CORRECTION (Oct. 27, 2023): This report has been corrected throughout to reflect new information, received in August 2023, that reduced the number of student statehouse reporters in Nebraska from 40 to three. While many figures in the report were changed in the process, including in graphics and tables, the new information does not affect the substantive conclusions of the study. For questions, please email Pew Research Center.
A new Pew Research Center study finds there were 1,724 journalists assigned to U.S. state capitol buildings as of late 2021 and early 2022. The number of reporters covering the statehouse varies widely from state to state, with some capitols filled with dozens of full-time reporters and others hosting only four or five. As in the Center’s 2014 study of statehouse reporting, the number of full-time statehouse reporters in a state is closely related to the size of the state’s population and legislative session length. State-by-state data is available below in a sortable database.
You can also read the full report, which provides a detailed accounting of the nation’s statehouse press corps and how it has changed since 2014.
[chart id=90762]| State | Full-time (incl. session-only) | Part-time | Students/ interns | Other | Total | Avg. legis. session (months) | Population (2020) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 15 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 3.14 | 5,024,279 | |
| Alaska | 6 | 6 | 3.98 | 733,391 | |||
| Arizona | 16 | 15 | 7 | 38 | 4.44 | 7,151,502 | |
| Arkansas | 7 | 11 | 18 | 1.94 | 3,011,524 | ||
| California | 65 | 24 | 5 | 16 | 110 | 8.50 | 39,538,223 |
| Colorado | 17 | 12 | 1 | 30 | 4.60 | 5,773,714 | |
| Connecticut | 18 | 8 | 26 | 3.70 | 3,605,944 | ||
| Delaware | 5 | 6 | 11 | 5.65 | 989,948 | ||
| Florida | 36 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 52 | 1.98 | 21,538,187 |
| Georgia | 20 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 43 | 4.03 | 10,711,908 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 4.69 | 1,455,271 |
| Idaho | 13 | 15 | 28 | 2.80 | 1,839,106 | ||
| Illinois | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 36 | 4.61 | 12,812,508 |
| Indiana | 18 | 6 | 7 | 31 | 2.93 | 6,785,528 | |
| Iowa | 16 | 10 | 26 | 4.25 | 3,190,369 | ||
| Kansas | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 4.37 | 2,937,880 |
| Kentucky | 18 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 42 | 3.02 | 4,505,836 |
| Louisiana | 14 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 42 | 2.34 | 4,657,757 |
| Maine | 9 | 10 | 19 | 4.40 | 1,362,359 | ||
| Maryland | 19 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 40 | 2.65 | 6,177,224 |
| Massachusetts | 17 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 43 | 11.94 | 7,029,917 |
| Michigan | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 52 | 11.40 | 10,077,331 |
| Minnesota | 19 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 46 | 3.79 | 5,706,494 |
| Mississippi | 9 | 4 | 13 | 5.89 | 2,961,279 | ||
| Missouri | 17 | 8 | 26 | 51 | 4.45 | 6,154,913 | |
| Montana | 26 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 3.61 | 1,084,225 |
| Nebraska | 9 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 5.94 | 1,961,504 |
| Nevada | 11 | 13 | 7 | 31 | 3.96 | 3,104,614 | |
| New Hampshire | 10 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 7.26 | 1,377,529 | |
| New Jersey | 28 | 10 | 1 | 39 | 12.00 | 9,288,994 | |
| New Mexico | 11 | 40 | 4 | 55 | 1.52 | 2,117,522 | |
| New York | 39 | 31 | 1 | 71 | 8.58 | 20,201,249 | |
| North Carolina | 20 | 31 | 3 | 54 | 4.94 | 10,439,388 | |
| North Dakota | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3.77 | 779,094 | ||
| Ohio | 34 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 58 | 11.74 | 11,799,448 |
| Oklahoma | 13 | 17 | 2 | 32 | 3.72 | 3,959,353 | |
| Oregon | 8 | 19 | 1 | 28 | 3.24 | 4,237,256 | |
| Pennsylvania | 28 | 10 | 9 | 47 | 11.16 | 13,002,700 | |
| Rhode Island | 5 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 6.85 | 1,097,379 | |
| South Carolina | 12 | 8 | 20 | 6.92 | 5,118,425 | ||
| South Dakota | 7 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 2.60 | 886,667 | |
| Tennessee | 13 | 13 | 1 | 27 | 4.17 | 6,910,840 | |
| Texas | 44 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 78 | 4.61 | 29,145,505 |
| Utah | 14 | 24 | 3 | 41 | 1.53 | 3,271,616 | |
| Vermont | 5 | 17 | 22 | 6.63 | 643,077 | ||
| Virginia | 20 | 13 | 11 | 44 | 1.83 | 8,631,393 | |
| Washington | 10 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 2.72 | 7,705,281 | |
| West Virginia | 10 | 14 | 10 | 34 | 1.98 | 1,793,716 | |
| Wisconsin | 30 | 8 | 2 | 40 | 11.95 | 5,893,718 | |
| Wyoming | 5 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 1.39 | 576,851 |
