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96 free US State Capitals trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free US state capitals trivia questions with answers. Think you know your US state capitals? It's one of those things everyone learns in school but few people remember perfectly. Sure, you know Sacramento is California's capital and Albany is New York's — but can you name the capital of South Dakota? Or which state capital was originally called Pig's Eye? This 96-question quiz covers every state capital plus fascinating facts about their history, geography, and quirky origins.
30 of 96 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital of California?
Sacramento
Sacramento has been the capital of California since 1854. Despite Los Angeles being the largest city in the state, Sacramento was chosen for its central location in the agriculturally rich Central Valley.
Q 02What is the capital of New York?
Albany
Albany has been New York's capital since 1797; New York City, though far larger and more famous, has not held the role since the early days of the republic.
Q 03What is the capital of Texas?
Austin
Austin has been the capital of Texas since 1839, when it was chosen by Mirabeau B. Lamar during the Republic of Texas era. It was named after Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas.
Q 04What is the capital of Florida?
Tallahassee
Tallahassee became Florida's capital in 1824 as a compromise, sitting roughly midway between the two earlier capitals, St. Augustine and Pensacola.
Q 05What is the capital of Illinois?
Springfield
The legislature voted in 1837 to move Illinois's capital from Vandalia to Springfield, a campaign led by a young lawmaker named Abraham Lincoln, who lived there until he left for the White House.
Q 06Which city was Georgia's capital during the Civil War, before Atlanta in 1868?
Milledgeville
Milledgeville served as the capital of Georgia from 1804 to 1868. It was the state capital throughout the Civil War until the capital was moved to Atlanta during Reconstruction.
Q 07What is the capital of Ohio?
Columbus
Columbus has been the capital of Ohio since 1816. The city was founded in 1812 specifically to serve as the state capital and was named after explorer Christopher Columbus.
Q 08What is the capital of Pennsylvania?
Harrisburg
Harrisburg, on the Susquehanna, has been Pennsylvania's capital since 1812. Philadelphia had served as both state capital and the nation's capital before the federal government moved to Washington, D.C.
Q 09Juneau is the capital of which US state?
Alaska
Juneau took over from Sitka as Alaska's capital in 1906; its consolidated city-borough sprawls over 2,700 square miles, most of it ice field and mountains.
Q 10Which US state capital was the first Confederate capital, before the government moved north in May 1861?
Montgomery, Alabama
Jefferson Davis was sworn in as Confederate president on the steps of Alabama's State Capitol in February 1861; the government stayed in Montgomery only three months before relocating.
Q 11Which US state capital was named for a nearby mountain range?
Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington took its name in 1850 at Isaac Ebey's suggestion, for the town's view of the Olympic Mountains to the northwest, a range itself named for Greece's Mount Olympus.
Q 12Since 1902, Denver has had which unusual form of local government?
A consolidated city-county
The City and County of Denver was carved out of Arapahoe County on December 1, 1902; Honolulu, Nashville and Indianapolis are other state capitals run as merged city-counties.
Q 13What is the capital of Michigan?
Lansing
Q 21Which US state capital was named after the seventh president of the United States?
Jackson, Mississippi
The city honoured Andrew Jackson for his 1815 victory at New Orleans, years before he reached the White House; Madison, Lincoln and Jefferson City honour presidents four, sixteen and three.
Q 22Which state capital sits on the banks of the Cumberland River?
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, sits on the Cumberland River. The river played a crucial role in Nashville's development as a major trading and transportation hub in the 19th century.
Q 23Montpelier is the capital of which US state?
Vermont
Lansing became Michigan's capital in 1847 when the legislature moved it inland from Detroit, partly to keep the government farther from the British-controlled Canadian border.
Q 14Which US state capital has the fewest residents?
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier, Vermont recorded 8,074 residents in the 2020 census, by far the smallest population of any US state capital.
Q 15What is the capital of Louisiana?
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge has been the capital of Louisiana since 1880. Its name means 'Red Stick' in French, referring to a red cypress pole that marked the boundary between two Native American tribal territories.
Q 16What is the capital of Minnesota?
Saint Paul
Saint Paul and neighbouring Minneapolis form the Twin Cities; the settlement took its name in 1841 from a small log chapel that Father Lucien Galtier built on the bluff above the river landing.
Q 17What is the capital of Arizona?
Phoenix
Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and its largest city. With a population of over 1.6 million, Phoenix is the most populous state capital in the United States.
Q 18What is the capital of Massachusetts?
Boston
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and its largest city. It has been the capital since the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1630, making it one of the oldest continuously serving capitals in the US.
Q 19What is the capital of Nevada?
Carson City
Named after frontiersman Kit Carson, Carson City became the territorial capital in 1861 and stayed capital when Nevada became a state in 1864; Las Vegas has never held the job.
Q 20What is the capital of Missouri?
Jefferson City
Jefferson City has been Missouri's capital since 1826; it was named for Thomas Jefferson, whose Louisiana Purchase brought the territory into the United States.
Montpelier is the capital of Vermont; named after Montpellier, France, it has been the state capital since 1805 and sits on the Winooski River.
Q 24What is the capital of Kentucky?
Frankfort
Frankfort has been the capital of Kentucky since 1792. It is one of the smallest state capitals by population and was named after Stephen Frank, a pioneer killed at a nearby ford on the Kentucky River.
Q 25What is the capital of South Carolina?
Columbia
Columbia has been the capital of South Carolina since 1786. The city was specifically planned and built to serve as the state capital, replacing Charleston. It was named after Christopher Columbus.
Q 26What is the capital of New Jersey?
Trenton
Trenton has been the capital of New Jersey since 1790. It played a pivotal role in the American Revolution when George Washington famously crossed the Delaware River to attack Hessian forces there on Christmas night, 1776.
Q 27What is the capital of Connecticut?
Hartford
Hartford has been the sole capital of Connecticut since 1875. Before that, Connecticut had two co-capitals: Hartford and New Haven, with the legislature alternating between the two cities.
Q 28What is the capital of Maryland?
Annapolis
Annapolis has been the capital of Maryland since 1694. It also briefly served as the capital of the United States in 1783-1784. The United States Naval Academy has been located in Annapolis since 1845.
Q 29What is the capital of Wisconsin?
Madison
Madison was picked as Wisconsin's territorial capital in 1836, while only a paper plat, and kept the role at statehood in 1848; the city was named for James Madison, who had died that June.
Q 30Which US state capital's name contains its state's name as a separate word?
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the only US state capital whose name contains its state's name as a separate word; the city sprang up in a single day in the Land Run of 22 April 1889.