US Territories vs. Commonwealths: Clearing the Confusion

Here's the short answer: The United States has zero commonwealths outside the mainland. The term "commonwealth" in U.S. governance refers to a specific constitutional status—but currently, only four states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia) use it in their official names, and they're all on the mainland.

What the U.S. does have are five inhabited unincorporated territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands. Two—Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands—are designated "commonwealths" in their local constitutions, but this is a local designation, not a federal status distinct from "territory." The U.S. Constitution's Territory Clause (Article IV, Section 3) governs all equally.

Confusion arises because "commonwealth" sounds like a sovereign status (as in the Commonwealth of Nations), but in U.S. law, it confers no additional rights. Residents are U.S. citizens (except American Samoa—nationals), lack voting representation in Congress, and cannot vote for president. The political status debate—statehood, independence, free association—continues, especially in Puerto Rico.

So: no U.S. commonwealths exist as a separate territorial category. Only territories—some locally styled "commonwealths"—all under plenary congressional authority.