware
2002 West Virginia Indiana Ohio Delaware
2003 West Virginia Indiana Ohio Delaware
2004 West Virginia Indiana Ohio Delaware
2005 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2006 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2007 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2008 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2009 Indiana Ohio West Virginia Delaware
2010 Indiana Ohio West Virginia Delaware
2011 Indiana Ohio West Virginia Delaware
2012 Indiana Ohio West Virginia Delaware
2013 Indiana Ohio West Virginia Delaware
2014 Indiana Ohio West Virginia Delaware
2015 Indiana Ohio Kansas Delaware
2016 Indiana Ohio Kansas Delaware
2017 Indiana Ohio Kansas Delaware
2018 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2019 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2020 Ohio West Virginia Indiana Delaware
2021 Ohio Indiana Alabama Delaware
2022 Indiana West Virginia Ohio Delaware
2023 Ohio Indiana West Virginia Delaware
2024 Ohio West Virginia Indiana Delaware

Overflights per arriving flight, 2000 to 2025

Flights over the state per flight landing there, top 15 states

Every table below sorts by any column when you click its heading; the longer ones take a filter box for a state or a number. Number one each year: 2000 West Virginia; 2001 West Virginia; 2002 Wyoming; 2003 West Virginia; 2004 West Virginia; 2005 West Virginia; 2006 Delaware; 2007 Delaware; 2008 West Virginia; 2009 West Virginia; 2010 West Virginia; 2011 West Virginia; 2012 West Virginia; 2013 Delaware; 2014 Delaware; 2015 Delaware; 2016 West Virginia; 2017 West Virginia; 2018 West Virginia; 2019 West Virginia; 2020 West Virginia; 2021 Delaware; 2022 Delaware; 2023 West Virginia; 2024 West Virginia; 2025 West Virginia.

