Average Annual Sunshine by State

The tables below pull together numbers on the amount of sunshine that each US state usually has in a year. There's information by state on the annual averages for percent, hours and days of sun.

The % Sun number measures the percentage of time between sunrise and sunset that sunshine reaches the ground. Total Hours is the average number of sunny hours a place normally has in a year. Clear Days is the average number of days annually when cloud covers at most 30 percent of the sky during daylight hours.

All of the data are averages based on several decades of weather measurements.

Since so few weather stations measure sunshine, meaningful state-wide averages aren't available. Instead, the tables list a place for each state that represents the state's typical amount of sunshine.

For information on the amount of sunshine at more places in a state, click on the state's name.

Average annual sunshine
State Place % Sun Total Hours Clear Days
Alabama Birmingham 58 2641 99
Alaska Anchorage 41 2061 61
Arizona Tucson 85 3806 193
Arkansas Fort Smith 61 2771 123
California San Diego 68 3055 146
Colorado Grand Junction 71 3204 136
Connecticut Hartford 56 2585 82
Delaware Wilmington 97
Florida Tampa 66 2927 101
Georgia Macon 66 2986 112
Hawaii Honolulu 71 90
Idaho Boise 64 2993 120
Illinois Peoria 56 2567 95
Indiana Indianapolis 55 2440 88
Iowa Des Moines 59 2691 105
Kansas Wichita 65 2922 128
State Place % Sun Total Hours Clear Days
Kentucky Louisville 56 2514 93
Louisiana New Orleans 57 2649 101
Maine Portland 57 2513 101
Maryland Baltimore 57 2582 105
Massachusetts Boston 58 2634 98
Michigan Lansing 51 2392 71
Minnesota Minneapolis 58 2711 95
Mississippi Jackson 61 2720 111
Missouri Springfield 60 2690 115
Montana Helena 59 2698 82
Nebraska Lincoln 61 2762 117
Nevada Reno 79 3646 158
New Hampshire Concord 54 2519 90
New Jersey Atlantic City 56 2499 94
New Mexico Albuquerque 76 3415 167
New York Syracuse 46 2120 63
North Carolina Greensboro 60 2651 109
North Dakota Bismarck 59 2738 93
State Place % Sun Total Hours Clear Days
Ohio Columbus 50 2183 72
Oklahoma Oklahoma City 68 3089 139
Oregon Portland 48 2341 68
Pennsylvania Harrisburg 58 2614 87
Rhode Island Providence 58 2606 98
South Carolina Columbia 64 2826 115
South Dakota Huron 63 2947 104
Tennessee Nashville 56 2510 102
Texas Dallas 61 2850 135
Utah Salt Lake City 66 3029 125
Vermont Burlington 49 2295 58
Virginia Richmond 63 2829 100
Washington Seattle 47 2170 58
West Virginia Beckley 60
Wisconsin Madison 54 2428 89
Wyoming Lander 68 3073 114
References

National Climatic Data Center. Comparative Climatic Data.

World Data Center for Meteorology. Climate of the World.

State Sunshine
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