For every Internet commenter who enters online arguments about the USA with facts they got from their butt, there's a map that presents hard data bare and allows the viewers to make their own interpretations.
From light pollution and tree coverage to out-of-service railways and streets and highways, maps may not immediately look as exciting as a viral cat video -- which might explain why we often overlook them when -- but that doesn't mean that are boring. To prove that, we put together a selection of maps that explain the United States better then most textbooks and if broadening your worldview isn't thrilling, I don't know what is.
This post may include affiliate links.
Most Commonly Spoken Language In The Us After English And Spanish
There’s often overlapping features between maps. For example, a topographic map could be utilized to show the distribution of a local orchid, making it both a topographic and thematic map. It could also be used to show well-known features of specific interest to travelers making this topographic, general reference, and thematic maps all in one.
The most widely used maps are “Political maps”. They are the ones that are usually mounted on the walls of classrooms throughout the world. They show the geographic boundaries between governmental units such as countries, states, and counties. They show roads, cities, and major water features such as oceans, rivers, and lakes.
The United States Of America: Alaskan Perspective
Political maps are really good at helping people to understand the geography of the world. They are usually the first type of map that students are introduced to in school, too. They are often called “reference maps” because people refer to them again and again when they have questions.
According to Geology.com, thousands of different political reference maps have been prepared to explain the United States. There are maps of the entire nation, maps for each of the 50 states, and even maps of the 3142 counties (parishes in Louisiana, and boroughs in Alaska) that make up the states. Most counties, boroughs, and parishes are further subdivided into even smaller political units. An incredible number of political maps have been prepared just to display the geography of the United States alone.
How I, A Brit, See The United States (Sorry If It Offends Anyone)
Patrick McGranaghan, who is a land surveyor in Colorado, USA, and the creator of one of the biggest online cartography communities, r/MapPorn, did an analysis on its most popular posts on Twitter. McGranaghan collected the 10 best-performing posts from the previous 18 months -- about 200 maps in total -- and went through each of them individually, tagging them based on the content, style, and subject matter. He then sorted the tags to see which ones were the most common.
States With A Smaller Population Than Los Angeles County
"The most popular subject was history," McGranaghan told Bored Panda. "In this category, the most popular maps were about World War II." Maps about other wars were also well liked, as well as those about the ancient Romans and historic trade routes.
"Another popular category was natural science. Especially popular are maps about wildlife, such as those that use tracking data to show animal migration patterns. Other topics included geology and astronomic maps."
Interestingly, quite a few viral maps focused on language. These include etymology, dialect and various pronunciation maps.
US Watersheds
"Another topic that I grouped together are 'political re-alignments'. These are maps that deal with boundaries. Subjects like separatist movements, re-drawing borders, and user-created idealizations. Many of these are satirical and funny," McGranaghan explained.
McGranaghan, however, wouldn't say that all of these maps are scientific. "I think the data is a bit noisy, but it's interesting nonetheless. Users sometimes want a magic formula to make their maps go viral and I don't think there is one. The tastes of the masses are fickle and change over time."
Red And Orange Areas Have Equal Populations
This is not at all surprising, since nearly half the population in this country lives within 30 miles of the coast.
When it comes to maps that best describe a country, McGranaghan thinks that it depends on the goal of the mapmaker. "All maps are generalizations, some good, some bad. They are not true representations and a good 'reader' should know that. I think good data visualization will take disparate datasets and find meaningful connections that weren't known before. It sounds simple but it is not so straightforward. A good mapmaker should be familiar with many matrices of knowledge and should be able to sift through them and make new connections."
McGranaghan created r/MapPorn in May 2011 while living in Taiwan, and it currently has over 995K members. He thinks the reason why the community is becoming so big is the same one why people like maps so much: they are easily digestible. So go ahead folks, continue scrolling and enjoy the rest of the post. Bon appétit!
United States Population Lines
The Most Efficient Route Between Every Springfield In The United States
Tree Cover Map Of The US
How Much Snow Does It Usually Take To Cancel Schools?
Nice. I always get a kick out of the places that close school for an inch of snow. You don't even need to wear a coat for 1" of snow.
Most Common Surname In The United States By State
Every State's Least Favorite State
Its Very Interesting
More People Live Inside The Red Area Than The Grey Area
... and this is the downfall of the American election system called the electoral college.
Drug Overdose Deaths In The United States Per 100,000 Persons For 1999 And 2014
US States Scaled Proportionally To Population Density
The Loudest And Quietest Spots In The Continental US
my house is in the border of very loud and very quiet. I can hear trains, a freeway, coyote howls, and owls hooting.
Out Of Service Railways
The U.S. Mapped By Residents’ Desire To Move To A Different State
As a Yankee who was raised and still lives in Texas I can tell you Texans are fiercly proud, even the most Democratic liberals. It's not a political thing, it's regional. We are the only state that was it's own country and we are and will ever be the only state by law that us allowed to fly our state flag at the same height as the national flag. Texas also used to stretch almost all the way up to Canada. As a foreigner on vacations, when people ask us what country we're from, we don't say America, we say Texas. I know it's stupid but it's not a red neck thing or political, it's serious state pride. Hell, every eary of Jr. High you have Texas history classes. Three years of Texas History.
