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Mapped: The States With the Most U.S. Military Bases
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Key Takeaways
- There are 335 domestic military installations in the United States.
- Over a third of these facilities are housed in just six states: California, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Maryland, and New York.
- North Carolina is home to Fort Bragg, one of the world’s largest military bases.
The United States operates 335 military installations across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., forming the domestic backbone of the world’s largest military force.
This map shows how those bases are distributed across the country, revealing which states host the most U.S. military infrastructure.
California leads the nation with 34 installations, while just six states account for more than one-third of all bases nationwide.
Data comes from Military OneSource (2026).
California and the San Diego Hub
As the largest state in the country, California unsurprisingly hosts the most military installations (34) of the country, with close to 10% of all official U.S. bases being located in the state.
San Diego County, in the southwestern corner of the state, houses 16 such installations for different military branches such as the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps’ major West Coast base at Camp Pendleton.
| State | Number of Military Bases |
|---|---|
| California | 34 |
| Virginia | 23 |
| Texas | 19 |
| Florida | 17 |
| Maryland | 13 |
| Georgia | 12 |
| New York | 12 |
| North Carolina | 9 |
| Washington | 9 |
| Alabama | 8 |
| Arizona | 8 |
| Illinois | 8 |
| Ohio | 8 |
| Oklahoma | 8 |
| Pennsylvania | 8 |
| Colorado | 7 |
| Kentucky | 7 |
| Mississippi | 7 |
| New Jersey | 7 |
| South Carolina | 7 |
| Alaska | 6 |
| Tennessee | 6 |
| Kansas | 5 |
| Louisiana | 5 |
| Massachusetts | 5 |
| Michigan | 5 |
| Missouri | 5 |
| Nevada | 5 |
| New Mexico | 5 |
| Arkansas | 4 |
| Hawaii | 4 |
| Indiana | 4 |
| Utah | 4 |
| Wisconsin | 4 |
| DC | 3 |
| Maine | 3 |
| Minnesota | 3 |
| North Dakota | 3 |
| Oregon | 3 |
| Connecticut | 2 |
| Delaware | 2 |
| Idaho | 2 |
| Iowa | 2 |
| Montana | 2 |
| Nebraska | 2 |
| Rhode Island | 2 |
| South Dakota | 2 |
| West Virginia | 2 |
| Wyoming | 2 |
| New Hampshire | 1 |
| Vermont | 1 |
The Pacific Fleet of the U.S. Navy, while formally headquartered in Hawaii’s famous Pearl Harbor facility, also has as its principal homeport the Naval Base San Diego, which is the world’s second-largest surface ship naval base behind only Virginia’s Naval Station Norfolk.
North Carolina’s Bragg Controversy
Across the country, the far smaller state of North Carolina houses nine of its own military installations, with the most prominent being Fort Bragg. With over 50,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army, Fort Bragg is one of the world’s largest and most populous military bases.
Fort Bragg was established in 1918 during the First World War and was initially named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general. In 2023, the base was renamed Fort Liberty owing to controversy surrounding the legacy of Confederate military leaders.
By 2025, however, the fort reverted to its original name, this time in honor of Roland Bragg, an Army paratrooper who took part in the Second World War. The various name changes were estimated to have cost the U.S. Department of Defense upwards of $12-14 million.
Different Branches in Different States
Across the United States, different branches of the military are concentrated in different states based around geographic and strategic needs. Colorado (7), for example, hosts three different Space Force bases, while to a lesser extent Nevada (5) serves as a hub for the U.S. Air Force.
Some bases even have highly specialized missions. One of Georgia’s 12 military installations, for example, is the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, which sits on the state border with Florida.
This base serves as home port for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet’s ballistic missile nuclear submarines, a core component of U.S. international power projection.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
If you enjoyed today’s post, check out How Much Land does the U.S. Military Control in Each State? on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.