2025 rank State 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 Change since 2000 2025 flights to 2025 flights over
1 West Virginia 501.7 109.3 107.8 187.9 89.4 158.5 -68% 4,220 668,844
2 Mississippi 34.3 22.8 23.7 30.8 34.2 49.0 +43% 10,687 523,505
3 Kansas 73.1 48.4 34.7 41.4 32.5 38.3 -48% 15,930 610,562
4 New Mexico 14.5 14.9 14.5 23.5 24.1 23.2 +60% 30,468 705,357
5 Iowa 35.9 25.2 23.0 25.8 17.2 21.4 -40% 24,671 527,715
6 Arkansas 30.5 13.7 13.3 17.7 19.5 21.4 -30% 26,845 575,445
7 Wyoming 199.0 25.6 19.9 26.0 18.9 19.8 -90% 13,829 273,276
8 Alabama 11.1 11.0 10.6 15.6 16.2 19.8 +78% 28,898 570,755
9 Nebraska 17.3 15.4 13.5 18.6 13.6 15.5 -10% 29,997 465,231
10 Oklahoma 11.0 11.6 11.3 14.1 14.3 14.3 +30% 43,690 625,548
11 South Dakota 27.4 15.5 10.4 15.1 9.8 12.5 -54% 13,814 172,274
12 Indiana 17.7 14.2 12.9 15.1 10.6 11.4 -36% 62,858 717,420
13 Kentucky 5.0 2.4 7.3 13.9 9.6 11.1 +122% 64,705 717,093
14 Rhode Island 4.6 5.1 7.6 11.1 9.4 10.2 +122% 15,277 155,216
15 Connecticut 5.5 7.1 8.9 8.7 7.6 9.8 +78% 22,802 224,010
16 South Carolina 17.2 10.5 13.1 13.3 9.6 8.9 -48% 59,767 529,933
17 Maryland 6.0 7.4 6.0 6.4 6.5 8.3 +38% 95,091 786,249
18 Ohio 7.2 5.5 6.2 7.7 6.7 7.4 +3% 96,656 720,004
19 Idaho 10.4 6.6 7.5 9.2 7.1 7.2 -31% 32,337 232,267
20 New Jersey 4.3 4.8 5.5 5.0 5.5 5.7 +33% 120,992 693,516
21 Louisiana 3.7 4.8 4.9 4.5 4.8 5.3 +43% 66,305 348,206
22 New Hampshire 0.9 1.0 1.4 2.2 3.7 5.3 +489% 6,331 33,773
23 Pennsylvania 2.8 4.7 5.3 6.1 3.8 5.1 +82% 149,155 758,416
24 Missouri 1.9 4.4 4.2 4.8 4.3 5.0 +163% 123,032 615,702
25 Tennessee 3.9 5.1 3.8 7.0 5.3 4.9 +26% 146,831 720,823
26 Virginia 3.1 2.9 3.5 4.5 4.1 3.7 +19% 234,226 861,539
27 Montana 5.7 2.6 3.9 5.0 3.3 3.7 -35% 29,717 111,332
28 Utah 4.1 2.3 2.7 3.4 2.6 3.5 -15% 123,604 426,546
29 Wisconsin 7.3 3.9 2.3 2.9 3.2 3.4 -53% 54,400 183,551
30 North Dakota 7.6 5.8 3.8 3.0 2.7 3.4 -55% 19,095 65,389
31 Vermont 8.1 2.6 3.2 4.4 3.1 3.0 -63% 6,385 19,158
32 North Carolina 2.8 3.7 3.3 4.0 2.2 2.9 +4% 275,541 811,872
33 Arizona 2.3 2.7 2.3 3.0 2.6 2.8 +22% 225,792 629,359
34 Nevada 2.6 2.4 2.6 3.1 2.8 2.7 +4% 203,620 547,796
35 Oregon 2.4 2.2 2.0 2.7 2.6 2.5 +4% 80,116 200,191
36 Michigan 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.9 1.2 1.9 +12% 159,326 306,919
37 Illinois 1.7 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.5 -12% 410,412 612,699
38 Georgia 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6 1.1 1.4 +56% 331,688 448,904
39 Colorado 2.8 2.3 1.4 1.8 1.3 1.4 -50% 354,052 483,997
40 New York 1.7 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.3 -24% 305,672 408,072
41 Minnesota 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.7 +250% 118,015 81,633
42 Texas 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 +50% 739,474 214,271
43 Massachusetts 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 +0% 144,398 34,934
44 Washington 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 -50% 191,260 25,152
45 California 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 n/a 742,733 31,582
46 Florida 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 n/a 624,957 205
47 Maine 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 n/a 14,403 0
n/a Delaware n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 437,006
Every year, 2000 to 2025, all 50 states
2025 rank State 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
1 West Virginia 501.7 694.4 n/a 87.2 105.5 109.3 129.4 169.7 163.5 143.7 107.8 125.3 128.5 150.6 160.7 187.9 181.5 222.9 104.5 109.6 89.4 98.5 129.7 161.6 168.3 158.5
2 Mississippi 34.3 34.4 40.6 22.0 23.0 22.8 22.9 22.0 21.5 22.6 23.7 26.5 28.5 29.7 32.3 30.8 37.9 43.8 35.6 35.9 34.2 36.9 36.4 41.4 43.5 49.0
3 Kansas 73.1 59.0 82.7 47.7 50.3 48.4 42.9 39.0 37.5 34.8 34.7 40.4 38.4 35.1 38.9 41.4 56.2 52.1 37.4 36.5 32.5 36.7 37.6 44.9 41.7 38.3
4 New Mexico 14.5 14.2 13.7 14.3 14.8 14.9 15.6 14.3 13.3 13.8 14.5 14.6 16.0 17.2 19.5 23.5 27.3 27.0 23.7 24.1 24.1 27.7 25.8 25.8 24.8 23.2
5 Iowa 35.9 25.6 29.8 29.0 27.2 25.2 21.4 17.3 18.2 18.1 23.0 25.7 25.6 19.6 25.0 25.8 39.6 36.5 20.3 19.3 17.2 17.2 18.5 20.8 20.3 21.4
6 Arkansas 30.5 16.3 17.2 15.0 14.0 13.7 16.3 15.3 15.0 13.4 13.3 14.9 13.9 14.2 15.4 17.7 24.7 29.1 18.0 17.5 19.5 22.7 21.7 21.6 20.2 21.4
7 Wyoming 199.0 213.6 153.8 26.0 27.0 25.6 25.5 24.8 21.8 19.6 19.9 20.1 20.7 21.2 21.1 26.0 27.6 32.3 30.8 29.5 18.9 17.7 22.9 25.5 21.8 19.8
8 Alabama 11.1 12.3 13.8 11.5 9.9 11.0 12.9 11.1 10.6 10.6 10.6 11.9 12.5 13.1 14.7 15.6 17.5 19.7 14.1 14.4 16.2 18.5 18.7 18.8 18.0 19.8