In addition to Meyer Weinstock's comments below, Hawaii was also its own country. Per US Flag code, ANY state flag, if flown along side the US flag, flies at the same height.
Load More Replies...So true. Just left Illinois for Wisconsin, and couldn't be happier!
I left Illinois for Wisconsin about 25 years ago. Not going back.
Load More Replies...This poll is from 2013, sure would like to see one for 2020 after all the recent "Blue City Riots" and high taxes.
I can believe this for the year of 2013 but for the year of 2020, California should be the darkest green there is as the majority of us are sick of the c**p that our Governor is pulling! Also because of the high cost of living is ridiculous!
Born and raised (well, still being raised) in Texas, and probably never leaving!
Load More Replies...I want to leave NC only because I am going to be a teacher and it’s not a good state to teach in. Otherwise I would stay here.
We have openings here in CA. -Dr M, retired teacher
Load More Replies...That's what happened to me...came to Texas (from Germany) over 25 years ago. Saw other states. Still in Texas. :)
How do I move to Canada? Their country is so beautiful and everyone is so nice. Wish i could retire there. :-)
I actually applied to work for the Canadian government. No contact yet... -Dr M, retired professor
Load More Replies...Yep, I moved out of IL last year. A lot of my friends back there want to move also but can’t right now. Pray for them.
there is something a little sad about WV residents not wanting to move - perhaps they just surveyed the WV residents that commute for work to the surrounding states
Left Illinois one time. Left Minnesota two times. Never going back again.
Well, half if the country is already on holidays all the time in Cali or Florida anyways...
The starts at night, are big and bright! DEEP IN THE HEART F TEXAS! And don't bring your stupid ideologies with you when you migrate here! We aren't interested in people who don't want to support themselves, and who think being a race apart will make them special. We all work hard here, get on back to Chicago, Michigan, New York, California or wherever you left if you think mooching off the tax payers will support your lifestyle while you do drugs and steal to support that.
I've been waiting my entire life for people to start leaving California. We thought the high taxes and traffic would do it, we thought exporting people to other states would do it, and yet here we are closing in on 40 million people. I really don't get why so many people live here when so many people say they hate CA.
this is 7 years old. who the hell would want to go to Texas = COVID land now?
I love TX, just not the heat. The friendliest people in the country, hands down.
Load More Replies...Seems to conflict with Florida being the most hated state by Floridians.
A few maps up Floridians are hating their own state, yet they're not fussed about getting out? As Obelix (the Gaul) would say - "Those Floridians are crazy!"
This poll was taken in 2013 so I am sure Illinois would be a different color now that they have legalized marijuana, lol.
It doesn't count if it's because you are scared of everywhere else, racists texans and wimpy califonians.
Although to be fair New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut just want to move around each other.
We baron wash people in Oregon so they never want to leave, it’s our power!
If you mean Illinois, it's because our state government is corrupted beyond repair. Several of our recent governors are in prison and crooked Chicago politics infect much of the rest of the state. The taxes are ridiculous and the laws discourage small businesses (well, to be fair, they discourage big business too). We also have the worst of both kinds of weather. Humid, hot summers and freezing, windy, snowy winters.
Load More Replies...with Grievous Nuisance as governor, it is surprising that CA is not much higher
Average? Californians all want to leave...until we do, and then we run back. Will tolerate pollution, regulation, taxes, and everything else, we just want people with cosmopolitan outlooks, intelligence, tolerance, and curiosity. Can I get four seasons, fresh water lakes, snow, woodland critters, while having a Cali attitude? Please? -Dr M, who came back from Texas, Colorado, and Oregon
Lol as someone who lived in Indiana for four years before he was governor, I can assure you it hasn't changed. But it is damn low cost of living, I will give it that.
Load More Replies...Use Of The Word "Dang" Across The Continental US
How America Utilizes Its Land
Percentage Of People Born Outside The U.S. In Each State
Regions Of The U.S. That Don't Officially Celebrate Christopher Columbus Day
Popular Coffee Shop Chains By Number Of Locations
Map Of Lowest Recorded Temperature In Each Us State (Fahrenheit)
This is Hilarious to me, my ex-husband was raised in Alaska from 7 year's old until 22 year's old & heard a ton of weather stories 😅 😄 😂 😆 🙃 🤣 😅 😄 I've been there 4 time's but alway's in summer though!
Light Pollution In The United States
Air Traffic Control Zones In The USA
U.S. Education Spending Map
Explains why so many US citizens show a heartbreaking ignorance and why a guy like Trump could become president.
