States That Start With I

4 states Places Checked 9 Oct 2026

States that start with I: 4 US states do, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa. The table gives each state's postal abbreviation, capital and largest cities, and the lists below show state capitals and US cities that start with I.

Four states begin with I: Idaho, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Iowa is a short four-letter word, handy for crosswords, and Illinois ends with a silent s, a spelling trap for many.

Capitals follow an interesting pattern. Boise, Indianapolis and Des Moines are the capitals and also the biggest cities of Idaho, Indiana and Iowa. Illinois breaks the pattern: Springfield is the capital, but Chicago is much larger. That contrast makes a good quiz question for older students.

US states that start with I

State	Abbreviation	Capital	Largest cities
Idaho	ID	Boise	Boise, Meridian, Nampa
Illinois	IL	Springfield	Chicago, Aurora, Rockford
Indiana	IN	Indianapolis	Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville
Iowa	IA	Des Moines	Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport

State capitals that start with I

Capital	State
Indianapolis	Indiana

US cities that start with I

City	State	Population
Indianapolis	Indiana	887,642
Irvine	California	256,927
Irving	Texas	236,607
Independence	Missouri	117,255
Inglewood	California	111,666
Indio	California	87,533
Iowa City	Iowa	74,220
Irvington	New Jersey	61,323
Idaho Falls	Idaho	59,184
Irving Park	Illinois	56,520
Irondequoit	New York	51,692

Questions people ask

How many states start with I?

4: Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa.

Which state capitals start with I?

Indianapolis (Indiana).

What is the largest US city that starts with I?

Indianapolis, Indiana.

Source: the 50 US states with their capitals; largest cities from the GeoNames database.

See every letter on one page: US states A to Z