9 Nebraska 17.3 16.8 18.3 15.7 16.5 15.4 15.5 12.7 12.9 12.8 13.5 15.8 17.4 15.1 17.3 18.6 19.8 18.8 15.6 14.9 13.6 14.9 16.7 17.0 16.2 15.5
10 Oklahoma 11.0 10.0 10.4 10.2 11.0 11.6 11.5 9.9 9.9 11.0 11.3 11.9 11.1 10.6 11.7 14.1 14.0 15.1 13.2 13.5 14.3 14.9 14.2 14.7 14.8 14.3
11 South Dakota 27.4 29.9 38.4 17.3 14.6 15.5 11.9 11.8 12.9 13.3 10.4 11.6 10.5 11.3 12.3 15.1 19.3 18.9 15.2 12.4 9.8 8.9 11.8 13.8 12.9 12.5
12 Indiana 17.7 15.7 17.4 14.0 14.5 14.2 16.9 13.5 12.5 12.4 12.9 16.6 17.0 14.8 15.6 15.1 15.5 15.7 11.5 11.8 10.6 11.2 12.0 12.0 11.6 11.4
13 Kentucky 5.0 5.5 5.7 4.7 2.5 2.4 3.9 4.5 4.9 6.7 7.3 11.0 11.1 8.8 12.9 13.9 17.3 15.8 8.6 8.9 9.6 10.3 9.6 9.6 9.6 11.1
14 Rhode Island 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.9 5.3 5.1 6.3 6.3 6.8 7.7 7.6 8.2 9.0 8.6 10.5 11.1 10.7 10.3 8.8 9.4 9.4 10.1 10.4 10.9 10.7 10.2
15 Connecticut 5.5 6.7 6.5 7.0 7.7 7.1 8.2 8.0 8.0 9.0 8.9 8.8 8.3 8.5 8.0 8.7 9.1 8.6 8.7 8.7 7.6 7.4 10.2 10.9 10.7 9.8
16 South Carolina 17.2 18.0 22.3 10.1 8.9 10.5 11.2 10.4 11.4 12.1 13.1 13.9 13.3 11.9 14.0 13.3 12.7 13.3 10.0 9.2 9.6 8.3 8.6 8.9 8.4 8.9
17 Maryland 6.0 5.4 5.4 6.3 7.1 7.4 6.9 6.8 6.7 6.2 6.0 5.6 5.7 6.2 6.4 6.4 6.1 5.9 8.1 8.6 6.5 8.2 9.9 8.7 8.5 8.3
18 Ohio 7.2 6.9 7.5 5.1 5.5 5.5 5.2 5.8 6.1 6.1 6.2 6.2 6.4 7.2 7.3 7.7 8.7 8.6 6.9 6.9 6.7 7.0 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.4
19 Idaho 10.4 10.9 11.9 6.2 7.0 6.6 6.4 6.0 6.5 7.3 7.5 7.4 8.9 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.1 8.8 8.0 8.2 7.1 6.1 6.1 7.8 7.4 7.2
20 New Jersey 4.3 4.7 4.7 3.9 4.5 4.8 4.5 4.8 5.1 5.3 5.5 5.2 4.8 5.1 5.3 5.0 4.6 4.6 5.6 6.0 5.5 5.5 6.1 5.6 6.0 5.7
21 Louisiana 3.7 3.5 3.7 3.7 3.8 4.8 5.9 5.0 4.9 5.1 4.9 5.1 4.8 4.3 4.5 4.5 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.8 5.8 5.2 5.3 5.2 5.3
22 New Hampshire 0.9 1.2 0.9 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.2 2.8 3.1 3.8 4.1 3.7 5.9 5.2 5.7 6.4 5.3
23 Pennsylvania 2.8 2.8 3.0 4.1 4.4 4.7 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.3 5.2 5.7 5.6 6.0 6.1 6.0 5.7 5.0 4.8 3.8 4.0 5.8 5.7 5.3 5.1
24 Missouri 1.9 1.9 2.2 3.0 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.6 4.8 4.5 4.5 4.3 4.4 4.3 5.0 4.7 4.8 4.7 5.0
25 Tennessee 3.9 3.9 4.3 4.5 5.0 5.1 5.2 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.8 4.8 5.2 5.3 6.4 7.0 7.0 6.8 5.8 5.4 5.3 5.7 5.1 4.9 4.9 4.9
26 Virginia 3.1 3.4 3.5 2.7 2.7 2.9 3.2 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.5 4.7 4.8 3.6 3.5 4.1 4.3 3.5 3.8 3.9 3.7
27 Montana 5.7 6.0 6.3 3.6 2.7 2.6 3.1 3.1 3.5 3.7 3.9 4.1 4.3 4.5 4.5 5.0 5.3 5.5 5.2 4.9 3.3 2.5 3.5 4.2 4.0 3.7
28 Utah 4.1 4.3 4.4 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.6 2.6 2.6 3.3 3.5 3.5 3.5
29 Wisconsin 7.3 5.6 5.9 4.8 4.6 3.9 3.2 3.1 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.8 2.6 2.9 3.2 3.5 3.5 3.6 3.2 3.2 3.4 3.7 3.5 3.4
30 North Dakota 7.6 9.6 8.0 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.1 4.5 5.2 5.3 3.8 4.0 3.6 2.6 3.3 3.0 4.7 5.7 4.0 4.1 2.7 3.0 3.7 3.8 3.5 3.4
31 Vermont 8.1 4.9 6.5 3.4 3.3 2.6 3.2 3.5 3.1 3.3 3.2 3.8 4.1 3.5 3.4 4.4 4.0 4.8 2.0 2.0 3.1 3.4 2.0 2.3 2.4 3.0
32 North Carolina 2.8 2.7 2.5 3.3 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.1 2.9 3.6 4.0 4.0 4.1 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.6 2.9 2.8 2.6 2.9
33 Arizona 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.1 3.0 2.6 2.7 3.0 3.1 2.8 2.8
34 Nevada 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.2 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.7
35 Oregon 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5
36 Michigan 1.7 1.8 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 2.6 2.5 1.5 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.2 1.3 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.9
37 Illinois 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.5
38 Georgia 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4
39 Colorado 2.8 2.9 3.0 2.6 2.6 2.3 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4
40 New York 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.3
41 Minnesota 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7
42 Texas 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3
43 Massachusetts 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2
44 Washington 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
45 California 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
46 Florida 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
47 Maine 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Before the series: 1988

