California, Pennsylvania and New York are the most popular states for college softball, federal data shows.
Colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs report athletics data to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education. The latest data includes more than 2,000 schools reporting participation numbers for 2016.
In the U.S., District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, there are 31,936 college softball players.
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Most popular states for college softball
| State | Players | |
| 1 | California | 2,422 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | 2,036 |
| 3 | New York | 1,948 |
| 4 | Texas | 1,742 |
| 5 | Illinois | 1,562 |
| 6 | Ohio | 1,194 |
| 7 | Florida | 1,122 |
| 8 | Missouri | 1,014 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 977 |
| 10 | Kansas | 965 |
| 11 | Michigan | 955 |
| 12 | Georgia | 869 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 854 |
| 14 | Alabama | 850 |
| 15 | Iowa | 831 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 830 |
| 17 | Indiana | 704 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 702 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 692 |
| 20 | New Jersey | 639 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 608 |
| 22 | Virginia | 594 |
| 23 | Mississippi | 582 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 567 |
| 25 | Kentucky | 549 |
| 26 | Washington | 468 |
| 27 | Oregon | 454 |
| 28 | Nebraska | 442 |
| 29 | Maryland | 424 |
| 30 | West Virginia | 385 |
| 31 | Louisiana | 376 |
| 32 | Arkansas | 371 |
| 33 | Connecticut | 352 |
| 34 | Arizona | 349 |
| 35 | Colorado | 335 |
| 36 | North Dakota | 244 |
| 37 | Maine | 218 |
| 38 | Utah | 205 |
| 39 | South Dakota | 191 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 181 |
| 41 | New Mexico | 158 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | 154 |
| 43 | Puerto Rico | 130 |
| 44 | Idaho | 120 |
| 45 | Washington D.C. | 112 |
| 46 | Vermont | 110 |
| 47 | Montana | 104 |
| 48 | Delaware | 96 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 82 |
| 50 | Nevada | 67 |
| 51 | Alaska | 0 |
| 51 | Wyoming | 0 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education
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