Here’s who won the Miss USA pageant the year you were born

• The 74th annual Miss USA pageant will take place in Reno, Nevada, on October 24.
• The pageant has crowned a winner every year since 1952.
• Past winners include Ali Landry, Olivia Culpo, and Noelia Voigt, who became the first Miss USA to resign.

It’s almost time to crown the next Miss USA.

On October 24, a new winner will be named among the 51 contestants at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

It will be the first Miss USA under Thom Brodeur, who replaced Laylah Rose as CEO and president of the pageant following her tumultuous reign.

Miss USA has always found time to crown a new queen, no matter what’s going on behind the scenes. So in honor of the coming pageant, Business Insider took a look back at every Miss USA winner since its inception in 1952.

1952: Miss New York Jackie Loughery

Loughery was crowned the winner of the pageant after a second round of voting, as the initial vote ended in a tie, according to Reader’s Digest.

Loughery died in February 2024.

1953: Miss Illinois Myrna Hansen

Hansen represented Illinois in the Miss USA pageant, and she was runner-up in the 1953 Miss Universe pageant.

1954: Miss South Carolina Miriam Stevenson

Stevenson became the first American to win the Miss Universe pageant after being crowned Miss USA.

1955: Miss Vermont Carlene King Johnson

Johnson is the only Miss Vermont to win the Miss USA pageant to date.

1956: Miss Iowa Carol Morris

Morris was also crowned Miss Universe in 1956, and she is the only Miss Iowa to win Miss USA to date.

1957: Miss Maryland Mary Leona Gage

Although she won, Gage’s title was revoked because she lied about being married, having two children, and her age. The crown then passed to first runner-up Charlotte Sheffield, who represented Utah.

1958: Miss Louisiana Eurlyne Howell

Howell went on to pursue a career in acting after winning Miss USA.

1959: Miss California Terry Huntingdon

Huntingdon was the first Miss USA to win the pageant in her home state.

1960: Miss Utah Linda Bement

Bement went on to be crowned Miss Universe during the first Miss Universe pageant that was televised live.

1961: Miss Louisiana Sharon Brown

In addition to being Miss USA, Brown was crowned queen of the Sugar Bowl in 1962.

1962: Miss Hawaii Macel Wilson

Wilson was the first Miss Hawaii to win the Miss USA pageant, as well as the first woman of color to win the pageant.

1963: Miss Illinois Marite Ozers

Ozers was born in Latvia, and her family relocated to Illinois because of World War II. She went on to represent the state in Miss USA.

1964: Miss District of Columbia Bobbi Johnson

Johnson was the first contestant from DC to win the pageant.

1965: Miss Ohio Sue Ann Downey

After winning Miss USA, Downey won the National Costume Contest at the Miss Universe pageant.

1966: Miss California Maria Remenyi

Remenyi returned to the pageant world in 1973 when she served as a judge at Miss Universe.

1967: Miss Alabama Sylvia Louise Hitchcock

Hitchcock went on to win the Miss Universe pageant, and she returned to judge the pageant in 1972.

Cheryl Patton, who was second runner-up at Miss USA, became queen in Hitchcock’s stead.

1968: Miss Washington Dorothy Anstett

In addition to participating in the pageant, Anstett was married to famous NBA player Bill Russell for three years.

1969: Miss Virginia Wendy Dascomb

Dascomb was the first Miss Virginia to win the Miss USA pageant.

1970: Miss Virginia Deborah Shelton

After the pageant, Shelton went on to star on “Dallas” as Mandy Winger from 1984 to 1987.

1971: Miss Pennsylvania Michele McDonald

McDonald was the first representative from Pennsylvania to win Miss USA.

1972: Miss Hawaii Tanya Wilson

Wilson competed in the Miss Nevada pageant twice before she relocated to Hawaii and won the state’s pageant, leading her to the Miss USA crown.

1973: Miss Illinois Amanda Jones

Jones told the South Eastern Missourian in 1973 that she only applied to the pageant at the encouragement of her modeling agent.

