Misc
Chart: The Population Rank of Every U.S. State Over 100 Years
The Population Rank of Every U.S. State Over 100 Years
“Go west, young man, and grow up with the country.”
Popularized by Horace Greeley, the editor of the New-York Tribune, these words formed one of the great catchphrases at the height of the Manifest Destiny era in the 19th century.
Although that period is still a few chapters back in the history books, the fact is the West Coast is still relatively new today. Los Angeles was only incorporated in 1850, Portland in 1851, and Seattle in 1869.
And throughout the 20th century – Americans were moving westward in droves, ultimately culminating in California taking over the title of the most populous state in the union by the year 1960.
Population Rank by State
Today’s visualization is a bump chart from Aaron Penne, and it shows the population rank of U.S. states and D.C. over the timeframe of a century (1917-2017) using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
When a state passes another in population in a given year, it “bumps” the other state from that place in the ranking. Big movers are also highlighted in orange (up) and black (down) on the graph.
Let’s look at the numbers for the first year on the graph, which is 1917:
Rank | State | Population (1917) |
---|---|---|
#1 | New York | 9,993,000 |
#2 | Pennsylvania | 8,578,000 |
#3 | Illinois | 6,313,000 |
#4 | Ohio | 5,510,000 |
#5 | Texas | 4,563,000 |
#6 | Massachusetts | 3,738,000 |
#7 | Missouri | 3,470,000 |
#8 | Michigan | 3,451,000 |
#9 | California | 3,171,000 |
#10 | New Jersey | 2,976,000 |
#11 | Indiana | 2,910,000 |
#12 | Georgia | 2,885,000 |
#13 | Wisconsin | 2,587,000 |
#14 | North Carolina | 2,546,000 |
#15 | Kentucky | 2,421,000 |
#16 | Iowa | 2,382,000 |
#17 | Alabama | 2,361,000 |
#18 | Tennessee | 2,331,000 |
#19 | Minnesota | 2,329,000 |
#20 | Virginia | 2,313,000 |
#21 | Oklahoma | 1,960,000 |
#22 | Mississippi | 1,820,000 |
#23 | Lousiana | 1,795,000 |
#24 | Kansas | 1,748,000 |
#25 | Arkansas | 1,737,000 |
#26 | South Carolina | 1,675,000 |
#27 | West Virginia | 1,439,000 |
#28 | Maryland | 1,428,000 |
#29 | Connecticut | 1,327,000 |
#30 | Washington | 1,287,000 |
#31 | Nebraska | 1,285,000 |
#32 | Colorado | 910,000 |
#33 | Florida | 895,000 |
#34 | Maine | 777,000 |
#35 | Oregon | 763,000 |
#36 | North Dakota | 661,000 |
#37 | Rhode Island | 606,000 |
#38 | South Dakota | 599,000 |
#39 | Montana | 505,000 |
#40 | New Hampshire | 447,000 |
#41 | Utah | 444,000 |
#42 | Idaho | 413,000 |
#43 | District of Columbia | 385,000 |
#44 | Vermont | 372,000 |
#45 | New Mexico | 361,000 |
#46 | Arizona | 311,000 |
#47 | Delaware | 222,000 |
#48 | Wyoming | 186,000 |
#49 | Nevada | 81,000 |
New York led the pack with just short of 10 million people, which made up 10% of the population of the country as a whole. Meanwhile, California had only 3.2 million people – and amazingly, Nevada only had 81,000 people in 1917.
Now let’s jump forward 50 years to 1967, when the U.S. population was closer to 200 million.
Rank | State | Population (1967) |
---|---|---|
#1 | California | 19,176,000 |
#2 | New York | 17,935,000 |
#3 | Pennsylvania | 11,681,000 |
#4 | Illinois | 10,947,000 |
#5 | Texas | 10,599,000 |
#6 | Ohio | 10,414,000 |
#7 | Michigan | 8,630,000 |
#8 | New Jersey | 6,928,000 |
#9 | Florida | 6,242,000 |
#10 | Massachusetts | 5,594,000 |
#11 | Indiana | 5,053,000 |
#12 | North Carolina | 4,952,000 |
#13 | Missouri | 4,539,000 |
#14 | Virginia | 4,508,000 |
#15 | Georgia | 4,408,000 |
#16 | Wisconsin | 4,303,000 |
#17 | Tennessee | 3,859,000 |
#18 | Maryland | 3,757,000 |
#19 | Minnesota | 3,659,000 |
#20 | Louisiana | 3,581,000 |
#21 | Alabama | 3,458,000 |
#22 | Washington | 3,174,000 |
#23 | Kentucky | 3,172,000 |
#24 | Connecticut | 2,935,000 |
#25 | Iowa | 2,793,000 |
#26 | South Carolina | 2,533,000 |
#27 | Oklahoma | 2,489,000 |
#28 | Mississippi | 2,228,000 |
#29 | Kansas | 2,197,000 |
#30 | Colorado | 2,053,000 |
#31 | Oregon | 1,979,000 |
#32 | Arkansas | 1,901,000 |
#33 | West Virginia | 1,769,000 |
#34 | Arizona | 1,646,000 |
#35 | Nebraska | 1,457,000 |
#36 | Utah | 1,019,000 |
#37 | Maine | 1,004,000 |
#38 | New Mexico | 1,000,000 |
#39 | Rhode Island | 909,000 |
#40 | District of Columbia | 791,000 |
#41 | Hawaii | 723,000 |
#42 | Montana | 701,000 |
#43 | New Hampshire | 697,000 |
#44 | Idaho | 688,000 |
#45 | South Dakota | 671,000 |
#46 | North Dakota | 626,000 |
#47 | Delaware | 525,000 |
#48 | Nevada | 449,000 |
#49 | Vermont | 423,000 |
#50 | Wyoming | 322,000 |
#51 | Alaska | 278,000 |
In just half of a century, California gained 16 million people, and jumped to the #1 spot in the process. That’s a 504% increase over its 1917 population.