BTS publishes the same flight records for 1988 and 1989 (the 1990s are not available as direct downloads, so the series proper starts in 2000). In 1988, West Virginia was already the most flown-over state per arriving flight, at 67.5 (465,677 overflights, 6,901 arriving flights). By 2025 its ratio had reached 158.5: overflights grew from 465,677 to 668,844 while arriving flights went from 6,901 to 4,220. The 1988 top five: 1. West Virginia (67.5), 2. Wyoming (42.2), 3. Kansas (25.1), 4. Mississippi (23.4), 5. Arkansas (18.7).

Most flown over, 2025

Rank State Overflights Arriving flights
1 Virginia 861,539 234,226
2 North Carolina 811,872 275,541
3 Maryland 786,249 95,091
4 Pennsylvania 758,416 149,155
5 Tennessee 720,823 146,831
6 Ohio 720,004 96,656
7 Indiana 717,420 62,858
8 Kentucky 717,093 64,705
9 New Mexico 705,357 30,468
10 New Jersey 693,516 120,992
11 West Virginia 668,844 4,220
12 Arizona 629,359 225,792
13 Oklahoma 625,548 43,690
14 Missouri 615,702 123,032
15 Illinois 612,699 410,412

Least flown to per resident, 2024

Rank State Arriving passengers per 1,000 residents Arriving passengers (estimated) Population
1 Delaware 44.3 46,580 1,051,917
2 West Virginia 88.4 156,520 1,769,979
3 Kansas 169.1 502,420 2,970,606
4 Mississippi 183.3 539,590 2,943,045
5 New Hampshire 274.7 387,020 1,409,032
6 Alabama 289.9 1,495,150 5,157,699
7 Iowa 329.2 1,067,150 3,241,488
8 Arkansas 377.9 1,167,190 3,088,354
9 Ohio 412.0 4,895,870 11,883,304
10 Wisconsin 435.9 2,598,550 5,960,975
11 Indiana 437.4 3,028,580 6,924,275
12 Oklahoma 482.2 1,974,860 4,095,393
13 Connecticut 539.3 1,981,940 3,675,069
14 Michigan 592.2 6,005,380 10,140,459
15 Vermont 609.6 395,340 648,493

The pandemic year

Overflights fell 43% from 2019 to 2020 (20,660,715 to 11,760,677). The ranking barely moved: the corridors emptied evenly.

