Portrait of an election: US race boils down to six swing states

All of this year's top swing states - Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Wisconsin - went to Trump in 2016, including four that had voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012.

In a sign of how critical they are, Trump travelled to three of them - Michigan, North Carolina and Florida - on Sunday alone, while Biden held two events in Philadelphia.

The Democratic challenger leads by an average of 3.2 percentage points in the battlegrounds, according to the RealClearPolitics (RCP) poll aggregate.

Should the remaining 44 states vote as they did four years ago, Biden could flip just the two biggest battlegrounds, Florida and Pennsylvania, and win.

Here is a look at the top swing states.

FLORIDA

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The largest of the swing states anchors the Sun Belt, the band of states across the US South and Southwest that is rapidly growing in population, and features agriculture and military industry, and large numbers of retirees.

Republicans are mounting a fierce defence here, with Democrats accusing them of actively suppressing the vote, particularly in minority communities.

The state's huge Latino population will be key, and polls show them aligned with the Democratic ticket less than in 2016.

Most experts say Florida is a Trump firewall; if it's breached, Trump likely loses the White House.

Electoral votes: 29

RCP average: Biden leads by 1.4 per cent