1974: Miss Illinois Karen Jean Morrison

Morrison was one of few Miss USA contestants to be crowned by a winner from her same state.

1975: Miss California Summer Bartholomew

Following her win, Bartholomew had a brief career as a game-show host, appearing on “Sale of the Century” and “The Price is Right.”

1976: Miss Minnesota Barbara Elaine Peterson

Peterson was the first Miss Minnesota to win the Miss USA pageant.

1977: Miss Texas Kimberly Tomes

Tomes was the first Miss Texas to win the pageant, and she later served as a host for the Miss Texas pageant.

1978: Miss Hawaii Judi Andersen

Andersen appeared on TV shows like “Magnum, P.I.” and “Fantasy Island” after winning Miss USA.

1979: Miss New York Mary Therese Friel

Less than a decade after winning the pageant, Friel founded her own modeling agency and helped train other pageant contestants.

1980: Miss South Carolina Shawn Weatherly

Weatherly became Miss Universe after winning Miss USA, and she later appeared on “Baywatch” as Jill Riley.

As first runner-up in the pageant, Miss Arizona Jineane Ford became Miss USA when Weatherly began her reign as Miss Universe.

1981: Miss Ohio Kim Seelbrede

Seelbrede’s winnings were valued at around $100,000, according to UPI.

1982: Miss Arkansas Terri Lea Utley

Utley was the first Miss Arkansas to win the Miss USA pageant.

1983: Miss California Julie Hayek

Hayek placed first runner-up at Miss Universe in 1983. Her Miss USA reign launched an acting career, and she appeared on shows including “Dallas,” “Twin Peaks,” and “As the World Turns,” according to her IMDb.

1984: Miss New Mexico Mai Shanley

To date, Shanley is the only Miss New Mexico to win the Miss USA pageant.

1985: Miss Texas Laura Harring

Harring became a successful model and actor after winning the pageant, appearing on the cover of magazines like Elle and Cosmopolitan and in films like “Mulholland Drive.”

1986: Miss Texas Christy Fichtner

Fichtner competed against Halle Berry the year she became Miss USA.

1987: Miss Texas Michelle Royer

The year Royer was crowned queen, Bob Barker quit his job hosting the pageant because it allowed contestants to wear real fur coats, as Live Now Fox reported.

1988: Miss Texas Courtney Gibbs

Gibbs placed eighth at Miss Universe 1988. She then pursued an acting career and, according to her IMDb, appeared in the soap opera “All My Children” and films including “Naked Truth.”

1989: Miss Texas Gretchen Polhemus

Polhemus was the fifth Miss Texas in a row to win Miss USA from 1985 to 1989. She placed second runner-up at Miss Universe 1989. Polhemus’ daughter followed in her pageant footsteps and won Miss Utah USA in 2017.

1990: Miss Michigan Carole Gist

Gist was the first African-American woman to win the Miss USA crown. She was also the first winner from Michigan, breaking a five-year winning streak by contestants from Texas. She placed first runner-up at Miss Universe 1990.

1991: Miss Kansas Kelli McCarty

McCarty was the first Miss Kansas to win Miss USA, and she placed in the top six at Miss Universe 1991. She went on to star in the soap opera “Passions” for seven years.

1992: Miss California Shannon Marketic

Before she won Miss USA, Marketic had been crowned Miss Arizona Teen USA in 1989. She lost the title a week later after it was discovered she had actually placed first runner-up.

1993: Miss Michigan Kenya Moore

Moore’s big pageant win kicked off a Hollywood acting career that included stints on TV shows like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Living Single,” and “Girlfriends.” In 2012, she became a Bravo star, appearing on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

1994: Miss South Carolina Lu Parker

Parker placed in the top six at Miss Universe 1994. She’s been a co-anchor on KTLA for more than a decade and has won six Emmys for her work.