Map Of The United States' 8 Million Miles Of Roads, Streets And Highways
USA Tree Diversity
Garbage Can vs. Trash Can In The United States
Portion Of Each State That Is Federal Land
All U.S. Counties With In-N-Out Burger As Of May 2020
A Tastier Map
Date Of Creation Of All 3,142 U.S. Counties
US Governors By Eye Color
Voters Who Didn't Vote For Hillary Or Trump
Average Size Of US Apartments By Region
Results Of The 1984 United States Presidential Election By County. The Most Lopsided Election In History, The Only State Reagan Failed To Win Was His Opponent’s, Minnesota
In reverse, this must be the outcome of the 2020 election. Trump is setting up the "corrupt election" playbook so that when he loses, he can claim the election was fraudulent. We need to do the same thing Reagan did and OVERWHELMINGLY vote the morbidly obese pathological lying vindictive narcissistic imbecile with the emotional maturity of a toddler (AKA tRump) out of office.
US Counties With Gdp Over $100b
USA Country Map Divided By 1/3rds Of Covid Deaths
As an American, I would be really interested in seeing maps like these for the UK and Europe.
Ooooh, id love to see that. You could use adoption data. You could also do one by most spent on vet bills and most food and toys purchased.
Load More Replies...Very interesting set of maps. I just wish they had a higher res ones because some of them were really hard to read.
yes and even if you could read them I still didn't understand some of them, like the light pollution one? Maybe I'm alone but whatever I just agree with jamie1707
Load More Replies...Trump wanted the electoral college defunded because he's against all that fancy edjumacation. His magic 8-ball beats any stupid scientists and their technologeez and advanced mints any day!
Load More Replies...more, please! Ma, Mom, Mama, Momma, Mother etc; Dad, Pop, Papa, Pa, Father, etc; education - and types of education; sleep patterns; loneliness; favorite fairy tales . . .
Most of those were interesting. The political ones, not so much. People's remarks just get rabid.
Quite annoying that when I entered a comment, you wanted me to log in. After I did so, I was taken back to the top of the story and when I scrolled down to see my comment, it had been disappeared. If it "works as designed", the designers need another needs analysis session.
I enjoy these maps. When we were looking for job interviews in locations we would like to live, we shaded areas color coded for forest, climate and bear habitat, correlated with job openings. Then we constructed a travel plan to interview in those places. It was remarkably effective strategy, and helped us focus our search. Searching by animal habitat was interesting as well.
The waffle house map doesn't make sense. The numbers are wrong if this is number of individual stores.
Awesome information. How did they find this information and I can’t find specific information shopping on the internet? I ask for “x” and “a,” “b,” “y,” and “z.”
What great way to show people why we have an electoral college, and why we WONT let California or New York elect our president...
Tyranny to the minority is soo MUCH better than tyranny to the majority. /s
Load More Replies...Pro tip; if you want people to take you seriously, learn how to spell
Load More Replies...None of this had anything to do with that. If you're going to take a poke at us, at least make it relevant.
Load More Replies...I don't think you realize how large the United States is. Many of our states are larger than European countries.
Load More Replies...The name of the continent is North America. Even if one accepts the argument that N and S America are a single continent, the accepted demonym for citizens of the USA is "American".
Load More Replies...As an American, I would be really interested in seeing maps like these for the UK and Europe.
Ooooh, id love to see that. You could use adoption data. You could also do one by most spent on vet bills and most food and toys purchased.
Load More Replies...Very interesting set of maps. I just wish they had a higher res ones because some of them were really hard to read.
yes and even if you could read them I still didn't understand some of them, like the light pollution one? Maybe I'm alone but whatever I just agree with jamie1707
Load More Replies...Trump wanted the electoral college defunded because he's against all that fancy edjumacation. His magic 8-ball beats any stupid scientists and their technologeez and advanced mints any day!
Load More Replies...more, please! Ma, Mom, Mama, Momma, Mother etc; Dad, Pop, Papa, Pa, Father, etc; education - and types of education; sleep patterns; loneliness; favorite fairy tales . . .
Most of those were interesting. The political ones, not so much. People's remarks just get rabid.
Quite annoying that when I entered a comment, you wanted me to log in. After I did so, I was taken back to the top of the story and when I scrolled down to see my comment, it had been disappeared. If it "works as designed", the designers need another needs analysis session.
I enjoy these maps. When we were looking for job interviews in locations we would like to live, we shaded areas color coded for forest, climate and bear habitat, correlated with job openings. Then we constructed a travel plan to interview in those places. It was remarkably effective strategy, and helped us focus our search. Searching by animal habitat was interesting as well.
The waffle house map doesn't make sense. The numbers are wrong if this is number of individual stores.
Awesome information. How did they find this information and I can’t find specific information shopping on the internet? I ask for “x” and “a,” “b,” “y,” and “z.”
What great way to show people why we have an electoral college, and why we WONT let California or New York elect our president...
Tyranny to the minority is soo MUCH better than tyranny to the majority. /s
Load More Replies...Pro tip; if you want people to take you seriously, learn how to spell
Load More Replies...None of this had anything to do with that. If you're going to take a poke at us, at least make it relevant.
Load More Replies...I don't think you realize how large the United States is. Many of our states are larger than European countries.
Load More Replies...The name of the continent is North America. Even if one accepts the argument that N and S America are a single continent, the accepted demonym for citizens of the USA is "American".
Load More Replies...