Data stories
Do more educated states vote differently?
The share of adults with a college degree predicts a state’s 2024 presidential vote better than almost anything else.
College degrees and the county vote
The education divide holds across 3,000 counties, though less tightly than across states.
Higher pay, higher prices
States where incomes are highest are also where everyday prices are highest. How much of the gap does the cost of living eat?
Expensive states vote blue
How a state’s price level lines up with its 2024 presidential vote.
Where degrees and paychecks go together
States with more college graduates have higher household incomes, with a few telling exceptions.
Smoking follows education, not geography
Across US counties, the share of adults who smoke falls steeply as the share with a college degree rises.
Poverty and poor health go hand in hand
Counties with more people in poverty have far more adults who say their health is fair or poor.
Richer counties, lower obesity
Median household income and adult obesity across more than 2,900 counties.
Where people don’t exercise, obesity is higher
Physical inactivity and obesity rise and fall together county by county.
Inactivity and diabetes, county by county
One of the tightest links in the health data: counties where adults don’t exercise have far more diabetes.
The broadband gap is an income gap
Home internet subscriptions track household income across US counties.
Poverty and mental distress
Counties with higher poverty rates report more adults with frequent mental distress.
Do college towns sleep more?
Short sleep is less common where more adults have a degree.
Murder rates and poverty
States with higher poverty rates tend to have higher murder rates, with some large exceptions.
Does climate predict politics?
Warm states and cold states split almost evenly. A useful reminder that not every pair of numbers is linked.
Richer countries live longer, up to a point
Each doubling of income buys fewer extra years of life. The curve economists call the Preston curve.
Fewer children, longer lives
Countries where women have fewer children are, almost without exception, countries where people live longer.
The lights and infant survival
Access to electricity is one of the clearest dividing lines in infant mortality around the world.
What does health spending buy?
Health spending per person against life expectancy, and where the United States lands.
Wealth and carbon emissions
Richer countries emit more CO2 per person, but at the same income some emit several times more than others.
Where homes cost the most relative to income
Home values track incomes across US cities, and the cities furthest above the line are where housing is least affordable.
Education and violent crime in US cities
Cities with more college graduates report less violent crime on average, but the link is only moderate.
Strongest connections in the data
Pairs of statistics from different sources that move together most closely. A correlation near 1 or −1 is a tight link; it is not proof that one causes the other.
US states
- Median Rent and Price Level0.94
- Median Home Value and Price Level0.86
- Homes with Broadband Internet and Price Level0.80
- Republican Vote Share and Median Rent−0.73
- Republican Vote Share and Median Household Income−0.73
- Bachelor’s Degree or Higher and Price Level0.73
- Republican Vote Share and Median Home Value−0.68
- Average Commute and Price Level0.63
- Republican Vote Share and Average Commute−0.57
- Poverty Rate and Average Temperature0.54
- Republican Vote Share and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.52
US counties
- Adults with Diabetes and Poverty Rate0.81
- Adults Who Smoke and Median Household Income−0.75
- Adults with No Leisure-Time Exercise and Poverty Rate0.73
- Adults with Obesity and Median Home Value−0.72
- Adults in Fair or Poor Health and Median Household Income−0.71
- Adults with No Leisure-Time Exercise and Median Household Income−0.70
- Adults with No Leisure-Time Exercise and Bachelor’s Degree or Higher−0.70
- Adults Who Smoke and Poverty Rate0.69
- Adults with Obesity and Bachelor’s Degree or Higher−0.68
- Adults in Fair or Poor Health and Bachelor’s Degree or Higher−0.68
- Adults with Frequent Mental Distress and Median Household Income−0.67
- Adults Who Smoke and Median Rent−0.66
- Adults Who Smoke and Median Home Value−0.65
- Adults with Frequent Mental Distress and Bachelor’s Degree or Higher−0.65
- Adults Who Smoke and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.64
- Adults with Diabetes and Median Household Income−0.64
- Adults with Obesity and Median Rent−0.63
- Adults in Fair or Poor Health and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.61
- Adults with No Leisure-Time Exercise and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.61
- Adults with No Leisure-Time Exercise and Median Home Value−0.61
- Adults with Diabetes and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.58
- Adults with Diabetes and Average Temperature0.57
- Adults Sleeping Under 7 Hours and Poverty Rate0.57
- Adults with Diabetes and Bachelor’s Degree or Higher−0.56
- Adults Sleeping Under 7 Hours and Average Temperature0.55
- Republican Vote Share and Median Rent−0.54
- Adults 18–64 Without Health Insurance and Average Temperature0.54
- Adults Who Binge Drink and Average Temperature−0.53
- Adults with Obesity and Poverty Rate0.52
- Adults with Obesity and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.52
- Adults Who Binge Drink and Poverty Rate−0.52
- Adults with No Leisure-Time Exercise and Median Rent−0.51
- Adults in Fair or Poor Health and Average Temperature0.51
- Adults with Frequent Mental Distress and Homes with Broadband Internet−0.50
US cities
Countries
- Infant Deaths per 1,000 Births and Life Expectancy at Birth−0.89
- Internet Users and GDP per Person at PPP0.89
- Access to Electricity and Internet Users0.85
- Internet Users and Births per Woman−0.85
- Internet Users and Infant Deaths per 1,000 Births−0.83
- Births per Woman and GDP per Person at PPP−0.83
- Births per Woman and Infant Deaths per 1,000 Births0.82
- Internet Users and Health Spending per Person0.82
- Internet Users and Life Expectancy at Birth0.82
- Infant Deaths per 1,000 Births and GDP per Person at PPP−0.80
- Access to Electricity and Births per Woman−0.79
- Births per Woman and Health Spending per Person−0.77
- Access to Electricity and GDP per Person at PPP0.75
- Health Spending per Person and Price Level0.74
- Access to Electricity and Life Expectancy at Birth0.73
- Access to Electricity and Health Spending per Person0.66
- Urban Population and GDP per Person at PPP0.65
- Health Spending per Person and GDP per Person at PPP0.65
- Urban Population and Health Spending per Person0.63
- Urban Population and Life Expectancy at Birth0.58
- Urban Population and Infant Deaths per 1,000 Births−0.55
- Urban Population and Births per Woman−0.50