Misc
Mapped: Where America’s Truckers Live, by State
A Heatmap of America’s Truckers
In 2021, the U.S. imported $2.8 trillion worth of goods.
This incredible quantity of goods—along with much of what is produced domestically—is handled by the country’s 1.8 million truckers, which represents the 14th most common occupation nationally.
To see how these truckers are distributed across the nation, we’ve visualized data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to create two separate heat maps.
Key Findings from the Data
The relative density of each state’s truckers is measured by their location quotient.
This represents the ratio of truckers in a state compared to the national average (both as a % of total employment). For example, if truckers made up 10% of a state’s employment, and the national average was 2%, the location quotient for that state would be 5.
This data is listed in the table below.
State | Location Quotient |
---|---|
Arkansas | 2.4 |
Nebraska | 2.2 |
Wyoming | 2.1 |
Iowa | 2 |
North Dakota | 1.9 |
Tennessee | 1.6 |
Mississippi | 1.6 |
Idaho | 1.5 |
Wisconsin | 1.4 |
Indiana | 1.4 |
Alabama | 1.3 |
South Dakota | 1.3 |
West Virginia | 1.3 |
Oklahoma | 1.3 |
Texas | 1.3 |
Maine | 1.3 |
Missouri | 1.2 |
Kentucky | 1.2 |
Utah | 1.2 |
Pennsylvania | 1.1 |
Kansas | 1.1 |
New Mexico | 1.1 |
Georgia | 1.1 |
Ohio | 1.1 |
Michigan | 1.1 |
Montana | 1.1 |
South Carolina | 1.1 |
North Carolina | 1.1 |
New Jersey | 1 |
Minnesota | 1 |
Illinois | 1 |
Oregon | 0.9 |
Louisiana | 0.9 |
Virginia | 0.9 |
New Hampshire | 0.9 |
Arizona | 0.8 |
Delaware | 0.8 |
Florida | 0.8 |
Vermont | 0.8 |
Colorado | 0.8 |
Washington | 0.8 |
Nevada | 0.8 |
Maryland | 0.7 |
California | 0.7 |
Connecticut | 0.6 |
Rhode Island | 0.6 |
Alaska | 0.6 |
Massachusetts | 0.6 |
Hawaii | 0.6 |
New York | 0.5 |
District of Columbia | 0.1 |
There are four states with a location quotient of two or more: Arkansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Iowa. This means that their trucker workforce (as a % of total employment) is at least double the national average.
On the other hand, California and New York have some of the lowest location quotients in the country. Trucking companies have been competing fiercely to attract drivers in these areas, but with limited success.
At a time when the whole American population is aging, truck drivers tend to be older than average. The work is stressful, lonely, exhausting and long plagued by a pay system that can make drivers feel they can’t get ahead of the game.
– Los Angeles Times
To entice more young people to enter the industry, New York recently created a truck driver training program for 18-20 year olds. Some have voiced their concerns about safety, though few alternatives exist. In October 2021, the American Trucking Association (ATA) announced that the national driver shortage had reached a record-breaking 80,000.
A Different Perspective
The location quotient is an effective measure because it controls for the differences in each state’s population. Seeing the raw data, though, can still add useful perspective.
The following image shows the number of trucker’s in each state. As a reminder, the national total is 1.8 million.
With these numbers, we can gain a more practical understanding of the location quotient. For instance, California has the second highest number of truckers, but it’s dwarfed by the state’s massive population of 40 million.
Occupation Outlook
The BLS expects employment of truck drivers to grow by 6% from 2020 to 2030, which is close to the national average for all jobs. Based on total employment of 1.8 million, this would translate to 108,000 new openings.
Whether these openings will be filled is an entirely different story.
In the American Trucking Association’s latest report, analysts estimate that the industry will need to recruit 1 million drivers just to replace retiring drivers, or those that leave voluntarily.
Education
Ranked: America’s Best Universities
Evaluated on 19 different metrics, here’s the list of America’s best universities, led by 14 private schools.

Ranked: America’s Best Universities
The latest ranking of America’s best universities is here, perfectly timed for the approaching admissions season.
“Best” is of course subjective, and U.S. News and World Report has compiled 19 metrics on which they evaluated more than 400 national universities. Some of them include:
- Graduation rates & performance: A four-year rolling average of the proportion of each entering class earning a bachelor’s degree in six years or less. Performance is measured against predictions made by the publishers, and when beaten, the university gains a higher scoring.
- Peer assessment: A two-year weighted average of ratings from top academics—presidents, provosts and deans of admissions—on academic quality of peer institutions with which they are familiar.
- Financial resources: The average per student spend on instruction, research, student services and related educational expenditures in the 2021 fiscal year.
- Debt: A school’s average accumulated federal loan debt among borrowers only.
- Pell graduation rates & performance: the same calculation as stated above, but focused only on Pell Grant students, adjusted to give more credit to schools with larger Pell student proportions.
The website’s methodology section details how they sourced their data, the weights assigned to each metric, and their changes over the years.
From the hundreds assessed come the nearly 50 best universities that offer a variety of undergraduate majors, post-graduate programs, emphasize research, or award professional practice doctorates.
Which are the Best Universities in America?
At the top of the list, Princeton University is the best university in the country, known for its physics, economics, and international relations departments. Notably, it’s a rare Ivy league university that does not have a law, medical, or business school.
Here’s the full ranking of America’s best universities, along with annual tuition requirements.
