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State Capitals That Beat Phoenix

For each category, name any U.S. state capital that ranks higher than Phoenix, Arizona. Have fun!
Quiz by Geographystar
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Last updated: February 18, 2022
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First submittedFebruary 18, 2022
Times taken10,689
Average score78.6%
Rating4.41
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Rank
Category
State Capital
10
Fastest-growing population
(metro area, 2010–2020)
Austin | Raleigh | Boise | Nashville | Bismarck | Des Moines |
Olympia | Denver | Salt Lake City
9
Closest to Denver
Cheyenne | Santa Fe | Salt Lake City | Pierre | Lincoln |
Topeka | Oklahoma City | Bismarck
8
Westernmost
Honolulu | Juneau | Salem | Olympia | Sacramento |
Carson City | Boise
7
Most common as a first name
in the United States
Austin | Madison | Jackson | Lincoln |
Cheyenne | Trenton
7
Closest to the Pacific Ocean
Honolulu | Olympia | Juneau | Salem |
Sacramento | Carson City
7
Southernmost
Honolulu | Austin | Tallahassee | Baton Rouge |
Jackson | Montgomery
6
Most populous in 1960
Boston | Denver | Atlanta | Indianapolis | Columbus
6
Closest to an international border
Juneau | Montpelier | Lansing | Augusta | Olympia
4
Most guessed on the JetPunk
state capitals quiz
Sacramento | Denver | Honolulu | Atlanta (t)
4
Largest land area (city proper)
Juneau | Oklahoma City | Nashville
3
Farthest from another state capital
Honolulu | Juneau
3
Busiest airport
Atlanta | Denver
2
Farthest from the state border
or the sea
Austin
2
Hottest average yearly temperature
Honolulu
+1
Level 60
Feb 18, 2022
Cool, it got featured!
+9
Level 67
Feb 18, 2022
Honolulu is an answer to nearly half of them!
+5
Level 67
Feb 18, 2022
6 out of 14 is pretty normal for a quiz like this, some state capitals are just more similar on paper than others.
+3
Level 87
Feb 18, 2022
Austin, Honolulu, Juneau will answer 11 of these questions
+1
Level 60
Feb 18, 2022
Shhhhhhh
+3
Level 75
Feb 22, 2022
Honolulu, Juneau, Atlanta, and Austin give you all but one.
+1
Level 92
Feb 27, 2024
Yet in spite of that, there are 33 distinct capitals that are valid answers in the quiz. Pretty diverse, really.
+7
Level 86
Feb 18, 2022
"Westernmost" and "Closest to the Pacific Ocean" are *almost* the same question. Might be nice to replace one of them with something else.

Cool quiz overall, though :)

+2
Level 71
Feb 22, 2022
Wow, I never knew Des Moines was growing so quickly! Or growing at all!

Also crazy that if you go back just ten years to 1950, Phoenix goes down to 19th.

+1
Level 71
Feb 22, 2022
Well, I looked it up, and it looks like Des Moines only grew by 5.3% last year, definitely less than Phoenix. Are you sure that’s right?
+1
Level ∞
Feb 22, 2022
That looked weird to me too. Don't know why I didn't double-check. @Geographystar can you check the rest of the population numbers for accuracy?
+1
Level 67
Feb 22, 2022
I used this wikipedia page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area

And it says that the population of Des Moines was 606,475 in 2010, and 709,466 in 2020. So, if there is an error, then it must be a problem in wikipedia, I'll look into it.

+1
Level 67
Feb 22, 2022
Wikipedia claims Des Moines grew by almost 17% in the last decade, and Phoenix grew about 15.5%, so maybe the definition of the Des Moines metro changed?
+1
Level ∞
Feb 22, 2022
Okay. I would have assumed city proper population unless metro was stated. I'll add metro area to the clue.
+1
Level 67
Feb 22, 2022
Also, this news article,

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/09/21/des-moines-west-des-moines-metro-polk-county-jasper-county-dallas-county-census-bureau-growth/1380120002/

claims that Jasper county, with a population of 37,813, was added in 2020, so that seems to be a factor.

+1
Level 65
Feb 22, 2022
Honolulu’s time to shine!
+1
Level 47
Feb 22, 2022
Maybe there should've just been more diverse questions, because then if you give it away in the comments, it kind of just destroys the whole point of the quiz
+1
Level 67
Feb 22, 2022
I would love to make more interesting questions, but there just aren't that many things that only capitals in New England beat Phoenix in, for example, thanks though!
+1
Level 87
Feb 23, 2022
Really, Trenton and Cheyenne are more common first names than Helena? (OK, I'll believe they beat Oklahoma City, but...)
+1
Level 67
Feb 23, 2022
In case you're curious,

Trenton: 55,585

Cheyenne: 70,536

Helena: 24,549

Hope this helps!

+1
Level 56
Sep 13, 2022
nothing beats phoenix
+1
Level 46
Apr 18, 2023
who names there child cheyenne
+1
Level 52
Sep 28, 2023
I'm gonna name my child Salt Lake City
+1
Level 68
Jan 17, 2024
Way too easy. It's pretty much always Austin or Honolulu. Boring.