People smart.How do Americans live? What can you tell about the quality of life from a simple number? Part Two of the U.S. in Focus attempts to give a kind of portrait An orientation in which the data is printed across the narrow side of the form. Contrast with landscape.  of the people of this country, state by state, through
statistics. Government agencies and individuals are constantly
collecting this kind of information, and the portrait is constantly
changing.
What do the figures in this table say about your state? How much does your state spend on education? How many people are unemployed? How many are without health insurance? Of course, statistics do not tell the whole story, and by themselves can be misleading. They do not tell you if people are happy, only whether they are making more or less money than the people in neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. states. What other kinds of indicators would tell you how well people live? What do you consider the real measure of a standard of living?
POPULATION
Without Personal
health Under Age 65 income
insurance, Unem- 18 years and per
2004- ployed, of age, over, capita,
NAME 2005 (1) 2006 (2) 2005 2005 2005 (3)
THE U.S. 18% 4.4% 24.8% 12.4% $34,495
ALABAMA 16% 3.2% 23.9% 13.2% $29,623
ALASKA 19% 6.4% 28.4% 6.6% $35,433
ARIZONA 21% 3.9% 26.6% 12.8% $30,157
ARKANSAS 20% 5.1% 24.3% 13.8% $26,641
CALIFORNIA 21% 4.5% 26.9% 10.7% $36,890
COLORADO 18% 4.4% 25.3% 10.0% $37,459
CONNECTICUT 13% 4.2% 23.8% 13.5% $47,519
DELAWARE 15% 3.6% 23.2% 13.3% $37,084
DISTRICT OF 14% 5.9% 20.5% 12.2% $59,329
COLUMBIA
FLORIDA 24% 3.1% 22.9% 16.8% $34,099
GEORGIA 20% 4.7% 26.0% 10.0% $31,191
HAWAII 11% 2.1% 23.5% 13.7% $34,468
IDAHO 17% 3.2% 26.2% 11.5% $28,398
ILLINOIS 16% 4.1% 25.4% 12.0% $36,264
INDIANA 16% 5.0% 25.6% 12.4% $31,150
IOWA 10% 3.6% 22.6% 14.7% $31,795
KANSAS 12% 4.3% 24.6% 13.0% $32,948
KENTUCKY 15% 5.2% 23.5% 12.6% $28,317
LOUISIANA 20% 4.2% 25.4% 11.8% $24,582
MAINE 12% 4.7% 21.0% 14.6% $30,808
MARYLAND 16% 4.0% 25.1% 11.5% $41,996
MASSACHUSETTS 12% 4.6% 22.8% 13.3% $43,702
MICHIGAN 13% 6.9% 24.9% 12.4% $32,735
MINNESOTA 10% 3.9% 24.0% 12.1% $37,322
MISSISSIPPI 19% 6.7% 25.6% 12.3% $24,925
MISSOURI 14% 5.4% 23.8% 13.3% $31,299
MONTANA 21% 3.6% 21.9% 13.8% $28,906
NEBRASKA 13% 3.0% 24.5% 13.3% $32,988
NEVADA 20% 4.2% 25.7% 11.3% $35,780
NEW HAMPSHIRE 12% 3.3% 23.1% 12.5% $37,835
NEW JERSEY 17% 4.4% 24.8% 13.0% $43,822
NEW MEXICO 24% 4.3% 25.4% 12.2% $27,912
NEW YORK 15% 4.0% 23.6% 13.1% $40,072
NORTH CAROLINA 18% 4.7% 24.7% 12.1% $31,029
NORTH DAKOTA 13% 3.2% 21.4% 14.7% $31,230
OHIO 13% 5.1% 24.1% 13.3% $31,867
OKLAHOMA 22% 3.8% 24.1% 13.2% $29,908
OREGON 19% 5.1% 23.3% 12.9% $32,174
PENNSYLVANIA 13% 4.3% 22.7% 15.2% $34,848