1995: Miss Texas Chelsi Smith

Following her success at Miss USA, Smith also won Miss Universe 1995. She was the sixth American woman to capture the coveted crown and the first to win since 1980.

First runner-up Shanna Moakler of New York became Miss USA when Smith’s reign as Miss Universe started.

1996: Miss Louisiana Ali Landry

Landry transferred her pageant success into a career in Hollywood. Her biggest role was as Rita Lefleur on UPN’s “Eve,” which she appeared in from 2003 to 2006, according to her IMDb page, and she most recently appeared in the controversial film “Sound of Freedom.”

1997: Miss Hawaii Brook Lee

After she took the Miss USA crown, Lee went on to win Miss Universe 1997.

Her first runner-up, Miss Idaho Brandi Sherwood, then became Miss USA.

1998: Miss Massachusetts Shawnae Jebbia

Jebbia was the first Miss Massachusetts to win Miss USA. She placed in the top five at Miss Universe 1998 and went on to become a “Barker Beauty” on “The Price is Right.”

1999: Miss New York Kimberly Pressler

In addition to Miss USA 1999, Pressler also won Miss New York Teen USA in 1994.

After her pageant career came to an end, Pressler hosted MTV shows, including “Senseless Acts of Video” and “Total Request Live.” She also hosted “Adrenaline X” on NBC and has worked as a correspondent for ESPN.

2000: Miss Tennessee Lynnette Cole

Cole was the first Miss Tennessee to win Miss USA. She also won Miss Tennessee Teen USA in 1995, and placed fifth at Miss Universe 2000.

The pageant queen has since worked as a TV host for major channels including NBC, MTV, and ESPN.

2001: Miss Texas Kandace Krueger

Krueger placed second runner-up at Miss Universe 2001, narrowly missing the crown to Miss Puerto Rico Denise Quiñones.

2002: Miss District of Columbia Shauntay Hinton

Miss USA 2002 was only the second pageant Hinton had ever competed in. She has appeared in shows including “Criminal Minds” and “iCarly.”

2003: Miss Massachusetts Susie Castillo

Castillo was the first Latina woman to win Miss Massachusetts USA. She had previously won Miss Massachusetts Teen USA in 1998.

Following her Miss USA reign, Castillo became an MTV VJ and host for “Total Request Live.”

2004: Miss Missouri Shandi Finnessey

Finnessey placed first runner-up in the 2004 Miss Universe competition. She has since appeared on reality shows including “The Apprentice,” “Dancing with the Stars,” and “Ready for Love,” which she won.

2005: Miss North Carolina Chelsea Cooley

Cooley defended Donald Trump, who previously owned the Miss USA pageant, during his 2016 presidential campaign. She told the Daily Mail that he had been her personal business mentor for years.

2006: Miss Kentucky Tara Conner

Conner almost lost her Miss USA crown after tabloids ran stories about her underage drinking and partying at New York City clubs. Trump allowed Conner to continue her reign after she went to rehab.

2007: Miss Tennessee Rachel Smith

Smith starred in Trump’s 2007 MTV reality show “Pageant Place” alongside Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner and Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori.

2008: Miss Texas Crystle Stewart

Stewart went on to become president of Miss USA in 2020. She ran the pageant for two years but was suspended in October 2022 after contestants claimed that year’s Miss USA competition was rigged.

The Miss Universe Organization announced in August 2023 that it had found no evidence of rigging but said Stewart would no longer be with the organization.

2009: Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton

Dalton comes from a big pageant family. Her mother was Miss North Carolina USA in 1982 and her sister Julia competed at Miss USA 2015 as Miss North Carolina.

2010: Miss Michigan Rima Fakih

Fakih was the first Muslim woman to win the Miss USA crown. She became the national director of Miss Universe Lebanon in 2018.

2011: Miss California Alyssa Campanella

Campanella had previously placed first runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2007.

2012: Miss Rhode Island Olivia Culpo

Olivia Culpo was the first Miss USA to win Miss Universe in 15 years when she took the crown in 2012. She was just 20 years old at the time.

