Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

U.S. statehouse reporters by state

CORRECTION (Oct. 27, 2023): This report has been corrected throughout to reflect new information, received in August 2023, that reduced the number of student statehouse reporters in Nebraska from 40 to three. While many figures in the report were changed in the process, including in graphics and tables, the new information does not affect the substantive conclusions of the study. For questions, please email Pew Research Center.

A new Pew Research Center study finds there were 1,724 journalists assigned to U.S. state capitol buildings as of late 2021 and early 2022. The number of reporters covering the statehouse varies widely from state to state, with some capitols filled with dozens of full-time reporters and others hosting only four or five. As in the Center’s 2014 study of statehouse reporting, the number of full-time statehouse reporters in a state is closely related to the size of the state’s population and legislative session length. State-by-state data is available below in a sortable database.

You can also read the full report, which provides a detailed accounting of the nation’s statehouse press corps and how it has changed since 2014.

[chart id=90762]

StateFull-time (incl. session-only)Part-timeStudents/
interns
OtherTotalAvg. legis. session (months)Population (2020)
Alabama1542213.145,024,279
Alaska663.98733,391
Arizona16157384.447,151,502
Arkansas711181.943,011,524
California65245161108.5039,538,223
Colorado17121304.605,773,714
Connecticut188263.703,605,944
Delaware56115.65989,948
Florida36817521.9821,538,187
Georgia201724434.0310,711,908
Hawaii3913164.691,455,271
Idaho1315282.801,839,106
Illinois181161364.6112,812,508
Indiana1867312.936,785,528
Iowa1610264.253,190,369
Kansas13841264.372,937,880
Kentucky1811103423.024,505,836
Louisiana1414113422.344,657,757
Maine910194.401,362,359
Maryland1910101402.656,177,224
Massachusetts17131124311.947,029,917
Michigan2614935211.4010,077,331
Minnesota191377463.795,706,494
Mississippi94135.892,961,279
Missouri17826514.456,154,913
Montana26922393.611,084,225
Nebraska91931325.941,961,504
Nevada11137313.963,104,614
New Hampshire1091207.261,377,529
New Jersey281013912.009,288,994
New Mexico11404551.522,117,522
New York39311718.5820,201,249
North Carolina20313544.9410,439,388
North Dakota46103.77779,094
Ohio34131015811.7411,799,448
Oklahoma13172323.723,959,353
Oregon8191283.244,237,256
Pennsylvania281094711.1613,002,700
Rhode Island51210276.851,097,379
South Carolina128206.925,118,425
South Dakota752142.60886,667
Tennessee13131274.176,910,840
Texas4418124784.6129,145,505
Utah14243411.533,271,616
Vermont517226.63643,077
Virginia201311441.838,631,393
Washington1052172.727,705,281
West Virginia101410341.981,793,716
Wisconsin30824011.955,893,718
Wyoming551111.39576,851
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