RHODE ISLAND 13% 5.0% 22.8% 13.9% $35,219
SOUTH CAROLINA 19% 6.6% 24.1% 12.6% $28,212
SOUTH DAKOTA 14% 3.3% 24.3% 14.2% $32,642
TENNESSEE 16% 4.5% 23.3% 12.6% $30,952
TEXAS 27% 4.8% 27.7% 10.0% $32,604
UTAH 17% 2.5% 30.1% 8.7% $27,497
VERMONT 13% 3.6% 21.3% 13.2% $32,731
VIRGINIA 15% 2.9% 24.1% 11.4% $37,552
WASHINGTON 15% 4.8% 23.6% 11.5% $35,234
WEST VIRGINIA 20% 5.1% 21.1% 15.3% $26,029
WISCONSIN 12% 4.6% 23.4% 13.0% $33,251
WYOMING 17% 3.3% 22.4% 12.2% $37,270
Federal
Federal services
Poverty Job taxes rec'd per
rate, growth, paid per dollar of
2004- 2000- capita, taxes,
NAME 2005 (4) 2005 (5) 2005 2004
THE U.S. 12.7% 4.9% $6,878 $1.00
ALABAMA 16.8% 3.6% $5,055 $1.71
ALASKA 9.5% 14.4% $6,928 $1.87
ARIZONA 14.8% 19.2% $5,619 $1.30
ARKANSAS 14.5% 4.8% $4,775 $1.47
CALIFORNIA 13.2% 7.2% $7,594 $0.79
COLORADO 10.7% 6.3% $7,559 $0.79
CONNECTICUT 9.7% 2.2% $11,468 $0.66
DELAWARE 9.1% 7.4% $7,405 $0.79
DISTRICT OF 19.1% 9.6% $10,771 $6.64
COLUMBIA
FLORIDA 11.4% 15.9% $6,739 $1.02
GEORGIA 13.7% 5.5% $6,146 $0.96
HAWAII 8.6% 15.9% $6,001 $1.60
IDAHO 9.9% 17.8% $4,990 $1.28
ILLINOIS 11.9% 1.2% $7,551 $0.73
INDIANA 12.1% 1.8% $5,903 $0.97
IOWA 11.1% 4.6% $5,746 $1.11
KANSAS 12.0% 2.4% $6,036 $1.12
KENTUCKY 16.3% 3.9% $5,219 $1.45
LOUISIANA 17.6% -7.3% $4,943 $1.45
MAINE 12.1% 7.0% $5,877 $1.40
MARYLAND 9.8% 9.3% $8,012 $1.44
MASSACHUSETTS 9.7% 0.7% $9,721 $0.77
MICHIGAN 12.6% -2.9% $6,514 $0.85
MINNESOTA 7.5% 5.6% $7,505 $0.69
MISSISSIPPI 19.4% -1.2% $4,357 $1.77
MISSOURI 11.9% 2.4% $6,032 $1.29
MONTANA 14.0% 14.0% $5,188 $1.58
NEBRASKA 9.5% 6.2% $6,150 $1.07
NEVADA 10.8% 27.5% $6,976 $0.73
NEW HAMPSHIRE 5.5% 6.5% $8,135 $0.67
NEW JERSEY 7.4% 5.5% $9,771 $0.55
NEW MEXICO 17.2% 14.4% $5,317 $2.00
NEW YORK 14.8% 3.4% $8,622 $0.79
NORTH CAROLINA 13.8% 3.4% $5,700 $1.10
NORTH DAKOTA 10.4% 10.0% $5,584 $1.73
OHIO 11.9% -0.1% $6,001 $1.01
OKLAHOMA 13.2% 6.3% $5,053 $1.48
OREGON 11.9% 9.0% $6,041 $0.97
PENNSYLVANIA 11.3% 4.3% $6,873 $1.06
RHODE ISLAND 11.8% 8.2% $7,104 $1.02
SOUTH CAROLINA 15.0% 3.4% $5,128 $1.38
SOUTH DAKOTA 12.7% 6.6% $5,802 $1.49
TENNESSEE 15.4% 4.7% $5,715 $1.30
TEXAS 16.3% 8.0% $6,287 $0.94
UTAH 9.6% 13.8% $4,867 $1.14
VERMONT 7.7% 6.4% $6,469 $1.12
VIRGINIA 9.3% 9.2% $7,348 $1.66
WASHINGTON 10.8% 7.4% $7,731 $0.88
WEST VIRGINIA 14.8% 6.1% $4,601 $1.83
WISCONSIN 11.3% 4.5% $6,490 $0.82
WYOMING 10.3% 15.7% $7,720 $1.11
Public- 8th-graders Violent
school at or above crimes
spend- proficient per
ing per math 100,000
student, standard, people,
NAME 2003-2004 2005 (6) 2005 (7)
THE U.S. $8,310 29% 469.2
ALABAMA $6,581 15% 431.7
ALASKA $10,116 29% 631.9
ARIZONA $5,991 26% 513.2
ARKANSAS $6,842 22% 527.5
CALIFORNIA $7,673 22% 526.3
COLORADO $7,478 32% 396.5
CONNECTICUT $11,436 33% 274.5
DELAWARE $10,212 30% 632.1