Rank | School Name | State | Tuition |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Princeton University | New Jersey | $59,710 |
2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts | $60,156 |
3 | Harvard University | Massachusetts | $59,076 |
3 | Stanford University | California | $62,484 |
5 | Yale University | Connecticut | $64,700 |
6 | University of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | $66,104 |
7 | California Institute of Technology | California | $63,255 |
7 | Duke University | North Carolina | $66,172 |
9 | Brown University | Rhode Island | $68,230 |
9 | Johns Hopkins University | Maryland | $63,340 |
9 | Northwestern University | Illinois | $65,997 |
12 | Columbia University | New York | $65,524 |
12 | Cornell University | New York | $66,014 |
12 | University of Chicago | Illinois | $65,619 |
15 | University of California, Berkeley | California | $48,465 (out-state) $15,891 (in-state) |
15 | University of California, LA | California | $46,326 (out-state) $13,752 (in-state) |
17 | Rice University | Texas | $58,128 |
18 | Dartmouth College | New Hampshire | $65,511 |
18 | Vanderbilt University | Tennessee | $63,946 |
20 | University of Notre Dame | Indiana | $62,693 |
21 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Michigan | $57,273 (out-state) $17,786 (in-state) |
22 | Georgetown University | Washington, DC | $65,082 |
22 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | North Carolina | $39,338 (out-state) $8,998 (in-state) |
24 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pennsylvania | $63,829 |
24 | Emory University | Georgia | $60,774 |
24 | University of Virginia | Virginia | $58,950 (out-state) $22,323 (in-state) |
24 | Washington University, St. Louis | Missouri | $62,982 |
28 | University of California, Davis | California | $46,043 (out-state) $15,266 (in-state) |
28 | University of California, San Diego | California | $48,630 (out-state) $16,056 (in-state) |
28 | University of Florida | Florida | $28,658 (out-state) $6,381 (in-state) |
28 | University of Southern California | California | $68,237 |
32 | University of Texas, Austin | Texas | $41,070 (out-state) $11,698 (in-state) |
33 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia | $32,876 (out-state) $11,764 (in-state) |
33 | University of California, Irvine | California | $47,759 (out-state) $15,185 (in-state) |
35 | New York University | New York | $60,438 |
35 | University of California, Santa Barbara | California | $45,658 (out-state) $14,881 (in-state) |
35 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Illinois | $36,068 (out-state) $17,572 (in-state) |
35 | University of Wisconsin, Madison | Wisconsin | $40,603 (out-state) $11,205 (in-state) |
39 | Boston College | Massachusetts | $67,680 |
40 | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | New Jersey | $36,001 (out-state) $17,239 (in-state) |
40 | Tufts University | Massachusetts | $67,844 |
40 | University of Washington | Washington | $41,997 (out-state) $12,643 (in-state) |
43 | Boston University | Massachusetts | $65,168 |
43 | The Ohio State University | Ohio | $36,722 (out-state) $12,485 (in-state) |
43 | Purdue University, Main Campus | Indiana | $28,794 (out-state) $9,992 (in-state) |
46 | University of Maryland, College Park | Maryland | $40,306 (out-state) $11,505 (in-state) |
47 | Lehigh University | Pennsylvania | $62,180 |
47 | Texas A&M University | Texas | $40,607 (out-state) $12,413 (in-state) |
47 | University of Georgia | Georgia | $30,220 (out-state) $11,180 (in-state) |
47 | University of Rochester | New York | $64,384 |
47 | Virginia Tech | Virginia | $36,090 (out-state) $15,478 (in-state) |
47 | Wake Forest University | North Carolina | $64,758 |
53 | Case Western Reserve University | Ohio | $62,234 |
53 | Florida State University | Florida | $21,683 (out-state) $6,517 (in-state) |
53 | Northeastern University | Massachusetts | $63,141 |
53 | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota | $36,402 (out-state) $16,488 (in-state) |
53 | William & Mary | Virginia | $48,841 (out-state) $25,041 (in-state) |
MIT places second, and Harvard and Stanford tie for third. Yale rounds out the top five.
Private universities, including seven Ivy League colleges, dominate the top of the rankings. Meanwhile, the highest-ranked public schools are tied at 15th, both state schools in California.
For affordability, since the higher ranks are populated by private universities, there tends to be a broad correlation of better universities being more expensive. That said, the most expensive school in the top 50 ranks is actually the University of Southern California, tied at 28th, for $68,237/year.
As it happens, also tied at 28th, the University of Florida is the most affordable public school for in-state students ($6,381/year) and Florida State University tied at 53rd, is the most affordable for out-of-staters at $21,683/year.
However these costs are tuition-only, and don’t account for other necessary expenses: accommodation, food, and textbooks.
Best University versus Best “Fit”
Finding the best university for prospective students is more than just perusing a long ranking list.
Aside from the numerous schools present within each university—which can often be the best for specific majors—factors like location, proximity to family, campus culture, the non-academic pursuits (sports, extracurriculars, internships) are also taken into consideration.
In fact, research has found that just attaining a university degree improves future earnings potential and employability.
Furthermore, individual engagement at college (irrespective of the rank of the school in question) plays a far bigger role in learning and general well-being than simply attending a highly-ranked school.
However, for low income and minority students, attending a top-ranked school does improve future earnings considerably. For women, it also often results in delaying marriage and kids, which results in more work-hours and as a result, more pay.
-
Education5 days ago
Ranked: America’s Best Universities
-
Technology1 week ago
Ranked: Largest Semiconductor Foundry Companies by Revenue
-
Misc1 week ago
Visualized: EV Market Share in the U.S.
-
Maps1 week ago
Interactive Map: The World as 1,000 People
-
Brands1 week ago
Ranked: Average Black Friday Discounts for Major Retailers
-
Brands1 week ago
Ranked: Fast Food Brands with the Most U.S. Locations
-
Markets1 week ago
Visualizing 30 Years of Imports from U.S. Trading Partners
-
Markets1 week ago
Ranked: The Biggest Retailers in the U.S. by Revenue