Only one state touches two oceans

Twenty-three of the fifty states have an ocean coastline. Fourteen face the Atlantic, five face the Pacific, five face the Gulf of Mexico (Florida counts twice, hitting both the Atlantic and the Gulf), and exactly one faces the Arctic. That one is Alaska, which stretches from the Pacific rim in the south to the Beaufort Sea in the north, making it the only US state that touches two different oceans. This guide breaks down every coastal state, its ocean, and its coastline mileage.

The only two-ocean state: Alaska

Alaska is unique. Its southern shoreline sits on the Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Its northern shoreline sits on the Arctic Ocean, at the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Point Barrow, just outside the town of Utqiagvik, is the northernmost point of the United States and the point where the state most clearly meets the Arctic. Alaska was admitted to the Union on January 3, 1959, has 3 electoral votes, and its capital is Juneau. Its nicknames include "The Last Frontier" and its state motto is "North to the Future."

Florida is sometimes confused for a two-ocean state because it borders both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Geographically, however, the Gulf of Mexico is a marginal sea of the Atlantic basin, not a separate ocean. The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes five oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern), and only Alaska touches two of them.

Atlantic coast states (14)

The Atlantic seaboard runs from Maine down to Florida and holds the bulk of coastal population. Every one of the original 13 colonies except Pennsylvania had ocean access, which is why so many old colonial capitals sit within an hour of the water. Florida appears in both the Atlantic and Gulf lists because it fronts both.

State	Capital	Admitted	General coastline (miles)
Maine	Augusta	1820	228
New Hampshire	Concord	1788	13
Massachusetts	Boston	1788	192
Rhode Island	Providence	1790	40
Connecticut	Hartford	1788	96
New York	Albany	1788	127
New Jersey	Trenton	1787	130
Delaware	Dover	1787	28
Maryland	Annapolis	1788	31
Virginia	Richmond	1788	112
North Carolina	Raleigh	1789	301
South Carolina	Columbia	1788	187
Georgia	Atlanta	1788	100
Florida	Tallahassee	1845	1,350 (total, Atlantic + Gulf)

New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any state at just 13 miles, a narrow slice between Massachusetts and Maine that includes the beach towns of Hampton and Rye. North Carolina has the longest Atlantic coastline of the lower 48 at 301 miles, driven largely by the Outer Banks. Georgia's official capital is Atlanta, but its historic coastal city of Savannah anchors the state's short ocean frontage.

Pacific coast states (5)

The Pacific side is short on states but heavy on shoreline. Alaska alone accounts for more Pacific coastline than California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii combined. Hawaii is the only state entirely surrounded by ocean, with all eight main islands sitting in the Pacific.

State	Capital	Admitted	General coastline (miles)
Alaska	Juneau	1959	6,640
Washington	Olympia	1889	157
Oregon	Salem	1859	296
California	Sacramento	1850	840
Hawaii	Honolulu	1959	750

California's 840 miles run from the Oregon border down to San Diego and cross three major mountain-meets-sea regions: the Redwood coast in the north, the Big Sur cliffs in the middle, and the beach counties around Los Angeles and San Diego. Oregon and Washington both have shorter but famously rugged coastlines, dominated by state parks and Pacific storms. Hawaii's 750 miles are split across the main islands of Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe.

Gulf of Mexico states (5)

The Gulf Coast runs from Texas east through the Florida Panhandle and holds five states. Florida overlaps with the Atlantic list because its west coast fronts the Gulf and its east coast fronts the Atlantic. All five Gulf states sit inside the Hurricane Zone and see regular tropical storm activity between June and November.

State	Capital	Admitted	Gulf coastline (miles)
Texas	Austin	1845	367
Louisiana	Baton Rouge	1812	397
Mississippi	Jackson	1817	44
Alabama	Montgomery	1819	53
Florida (west)	Tallahassee	1845	770 (Gulf portion)

Louisiana has the longest Gulf coastline at 397 miles, thanks to the maze of bays, barrier islands, and river-mouth deltas that make up the Mississippi River outlet. Mississippi has only 44 miles of Gulf frontage but the entire state population of coastal counties is concentrated there, including Biloxi and Gulfport. Texas hits the Gulf along its 367-mile southern shore, running from the Sabine River at the Louisiana border down to South Padre Island at the Mexican border.

The ranking: total coastline by state

NOAA measures coastline two ways: general coastline (the smoothed-out length) and tidal shoreline (which counts every bay, inlet, and river mouth). Both put Alaska first by an enormous margin. Here are the top ten by general coastline in miles.

• 1. Alaska: 6,640 miles (Pacific + Arctic combined)
• 2. Florida: 1,350 miles (Atlantic + Gulf combined)
• 3. California: 840 miles (Pacific)
• 4. Hawaii: 750 miles (Pacific)
• 5. Louisiana: 397 miles (Gulf)
• 6. Texas: 367 miles (Gulf)
• 7. North Carolina: 301 miles (Atlantic)
• 8. Oregon: 296 miles (Pacific)
• 9. Maine: 228 miles (Atlantic)
• 10. Massachusetts: 192 miles (Atlantic)

By tidal shoreline (counting bays, rivers, and inlets), the rankings shuffle: Alaska stays first at about 33,900 miles, but Florida moves up to 8,400 miles and Louisiana passes California with 7,700 miles of tidal shoreline because of the delta country. The Chesapeake Bay pushes Maryland and Virginia into surprising top-15 positions on the tidal-shoreline list even though their general coastlines are modest.

The 27 landlocked and Great Lakes states

Twenty-seven states have no ocean coastline at all. Eight of them do touch a Great Lake (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), which gives them commercial ports and freshwater beaches but no salt water. Some of these states are surprisingly close: Vermont is only about 40 miles from the Atlantic across New Hampshire, and West Virginia sits within about 175 miles of the Chesapeake Bay. But by strict definition, the following 27 states have no ocean frontage: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

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