Is your state a flyover state? (2025)

  • West Virginia: #1 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (158.5), #11 most flown over; in 2024, #2 least flown to per resident and flyover index #2.
  • Mississippi: #2 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (49.0), #22 most flown over; in 2024, #4 least flown to per resident and flyover index #10.
  • Kansas: #3 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (38.3), #16 most flown over; in 2024, #3 least flown to per resident and flyover index #5.
  • New Mexico: #4 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (23.2), #9 most flown over; in 2024, #23 least flown to per resident and flyover index #14.
  • Iowa: #5 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (21.4), #21 most flown over; in 2024, #7 least flown to per resident and flyover index #12.
  • Arkansas: #6 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (21.4), #17 most flown over; in 2024, #8 least flown to per resident and flyover index #8.
  • Wyoming: #7 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (19.8), #31 most flown over; in 2024, #28 least flown to per resident and flyover index #21.
  • Alabama: #8 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (19.8), #18 most flown over; in 2024, #6 least flown to per resident and flyover index #7.
  • Nebraska: #9 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (15.5), #24 most flown over; in 2024, #18 least flown to per resident and flyover index #15.
  • Oklahoma: #10 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (14.3), #13 most flown over; in 2024, #12 least flown to per resident and flyover index #4.
  • South Dakota: #11 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (12.5), #37 most flown over; in 2024, #16 least flown to per resident and flyover index #31.
  • Indiana: #12 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (11.4), #7 most flown over; in 2024, #11 least flown to per resident and flyover index #3.
  • Kentucky: #13 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (11.1), #8 most flown over; in 2024, #21 least flown to per resident and flyover index #11.
  • Rhode Island: #14 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (10.2), #38 most flown over; in 2024, #32 least flown to per resident and flyover index #32.
  • Connecticut: #15 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (9.8), #33 most flown over; in 2024, #13 least flown to per resident and flyover index #22.
  • South Carolina: #16 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (8.9), #20 most flown over; in 2024, #25 least flown to per resident and flyover index #16.
  • Maryland: #17 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (8.3), #3 most flown over; in 2024, #19 least flown to per resident and flyover index #9.
  • Ohio: #18 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (7.4), #6 most flown over; in 2024, #9 least flown to per resident and flyover index #1.
  • Idaho: #19 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (7.2), #32 most flown over; in 2024, #24 least flown to per resident and flyover index #23.
  • New Jersey: #20 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (5.7), #10 most flown over; in 2024, #26 least flown to per resident and flyover index #17.
  • Louisiana: #21 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (5.3), #29 most flown over; in 2024, #34 least flown to per resident and flyover index #25.
  • New Hampshire: #22 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (5.3), #43 most flown over; in 2024, #5 least flown to per resident and flyover index #38.
  • Pennsylvania: #23 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (5.1), #4 most flown over; in 2024, #17 least flown to per resident and flyover index #6.
  • Missouri: #24 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (5.0), #14 most flown over; in 2024, #30 least flown to per resident and flyover index #20.
  • Tennessee: #25 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (4.9), #5 most flown over; in 2024, #36 least flown to per resident and flyover index #28.
  • Virginia: #26 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (3.7), #1 most flown over; in 2024, #41 least flown to per resident and flyover index #35.
  • Montana: #27 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (3.7), #39 most flown over; in 2024, #45 least flown to per resident and flyover index #42.
  • Utah: #28 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (3.5), #27 most flown over; in 2024, #43 least flown to per resident and flyover index #39.
  • Wisconsin: #29 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (3.4), #36 most flown over; in 2024, #10 least flown to per resident and flyover index #29.
  • North Dakota: #30 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (3.4), #41 most flown over; in 2024, #20 least flown to per resident and flyover index #36.
  • Vermont: #31 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (3.0), #46 most flown over; in 2024, #15 least flown to per resident and flyover index #44.
  • North Carolina: #32 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (2.9), #2 most flown over; in 2024, #27 least flown to per resident and flyover index #18.
  • Arizona: #33 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (2.8), #12 most flown over; in 2024, #44 least flown to per resident and flyover index #40.
  • Nevada: #34 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (2.7), #19 most flown over; in 2024, #48 least flown to per resident and flyover index #47.
  • Oregon: #35 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (2.5), #35 most flown over; in 2024, #38 least flown to per resident and flyover index #33.
  • Michigan: #36 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (1.9), #30 most flown over; in 2024, #14 least flown to per resident and flyover index #19.
  • Illinois: #37 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (1.5), #15 most flown over; in 2024, #37 least flown to per resident and flyover index #30.
  • Georgia: #38 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (1.4), #25 most flown over; in 2024, #33 least flown to per resident and flyover index #24.
  • Colorado: #39 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (1.4), #23 most flown over; in 2024, #46 least flown to per resident and flyover index #45.
  • New York: #40 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (1.3), #28 most flown over; in 2024, #35 least flown to per resident and flyover index #27.
  • Minnesota: #41 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.7), #40 most flown over; in 2024, #29 least flown to per resident and flyover index #34.
  • Texas: #42 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.3), #34 most flown over; in 2024, #31 least flown to per resident and flyover index #26.
  • Massachusetts: #43 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.2), #42 most flown over; in 2024, #42 least flown to per resident and flyover index #37.
  • Washington: #44 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.1), #45 most flown over; in 2024, #40 least flown to per resident and flyover index #43.
  • California: #45 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.0), #44 most flown over; in 2024, #39 least flown to per resident and flyover index #41.
  • Florida: #46 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.0), #47 most flown over; in 2024, #47 least flown to per resident and flyover index #46.
  • Maine: #47 of 47 by overflights per arriving flight in 2025 (0.0), #48 most flown over; in 2024, #22 least flown to per resident and flyover index #48.

