Where Do Cardinals Actually Live in the US?

Cardinals live in 43 US states and are confirmed absent from 2 more, based on 24,854,992 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, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado and Connecticut, and 37 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.

Cardinals have zero confirmed wild sightings in Alaska and Idaho, 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 (3) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm cardinals as an established population there.

Confirmed states (43)

Not found (2)

Alaska
Idaho

Unconfirmed (3)

Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for cardinals in Oregon, Utah, Washington, too few to confirm an established population.

Gear to see them

Frequently asked questions

What states do cardinals live in?+

Cardinals have confirmed wild populations in 43 US states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Where are cardinals not found in the US?+

Cardinals have no confirmed wild sightings in Alaska and Idaho.

Full cardinals guides by state