Sex offenders per capita, by state
Montana has the highest rate of registered sex offenders per capita in our index — about 6.2 registrants indexed per 1,000 residents as of August 2026 — against a national average of about 4.7 per 1,000. The full rate ranking is below. Rates divide the records we index by 2020 Census populations; they describe registries, not official counts.
Highest to lowest rate per 1,000 residents
Jurisdictions with at least 1,000 indexed records, rate-ranked. Each links to its own statistics page.
| # | Jurisdiction | Per 1,000 residents | Registrants indexed (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montana | 6.2 | ≈ 6,730 |
| 2 | Alaska | 5.1 | ≈ 3,750 |
| 3 | Mississippi | 4.8 | ≈ 14,200 |
| 4 | South Dakota | 4.7 | ≈ 4,140 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 4.6 | ≈ 27,400 |
| 6 | Wyoming | 4.5 | ≈ 2,620 |
| 7 | Florida | 4.3 | ≈ 92,900 |
| 8 | Michigan | 4.3 | ≈ 43,300 |
| 9 | Delaware | 4.1 | ≈ 4,030 |
| 10 | Tennessee | 4.0 | ≈ 27,900 |
| 11 | Kansas | 3.9 | ≈ 11,500 |
| 12 | Georgia | 3.9 | ≈ 41,500 |
| 13 | Utah | 3.7 | ≈ 12,200 |
| 14 | Arkansas | 3.7 | ≈ 11,200 |
| 15 | Texas | 3.7 | ≈ 108,000 |
| 16 | Virginia | 3.7 | ≈ 31,900 |
| 17 | Nebraska | 3.7 | ≈ 7,240 |
| 18 | South Carolina | 3.6 | ≈ 18,200 |
| 19 | Missouri | 3.5 | ≈ 21,500 |
| 20 | Illinois | 3.5 | ≈ 44,300 |
| 21 | Nevada | 3.2 | ≈ 9,900 |
| 22 | West Virginia | 3.0 | ≈ 5,450 |
| 23 | North Carolina | 3.0 | ≈ 31,100 |
| 24 | Idaho | 2.9 | ≈ 5,360 |
| 25 | Louisiana | 2.9 | ≈ 13,500 |
| 26 | North Dakota | 2.9 | ≈ 2,250 |
| 27 | Alabama | 2.6 | ≈ 13,000 |
| 28 | Kentucky | 2.4 | ≈ 11,000 |
| 29 | Iowa | 2.2 | ≈ 7,170 |
| 30 | Colorado | 2.2 | ≈ 12,900 |
| 31 | Indiana | 2.2 | ≈ 14,600 |
| 32 | Maine | 2.1 | ≈ 2,890 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | 2.1 | ≈ 8,380 |
| 34 | Vermont | 2.0 | ≈ 1,310 |
| 35 | Hawaii | 2.0 | ≈ 2,930 |
| 36 | Pennsylvania | 2.0 | ≈ 25,400 |
| 37 | New Hampshire | 2.0 | ≈ 2,690 |
| 38 | Arizona | 1.8 | ≈ 13,200 |
| 39 | Ohio | 1.8 | ≈ 21,700 |
| 40 | Connecticut | 1.6 | ≈ 5,880 |
| 41 | California | 1.6 | ≈ 62,900 |
| 42 | District of Columbia | 1.5 | ≈ 1,060 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 1.4 | ≈ 1,550 |
| 44 | New York | 1.4 | ≈ 28,300 |
| 45 | New Mexico | 1.3 | ≈ 2,840 |
| 46 | Maryland | 1.2 | ≈ 7,490 |
| 47 | Puerto Rico | 0.9 | ≈ 2,950 |
| 48 | Washington | 0.8 | ≈ 6,380 |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 0.6 | ≈ 4,180 |
| 50 | New Jersey | 0.5 | ≈ 4,540 |
| 51 | Oregon | 0.5 | ≈ 2,010 |
| 52 | Minnesota | 0.3 | ≈ 1,480 |
A high rate reflects how a jurisdiction runs and publishes its registry as much as anything about its residents. Registry data is not a consumer report, and decisions made on it are regulated in that use.
About per-capita rates
Which state has the most sex offenders per capita?
Montana, at about 6.2 registrants indexed per 1,000 residents as of August 2026, ahead of Alaska (5.1 per 1,000). The national average across our index is about 4.7 per 1,000 — and the per-capita order differs sharply from the absolute-count order, where the biggest states lead.
Why do per-capita rates differ so much between states?
Mostly because registries differ, not because populations do. Jurisdictions decide who must register, for how long, and which registrants appear on the public registry — some publish every tier, others only their highest-risk levels. A rate here describes the size of the registry we index relative to 2020 Census population; it is a scale comparison, not a measure of offending or of safety.
How is the rate calculated?
Each rate divides the registrants we index for a jurisdiction — rounded to three significant figures — by its 2020 Census resident population, per 1,000, shown to one decimal. Jurisdictions with fewer than 1,000 indexed records are listed unranked, because a rate on a very small count reads as precision we do not hold.
The live answer beats the table
Rates describe registries; a search answers for a person — across every US registry at once. Your first 25 are free.