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Average rainfall by state: wettest and driest states

Name: Average rainfall by state: wettest and driest states
Creator: CompareTheData.com

Total yearly precipitation (rain plus the water content of snow), averaged across each state.

Data vintage: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv statewide series (file of Oct 6, 2026): 1991–2020 normals and annual 2025. Last checked 2026-10-27 by The CompareTheData team.

Data: NOAA NCEI. Jump to sources · Methodology

Key takeaways

Wettest states: Hawaii (61.7 in), Louisiana (59.7 in) and Mississippi (58.5 in) a year.
Driest: Nevada (10.2 in), Arizona (11.6 in) and Utah (13.5 in).
In 2025, 10 states got more precipitation than normal; the contiguous U.S. received 29.3 in vs a normal 31.3 in.
Driest relative to normal in 2025: Hawaii (68%), Utah (77%) and Illinois (81%) of normal.

Average annual precipitation by state chart

Average annual precipitation, 1991–2020 normal (inches)

Rainfall by state, ranked (wettest first)

Click a column heading to sort. Download this table (CSV).

Rainfall by state, ranked (wettest first)
Rank	State	Normal 1991–2020	2025	2025 vs normal	% of normal	2024
1	Hawaii	61.7 in	42.0 in	−19.7 in	68%	53.5 in
2	Louisiana	59.7 in	53.0 in	−6.7 in	89%	71.7 in
3	Mississippi	58.5 in	52.4 in	−6.1 in	90%	57.9 in
4	Alabama	56.9 in	51.8 in	−5.1 in	91%	56.5 in
5	Tennessee	55.1 in	53.4 in	−1.7 in	97%	53.1 in
6	Florida	54.4 in	44.7 in	−9.7 in	82%	56.8 in
7	Arkansas	52.5 in	51.6 in	−0.9 in	98%	54.7 in
8	North Carolina	50.8 in	44.6 in	−6.2 in	88%	53.1 in
9	Georgia	50.4 in	44.1 in	−6.3 in	88%	56.5 in
10	Kentucky	50.4 in	57.5 in	+7.1 in	114%	51.6 in
11	Rhode Island	49.1 in	44.8 in	−4.3 in	91%	56.7 in
12	Connecticut	48.7 in	41.9 in	−6.8 in	86%	52.0 in
13	Massachusetts	48.6 in	42.9 in	−5.7 in	88%	48.1 in
14	South Carolina	48.3 in	43.1 in	−5.2 in	89%	52.9 in
15	New Hampshire	47.9 in	40.0 in	−7.9 in	84%	45.7 in
16	New Jersey	47.6 in	38.9 in	−8.7 in	82%	42.6 in
17	West Virginia	47.1 in	45.1 in	−2.0 in	96%	42.1 in
18	Vermont	46.0 in	42.0 in	−4.0 in	91%	46.4 in
19	Delaware	45.9 in	40.3 in	−5.6 in	88%	37.6 in
20	Virginia	45.8 in	43.4 in	−2.4 in	95%	45.5 in
21	Maine	45.5 in	39.0 in	−6.5 in	86%	42.9 in
22	Maryland	45.2 in	38.4 in	−6.8 in	85%	39.5 in
23	Pennsylvania	45.0 in	40.3 in	−4.7 in	89%	44.9 in
24	Indiana	43.6 in	39.9 in	−3.7 in	91%	42.9 in
25	New York	43.6 in	40.2 in	−3.4 in	92%	44.3 in
26	Missouri	43.5 in	38.1 in	−5.4 in	88%	43.9 in
27	Washington	43.2 in	40.0 in	−3.2 in	93%	42.4 in
28	Ohio	41.1 in	39.1 in	−2.0 in	95%	37.9 in
29	Illinois	40.7 in	33.0 in	−7.7 in	81%	40.9 in
30	Alaska	37.6 in	39.1 in	+1.5 in	104%	37.6 in
31	Oklahoma	36.4 in	39.5 in	+3.1 in	108%	36.5 in
32	Iowa	35.5 in	33.6 in	−1.9 in	95%	37.0 in
33	Wisconsin	34.1 in	30.6 in	−3.5 in	90%	37.0 in
34	Michigan	33.9 in	32.0 in	−1.9 in	94%	34.6 in
35	Oregon	32.1 in	29.1 in	−3.0 in	91%	36.5 in
36	Kansas	29.0 in	29.5 in	+0.5 in	102%	27.4 in
37	Minnesota	28.6 in	26.6 in	−2.0 in	93%	29.6 in
38	Texas	28.6 in	26.0 in	−2.6 in	91%	29.4 in
39	Nebraska	24.2 in	24.3 in	+0.1 in	101%	22.4 in
40	Idaho	23.7 in	23.1 in	−0.6 in	98%	22.3 in
41	California	22.3 in	23.3 in	+1.0 in	104%	26.1 in
42	South Dakota	21.2 in	23.3 in	+2.1 in	110%	19.0 in
43	Montana	18.9 in	20.0 in	+1.1 in	106%	17.0 in
44	North Dakota	18.8 in	19.9 in	+1.1 in	106%	18.5 in
45	Colorado	18.0 in	16.0 in	−2.0 in	89%	19.2 in
46	Wyoming	16.0 in	16.3 in	+0.3 in	102%	13.3 in
47	New Mexico	13.8 in	12.5 in	−1.3 in	91%	12.8 in
48	Utah	13.5 in	10.4 in	−3.1 in	77%	12.7 in
49	Arizona	11.6 in	9.8 in	−1.8 in	85%	9.8 in
50	Nevada	10.2 in	9.4 in	−0.8 in	92%	9.5 in

How 2025 compared

10 states were wetter than normal in 2025 and 40 were drier. Wettest relative to normal: Kentucky (114%), South Dakota (110%) and Oklahoma (108%) of normal.

How to read these numbers

Precipitation varies enormously within states, for example between western and eastern Washington or Oregon.
D.C. is not part of NOAA's statewide series.
Snowfall is counted as its melted water equivalent.

Common questions

What is the wettest state?

Hawaii, averaging 61.7 inches a year (1991–2020).

What is the driest state?

Nevada (10.2 inches a year).

How much rain does the US get a year?

The contiguous U.S. averages about 31.3 inches of precipitation a year.

Sources

Figures computed by CompareTheData.com from the official files below; the raw downloads are archived with the build. Where D.C. is included it is ranked alongside the states.

NOAA NCEI, nClimDiv statewide temperature and precipitation (v1.0.0, 2026-10-06 file). annual 2025, normals 1991–2020.