Where 2025-26 softball players came from
California sends more players to college softball than any other state: 11.7% of 2025-26 players, clear of Texas at 7.2%.
Out of 15,835 players counted. From official athletics roster pages, read August 4, 2026.
756 schools' 2025-26 softball rosters, 15,835 players. We don't say what share of all programs that is — no authoritative count of programs exists.
- California1,851 players · 11.7%
- Texas1,139 players · 7.2%
- Pennsylvania1,074 players · 6.8%
- New York914 players · 5.8%
- Illinois785 players · 5.0%
- New Jersey644 players · 4.1%
- Georgia615 players · 3.9%
- Florida592 players · 3.7%
- North Carolina575 players · 3.6%
- Ohio570 players · 3.6%
- Virginia532 players · 3.4%
- Indiana432 players · 2.7%
- Minnesota365 players · 2.3%
- Michigan361 players · 2.3%
- Wisconsin347 players · 2.2%
- Home state unknown277 players · 1.7%
These players' roster pages didn't list a readable home town. We count them rather than hide them.
38 more places had fewer players and aren't shown.
Out of 15,835 players counted. From official athletics roster pages, read August 4, 2026.
Fewer than 1.1% of the softball players we read came from outside the U.S. (168 players), so there's no second chart — the numbers per country are too small to be worth ranking.
How to read this
Each bar is the number of players on a 2025-26 college softball roster whose listed home town is in that state. It is not a count of recruits, offers, or scholarships, and it says nothing about your own odds — it's simply where the players currently on rosters grew up.
We only call a state first when its lead survives the count. Here California is ahead of Texas by 712 players, more than the ~109 that ordinary variation could explain.
The unknown bar matters. 277 softball players (1.7%) are on rosters that didn't list a readable home town. We show them because a chart with no leftovers is usually a chart someone tidied up.
Source: official athletics roster pages, 2025-26 season, read August 4, 2026.