Methodology

Data: the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance database, every scheduled domestic flight operated by the reporting airlines, 2000 through 2025 (6,694,074 operated flights in 2025). Cancelled flights are excluded. Reporting airlines are those above about 0.5% of domestic revenue, so cargo, charter, private and the smallest regional flights are not counted. Airport coordinates come from the OpenFlights airports database; state boundaries from the US Census Bureau cartographic boundary files; populations from the Census Bureau state population estimates for each year (the latest estimate is used for years it does not yet cover). For each origin and destination pair we trace the great-circle path between the two airports, sampled every 5 kilometres, and record every state the path crosses. Real flight paths bend around weather and airways, so individual routes differ; at state level the counts are stable. A state counts as flown over when the path enters it and the flight neither departs from nor lands in that state; “flights to” counts flights landing in the state, at the airport’s physical state as BTS records it. Alaska, Hawaii, the territories and the District of Columbia (no airport inside its borders) are excluded. A known limitation: arrivals at hub airports include passengers connecting onward, so hub states (Georgia, Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, Colorado) read as more visited than they are. Visits come from the BTS Airline Origin and Destination Survey (DB1B), a 10% sample of tickets: a passenger counts as arriving in a state only where a market of the trip ends there, and markets that return the passenger to the trip origin are excluded, so connections and the flight home do not count; sample counts are scaled by ten. The flyover index is the worse of a state’s two ranks, most flown over and least flown to per resident, so a state must rank high on both. The original November 2017 study reported West Virginia at 195.4; it assigned the Washington-area and Cincinnati airports by city rather than physical state, which is why the recomputed 2000 figure differs.

Cite this study

ChampionTraveler, “Flyover States: 26 Years of Flight Data Show Which States America Flies Over,” updated 2026-09-09. https://championtraveler.com/news/flyover-states-flight-data-shows-which-states-americans-think-are-boring/

Embed the chart: <a href="https://championtraveler.com/news/flyover-states-flight-data-shows-which-states-americans-think-are-boring/"><img src="https://static-cdn.championtraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/flyover-ratio-chart-2025.png" alt="Flyover states ratio chart by ChampionTraveler" width="900"></a>


1 thought on “Flyover States: 26 Years of Flight Data Show Which States America Flies Over”

  1. LOL I have no idea when this article was created but just found this. Since not every flight/aircraft is the same or holds the same # of passengers, can you gather data for # of travelers and compare to # of flyover flights?

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