U.S. States That Love Online Chess The Most
No country in the world has more members associated with Chess.com than the United States—about 44 million as of our last country count. Since it is the third-largest country in the world, and with the largest economy, this level of popularity makes sense. Today we thought we'd go deeper and see which states in the United States like chess the most.
So, which U.S. states have the most Chess.com members? Which states have the most per capita, or the highest ratings? And how big would the entire Chess.com population be as a U.S. state? We answer all those questions below.
Note: All data in this article is accurate as of May 2026.
Most Chess.com Members
The largest states, unsurprisingly, have some of the highest Chess.com membership numbers. The four largest states—California, Texas, New York, and Florida—are the only four states with at least three million Chess.com players. Eight of the top 10 states in U.S. population are also top 10 in Chess.com membership, and all of the top 10 on Chess.com are among the top 13 states by population. The exceptions are Ohio and Michigan—come on, Midwest, hop on board! (On board...)
| Chess.com Rank | State | Members (millions) | Population (millions) | Pop. Rank |
| 1 | California | 7.0 | 39.9 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas | 5.0 | 32.5 | 2 |
| 3 | New York | 3.7 | 20.1 | 4 |
| 4 | Florida | 3.0 | 24.3 | 3 |
| 5 | Illinois | 2.3 | 12.8 | 6 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 1.9 | 13.2 | 5 |
| 7 | New Jersey | 1.6 | 9.7 | 11 |
| 8 | Georgia | 1.6 | 11.4 | 8 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1.6 | 11.4 | 9 |
| 10 | Washington | 1.6 | 8.1 | 13 |
| 11 | Virginia | 1.6 | 9.0 | 12 |
Once you adjust for population, the numbers get more interesting. California drops several spots and Texas moves out of the top 10 altogether. Utah, where Chess.com is headquartered, has the third-most chess players per capita, behind Colorado and Washington.
Go west, American chess players: The top four states, and half of the top 10, are west of the Mississippi River.
| State | Population | Members | Percent on Chess.com |
| Colorado | 6,000,000 | 1,200,000 | 19.77% |
| Washington | 8,100,000 | 1,600,000 | 19.61% |
| Utah | 3,600,000 | 800,000 | 19.31% |
| Oregon | 4,300,000 | 800,000 | 18.56% |
| New York | 20,100,000 | 3,700,000 | 18.38% |
| Illinois | 12,800,000 | 2,300,000 | 17.90% |
| Massachusetts | 7,200,000 | 1,300,000 | 17.87% |
| Virginia | 8,900,000 | 1,600,000 | 17.85% |
| California | 39,800,000 | 7,000,000 | 17.55% |
| New Jersey | 9,700,000 | 1,700,000 | 17.45% |
Highest-Rated Users
Impressively, California has some of the highest ratings in the country in addition to having the highest total number of players. Florida also ranks highly on both lists, fourth in total players yet third in average rating.
Out of all the states, however, it is Maryland with the highest average rating. Only there and in New York can you find a player base rated above 900 on average. Since New York City is such a massive chess hub, from Washington Square to the Marshall Chess Club, it's no surprise to see New York joining California, Illinois, and New Jersey as the only states on all three maps (most players, most per capita, highest ratings).
| Rank | State | Avg. Blitz Rating | Total Member Rank | Per Capita Member Rank |
| 1 | Maryland | 913 | <10 | <10 |
| 2 | New York | 903 | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | Florida | 897 | 4 | <10 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | 893 | <10 | <10 |
| 5 | New Jersey | 885 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | Nevada | 883 | <10 | <10 |
| 7 | California | 880 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Connecticut | 880 | <10 | <10 |
| 9 | Illinois | 879 | 5 | 6 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 879 | <10 | 7 |
Chess.com As A State
With its population of about 40 million, California today is the same size as Chess.com was in 2020. Of course, Chess.com has grown much faster than California has since then. (California has in fact been estimated to have slightly lost population since the 2020 census.)
Having cleared every state by a mile, Chess.com still hasn't cleared every state combined (just almost half of them combined). That will happen around 340-360 million members, the exact date depending on the respective rates of U.S. and Chess.com population growth the next few years.
But here's something possibly even more astounding: just the American members of Chess.com outnumber any single state population.
Conclusion
Stars, stripes, baseball, apple pie... and chess. If you've ever wondered how popular chess is across the United States, hopefully this article has helped offer some context.
How popular is chess, and how good are the players, in your state? Let us know in the comments! And be sure to check out Chess.com statistics across the world as well!
Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.
