As a sexagenarian U.S. citizen, I've not been to AK, SD, IA & ME. I'm unlikely to visit them all. My most recent new state was KY in 2011.

I'm down to one - Alabama. I see no need to go there.

I've been to 42 so far. All but two them occurred in "real travel" rather than intentionally visiting a state just to check it off the list.
(Driving from Maine to Massachusetts, we made a stop in New Hampshire to check it off. Made a side trip from Northern VA to WV to check it off.)

A lot of states came from business travel and since I'm now retired that isn't happening anymore.
Hitting some of the remaining 8 will require trips (or side trips) specifically to check them off. (AR, CT, DE, MS, NE, ND, RI, SD still to go.)

If you need AR suggestions let me know.

I found Arkansas very difficult to get in and out of. Their Airport in Little Rock didn't seem to have a lot of options in and out and was quite pricey so had to get a train from Fort Worth up (started the journey at Ardmore OK and of course, it was delayed mid-journey) - ended up a 12-hour day - good job I bought plenty beers and cocktail cans in Fort Worth when changing trains from OK

FWIW - my 39 of 50 map (not shown but visited - AK & HI):

My to-do list: DL (been through on a train but not stopped), WV, SC, MS, AR and states at heart of the Great Plains - OK, KS, NE, IA, SD, ND.

David

you are probably missing some counties/FIFS areas. For e ample Arlington county looks uncolored but that where DCA is located and any trip from DC to/ from Dulles goes through there. You have never been to SFO?

just pass through like driving I-10 or if you go 75/24 between Atlanta and nashville, a short 57 detour takes you into Alabama.

Good catch... thank you for really scrutinizing my map lololol

Flew in/out of OAK once.

Alabama is wonderful. Mountains to the north, Gulf Coast beaches to the south. Baldwin County has some of the most beautiful small towns you'll ever see (Fairhope, Daphne). Downtown Abbeville, AL is straight out of the 40's. Absolutely beautiful.

I�m up to 39 (out of 52 since I include DC and PR). My rule is you have to spend the night, so train or drive throughs, day trips and airport layovers don�t count. I hope to knock them all off organically at some point but if not will have to create a reason. Saving the Greenland trip until we officially take over though (eyeroll).

There seems to be a pattern there

There seems to be a pattern there (for most of the missing states).

Alabama is actually pretty nice. I've been twice for work at Mobile. Small, quiet city with pretty good food options. On one of the work trips, local people took me night fishing in Orange Beach. So my memories from Alabama are pretty good.

Finished all 50 states back in 2019. It was always a goal of mine, and through work/life I was able to get to 47.

Once I booked my first trip to Alaska, I decided that should be my 50th state, and booked trips to South Dakota and Oklahoma to do them before I arrived in Alaska.

During COVID I went back and revisited certain states that I had only been to a major city. Like Minnesota I had only bein the MSP metro area, so I took a 10 day road trip through MN and visited lots of smaller towns through out the state.

Of course, the way life works I ended up going to Oklahoma for work at this point, and I am just missing another trip to North Dakota and then I've been to all 50 more then once.

Also during COVID I worked on flying into/out of all 50 states and am only 3 states away from achieving that too. My only other state related side quest if you will was riding an Amtrak train in every state served by them. There I am just missing Michigan.

I don't think most US citizens are actively pursuing the goal. There are some amazing parts of the US, but also plenty of forgettable parts.