How does your public library compare?

The national figure is 2.68 visits per resident. The District of Columbia leads at 4.81; Hawaii records 1.38. Select a spine to open that state.

The ten largest systems by population served

• Alabama214 systems
• Alaska42 systems
• Arizona59 systems
• Arkansas47 systems
• California170 systems
• Colorado101 systems
• Connecticut171 systems
• Delaware21 systems
• District of Columbia1 system
• Florida62 systems
• Georgia60 systems
• Hawaii1 system
• Idaho103 systems
• Illinois617 systems
• Indiana235 systems
• Iowa475 systems
• Kansas294 systems
• Kentucky120 systems
• Louisiana67 systems
• Maine228 systems
• Maryland24 systems
• Massachusetts354 systems
• Michigan368 systems
• Minnesota132 systems
• Mississippi53 systems
• Missouri149 systems
• Montana79 systems
• Nebraska221 systems
• Nevada21 systems
• New Hampshire194 systems
• New Jersey262 systems
• New Mexico91 systems
• New York754 systems
• North Carolina84 systems
• North Dakota69 systems
• Ohio249 systems
• Oklahoma117 systems
• Oregon122 systems
• Pennsylvania435 systems
• Rhode Island45 systems
• South Carolina41 systems
• South Dakota101 systems
• Tennessee184 systems
• Texas503 systems
• Utah61 systems
• Vermont134 systems
• Virginia93 systems
• Washington57 systems
• West Virginia96 systems
• Wisconsin358 systems
• Wyoming22 systems

• 1 million+35 systems
• 500k–1m61 systems
• 250k–500k122 systems
• 100k–250k360 systems
• 50k–100k559 systems
• 25k–50k964 systems
• 10k–25k1,695 systems
• 5k–10k1,408 systems
• 2.5k–5k1,201 systems
• 1k–2.5k1,355 systems
• under 1k801 systems

• How often do Americans visit their public library?

  Visits per resident by size class and state, and the largest systems at each end.

• How much do public libraries spend per resident?

  A full state ranking, size-class medians and spending per visit.

• Where does public library money come from?

  Local, state, federal and other revenue, state by state.

• Have public library visits recovered since 2019?

  FY 2024 against FY 2019 by size class, state and system.

• How many public libraries still charge overdue fines?

  The fine-free share for every state and size class.

• What share of library checkouts are digital?

  Electronic loans against physical checkouts, by size class.

• How to compare your library with similar-size systems

  Rates, size classes, percentiles and named peers, step by step.