DISTRICT OF $12,959 7% 1,459.0
COLUMBIA
FLORIDA $6,793 26% 708.0
GEORGIA $7,742 23% 448.9
HAWAII $8,533 18% 255.1
IDAHO $6,168 30% 256.8
ILLINOIS $8,606 28% 551.5
INDIANA $8,431 30% 323.7
IOWA $7,626 34% 291.3
KANSAS $7,776 34% 387.4
KENTUCKY $6,861 22% 266.8
LOUISIANA $7,271 16% 594.4
MAINE $9,746 30% 112.2
MARYLAND $9,433 30% 703.0
MASSACHUSETTS $11,015 43% 456.9
MICHIGAN $9,094 30% 552.1
MINNESOTA $8,405 43% 297.0
MISSISSIPPI $6,199 13% 278.4
MISSOURI $7,542 26% 525.4
MONTANA $7,825 36% 281.5
NEBRASKA $8,452 35% 287.0
NEVADA $6,410 22% 606.8
NEW HAMPSHIRE $9,161 35% 132.0
NEW JERSEY $13,338 36% 354.7
NEW MEXICO $7,572 14% 702.2
NEW YORK $12,638 31% 445.8
NORTH CAROLINA $6,613 32% 468.1
NORTH DAKOTA $7,297 35% 98.2
OHIO $9,029 34% 351.3
OKLAHOMA $6,154 20% 508.6
OREGON $7,618 33% 286.8
PENNSYLVANIA $9,708 31% 424.5
RHODE ISLAND $11,078 23% 251.2
SOUTH CAROLINA $7,177 30% 761.1
SOUTH DAKOTA $7,068 36% 175.7
TENNESSEE $6,466 21% 752.8
TEXAS $7,151 21% 529.7
UTAH $4,991 20% 227.2
VERMONT $11,211 28% 119.7
VIRGINIA $8,219 33% 282.8
WASHINGTON $7,391 36% 345.8
WEST VIRGINIA $8,588 17% 272.8
WISCONSIN $9,240 36% 241.5
WYOMING $9,308 29% 230.1
FOOTNOTES: (1) Total population under 65. (2) Members of the labor
force ages 16 and up out of work as of October 2006. (3) Income
received from all sources during the year, divided by the population.
(Per capita means per person.) Includes money and nonmoney income, such
as benefits and government assistance . (4) The percentage of persons
whose income falls below the poverty line of each state. (The poverty
line varies, depending on the size of families and other factors. In
2005, the national poverty line for a family of four was $19,971.)
(5) Farm payroll employment not included. (6) Representative
sampling of public-school students by the National Assessment of
Educational Progress, U.S. Department of Education. (7) Violent crimes
are offenses of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
SOURCES: Without health insurance: Kaiser Family Foundation. Unemployed
and Job growth: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
Population figures: U.S. Bureau of the Census; estimates as of July
2005. Personal Income par capita: Bureau of Economic analysis,
U.S. Department of Commerce. Poverty rate: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Federal taxes paid per capita and Federal services received per dollar
of taxes: Tax Foundation. Public-school spending per student and
8th-graders at or above proficient math standard: National Center for
Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Violent crimes per
100,000 people: Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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