The Largest Increases in Population
For a final table data, we’ll show you the 2017 state populations compared to the 1917 state populations.
The table is sorted by the percentage increase over the course of that 100 years of time.
Rank | State | Population (1917) | Population (2017) | % Increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Nevada | 81,000 | 2,998,039 | 3,601% |
#2 | Florida | 895,000 | 20,984,400 | 2,245% |
#3 | Arizona | 311,000 | 7,016,270 | 2,156% |
#4 | California | 3,171,000 | 39,536,653 | 1,147% |
#5 | Utah | 444,000 | 3,101,833 | 599% |
#6 | Texas | 4,563,000 | 28,304,596 | 520% |
#7 | Colorado | 910,000 | 5,607,154 | 516% |
#8 | New Mexico | 361,000 | 2,088,070 | 478% |
#9 | Washington | 1,287,000 | 7,405,743 | 475% |
#10 | Oregon | 763,000 | 4,142,776 | 443% |
#11 | Delaware | 222,000 | 961,939 | 333% |
#12 | Maryland | 1,428,000 | 6,052,177 | 324% |
#13 | Idaho | 413,000 | 1,716,943 | 316% |
#14 | North Carolina | 2,546,000 | 10,273,419 | 304% |
#15 | Virginia | 2,313,000 | 8,470,020 | 266% |
#16 | Georgia | 2,885,000 | 10,429,379 | 262% |
#17 | Wyoming | 186,000 | 579,315 | 211% |
#18 | New Jersey | 2,976,000 | 9,005,644 | 203% |
#19 | New Hampshire | 447,000 | 1,342,795 | 200% |
#20 | South Carolina | 1,675,000 | 5,024,369 | 200% |
#21 | Michigan | 3,451,000 | 9,962,311 | 189% |
#22 | Tennessee | 2,331,000 | 6,715,984 | 188% |
#23 | Connecticut | 1,327,000 | 3,588,184 | 170% |
#24 | Lousiana | 1,795,000 | 4,684,333 | 161% |
#25 | Minnesota | 2,329,000 | 5,576,606 | 139% |
#26 | Indiana | 2,910,000 | 6,666,818 | 129% |
#27 | Wisconsin | 2,587,000 | 5,795,483 | 124% |
#28 | Ohio | 5,510,000 | 11,658,609 | 112% |
#29 | Montana | 505,000 | 1,050,493 | 108% |
#30 | Alabama | 2,361,000 | 4,874,747 | 106% |
#31 | Illinois | 6,313,000 | 12,802,023 | 103% |
#32 | Oklahoma | 1,960,000 | 3,930,864 | 101% |
#33 | New York | 9,993,000 | 19,849,399 | 99% |
#34 | Kentucky | 2,421,000 | 4,454,189 | 84% |
#35 | Massachusetts | 3,738,000 | 6,859,819 | 84% |
#36 | District of Columbia | 385,000 | 693,972 | 80% |
#37 | Missouri | 3,470,000 | 6,113,532 | 76% |
#38 | Rhode Island | 606,000 | 1,059,639 | 75% |
#39 | Arkansas | 1,737,000 | 3,004,279 | 73% |
#40 | Maine | 777,000 | 1,335,907 | 72% |
#41 | Vermont | 372,000 | 623,657 | 68% |
#42 | Kansas | 1,748,000 | 2,913,123 | 67% |
#43 | Mississippi | 1,820,000 | 2,984,100 | 64% |
#44 | Nebraska | 1,285,000 | 1,920,076 | 49% |
#45 | Pennsylvania | 8,578,000 | 12,805,537 | 49% |
#46 | South Dakota | 599,000 | 869,666 | 45% |
#47 | Iowa | 2,382,000 | 3,145,711 | 32% |
#48 | West Virginia | 1,439,000 | 1,815,857 | 26% |
#49 | North Dakota | 661,000 | 755,393 | 14% |
#50 | Alaska | 739,795 | n/a | |
#51 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | n/a |
Not surprisingly, Nevada takes the cake with a 3,601% gain, going from 81,000 people to today’s 2,998,039.
Meanwhile, North Dakota had the smallest gain – it only added 14% more people over a whole century of time.
Misc
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.
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