Where Do Wolves Actually Live in the US?

Wolves live in 43 US states and are confirmed absent from 1 more, based on 17,147 verified iNaturalist and GBIF records. This page covers every state at once instead of one near-identical page per state.

By Tim, founder of Easy Street Markets. I maintain the wildlife database and verify every animal and source myself.

The states with the strongest confirmed populations are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California and Colorado, and 37 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.

Wolves have zero confirmed wild sightings in Delaware, despite tens of thousands of nationwide observation records for the species. That is a real, checked absence, not a missing page.

A small number of states (4) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm wolves as an established population there.

Not found (1)

Delaware

Unconfirmed (4)

Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for wolves in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, West Virginia, too few to confirm an established population.

Frequently asked questions

What states do wolves live in?+

Wolves have confirmed wild populations in 43 US states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Where are wolves not found in the US?+

Wolves have no confirmed wild sightings in Delaware.

Full wolves guides by state