Interesting Facts

Crime

• South Carolina has the highest rate of violent crimes and aggravated assaults per capita among US states.
• Oklahoma has the highest rate of women in State or Federal correctional facilities.
• It's not the government they hate: Washington DC has the highest number of hate crimes per capita in the US.

Economy

• Puerto Rico has roughly the same gross state product as Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota combined.
• Minnesota and Connecticut are both in the top 5 in saving money and total tax burden per capita.
• 73.3% of America's gross operating surplus in motion picture and sound recording industries comes from California.

Education

• The top five best educated states are all in the Northeast.
• Bookworms: Vermont has the highest number of high school teachers per capita and third highest number of librarians per capita.
• The bookmobile capital of America is Kentucky.
• Alaska spends more money per capita on elementary and secondary education than any other state.
• Cheap sloppy joes: Looking for reduced-price lunches for schoolchildren? Head for Oklahoma!

Geography

• Michigan is ranked 22nd in land area, but since 41.27% of the state is composed of water, it jumps to 11th place in total area.
• Austin, Texas has more people than Alaska.
• If Alaska were its own country, it would be the 26th largest in total area, slightly larger than Iran.

Government

• The total number of state executions in 2005 was 60: 19 in Texas and 41 elsewhere. The racial split was 19 Black and 41 White.

Housing

• Just 1% of the houses in Nevada were built before 1939.
• If you're itching to live in a trailer park, hitch up your home and head to South Carolina, where a whopping 18% of residences are mobile homes.

Identification

• Though Rhode Island is the smallest state in total area, it has the longest official name: The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Industry

• Idaho produces more milk than Iowa, Indiana and Illinois combined.

Labor

• South Dakota has the highest employment ratio in America, but the lowest median earnings of full-time male employees.
• Wisconsin has more metal fabricators per capita than any other state.
• Looking for table makers? Head to Mississippi, with an overwhlemingly large number of employees in furniture manufacturing.
• If you're tired of sitting in traffic on your way to work, move to North Dakota.
• Delaware is the latchkey kid capital of America, with 71.8% of households having both parents in the labor force.

Military

• Statistically, Delaware bears more cost of the US Military than any other state.
• 15% of Army recruits from South Dakota are Native American, which is roughly the same percentage for female Army recruits in the state.

People

• New York has America's lowest percentage of residents who are veterans.
• North Carolina has a larger Native American population than North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana combined.
• A mere 0.8% of West Virginians were born in a foreign country.

Presidential Elections

• In the 2000 Presidential Election, Texas gave Ralph Nader the 3rd highest popular vote count of any US state.

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