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The Punchline

Ten fun facts from an unconventional Atlas

Jolie Myers Jul 26, 2011

Do you know what state has the highest level of home ownership? What about the state with the most dedicated dental patients? We’ll there’s a book for that.

Marketplace Morning Report host Steve Chiotakis spoke with Cynthia Enloe, co-author of the new book, The Real State of America Atlas, which uses the atlas format to re-map the way we think about the American economy, state by state.

Here are 10 fun facts from The Real State of America Atlas. And download two maps from the book: “Money Comes, Money Goes” and “The Economy.”

  1. West Virginia has the highest percentage of home ownership in the country.
  2. California has more mosques than any other state.
  3. Every president since the early 1800s has sworn the oath of office on a bible — except Franklin Pierce.
  4. Texas and Russia have roughly the same GDP.
  5. 18,857 corporations claim to be housed at a single address in the Cayman Islands.
  6. Alaska has the highest percentage of veterans at 14 percent of the population.
  7. Connecticut has the highest percentage of people who have been to the dentist in the last year.
  8. High fructose corn syrup consumption went up 10,673 percent from 1970 to 2005.
  9. The average American has 3.5 credit cards.
  10. Thirty-seven percent of Peace Corps volunteers serve in Africa.

To get more information, listen to an interview with Enloe and see two maps excerpted from the book, check out our Big Book blog. And to explore our own effort at deconstruct America through data, visit the Marketplace Maps section of our website. Plus, listen to our interview with author Cynthia Enloe.

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