Miss Maryland Nana Meriwether was the first runner-up, so she was crowned Miss USA after Culpo became Miss Universe.

Culpo has since amassed a huge social media following, dipped her toe into acting, and starred on the TLC reality series “The Culpo Sisters” with her family. She is married to Christian McCaffrey, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers.

2013: Miss Connecticut Erin Brady

Brady was the first woman from Connecticut to win Miss USA. The finance worker had to postpone her wedding to compete at Miss Universe, which was scheduled on the same day.

2014: Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez

Sanchez was the first Miss Nevada to win Miss USA and she placed first runner-up in Miss Universe 2014. She previously worked as a Disney princess in Hong Kong Disneyland.

2015: Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan

Jordan was crowned after months of controversy at Miss USA. The show was dropped by NBC, and multiple guests and judges backed out from appearing at the pageant because of comments Trump made about Mexican immigrants during his presidential campaign.

2016: Miss District of Columbia Deshauna Barber

Barber joined the Army when she was 17 and was serving as a logistics commander when she won Miss USA.

“As a commander of my unit, I’m powerful, I am dedicated, and it is important that we recognize that gender does not limit us in the United States,” she said during the pageant finals.

2017: Miss District of Columbia Kára McCullough

McCullough was the talk of social media during the Miss USA 2017 pageant when she said she prefers the word “equalism” to “feminism.”

The pageant queen later told Business Insider that she believed the word “feminist” can sometimes have a negative connotation in the media, and that’s why she wanted to “just change the word to equalist.”

2018: Miss Nebraska Sarah Rose Summers

Summers made headlines while competing at Miss Universe after she was accused of mocking some of her fellow contestants’ English language skills.

“In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realize can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologize,” Summers wrote in an apology she posted to Instagram at the time.

2019: Miss North Carolina Cheslie Kryst

Kryst was a complex litigation attorney who helped free a man who was sentenced to life in prison for a drug offense. Her death in January 2022 shocked the tight-knit pageant community.

2020: Miss Mississippi Asya Branch

Branch was the first African-American woman to win the title of Miss Mississippi USA.

2021: Miss Kentucky Elle Smith

Smith, a journalist from Kentucky, won Miss USA just six months after she began competing in pageants.

2022: Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel

Gabriel was the first Filipino American to win the Miss USA crown. Her reign was consumed with controversy after contestants claimed the pageant had been rigged in her favor.

But Gabriel then went on to win Miss Universe, becoming the first American to take the crown in a decade.

Miss North Carolina Morgan Romano took over for Gabriel as Miss USA.

2023: Miss Utah Noelia Voigt

Voigt was the first Venezuelan American to become Miss USA when she won in September 2023. She also became the first Miss USA to give up the crown, relinquishing her title in May 2024. Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava resigned two days later, saying her “personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.” Miss Hawaii Savannah Gankiewicz became queen in Voigt’s stead.

Voigt and Srivastava’s mothers told Business Insider that their daughters endured “eight months of torture and abuse” from Laylah Rose, who was the CEO of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA during their reigns. Rose denied the allegations.

The Miss Universe Organization recently sued Rose, alleging she created a “toxic workplace environment” and had failed to provide prize packages to winners of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Voigt told Business Insider that she felt “vindicated” by the lawsuit.

2024: Alma Cooper

Cooper is a second lieutenant and military intelligence officer in the US Army and a graduate of the West Point Military Academy.

She is also a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, where she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in data science.

Following her win, Cooper told Business Insider that she believes the military and pageantry go hand in hand.

“I think discipline is a firm aspect between pageantry and the military,” Cooper said. “Being able to be intrinsically motivated, to have personal courage, is one of the Army values.”

“And to get onstage in front of millions of people, a nationally televised audience, and wear a swimsuit — that, in and of itself, is one way to display personal courage and believe in oneself,” she added.

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