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Mapped: America’s Most Air-Conditioned States

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Air conditioning has become a standard feature in most American homes, especially in regions where hot and humid summers are common. However, cooling access still varies widely across the country.

This map shows the share of homes with air conditioning in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia, based on 2023 estimates. The data for this visualization comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Local Air Conditioning Estimates (LACE).

Air Conditioning Is a Way of Life in the South

The highest rates of air conditioning ownership are concentrated across the South and parts of the Midwest. Delaware, Florida, and Oklahoma all report AC in 99.5% of homes, while Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nebraska all exceed 99%.

In these regions, long summers, high humidity, and frequent heat waves have made air conditioning a practical necessity rather than a luxury.

Texas, Arizona, and much of the Southeast similarly report cooling access above 98%, highlighting how deeply integrated air conditioning has become in daily life across warm-weather regions.

The Pacific Coast Remains an Outlier

Several western states have significantly lower air conditioning rates despite their large populations. California ranks near the bottom at 78.6%, while Oregon sits at 81.9% and Washington at just 65.8%.

Historically, coastal climates and steady ocean breezes reduced the need for cooling systems in these states. Many homes were built without central air conditioning because extreme heat events were relatively rare.

However, rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves are beginning to challenge these assumptions.

Heat Waves Are Driving New Demand

Recent extreme weather events have increased attention on cooling access as a public health issue. During the Pacific Northwest heat dome in June 2021, temperatures reached unprecedented levels across Washington and Oregon.

The event contributed to more than 100 deaths across the two states, where many households lack air conditioning.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Alaska remains the clear outlier, with only 7% of homes reporting air conditioning. Hawaii also reports relatively low adoption at 56.6%, reflecting its traditionally moderate climate and the cooling effects of steady trade winds.

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Ranked: The World’s Deepest Caves

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Scaling the world’s tallest mountains is a well-charted pursuit, but descending into the planet’s deepest caves remains one of exploration’s last frontiers.

The world’s deepest cave plunges nearly seven times deeper than the Eiffel Tower is tall, descending 7,257 feet (2,212 meters) into the Earth. Seven of the 10 deepest caves reach more than a mile underground, and four of the deepest are clustered in a single karst mountain region in Abkhazia, Georgia.

This visualization shows the depth of the 10 deepest caves on Earth, using data from WorldAtlas, which measures their explored vertical depth from the highest entrance down to the lowest point reached.

The 10 Deepest Caves in the World

Veryovkina holds only a slim lead as the deepest cave in the world. At 7,257 feet (2,212 meters), it sits just 42 feet deeper than neighboring Krubera-Voronja, which reaches 7,215 feet (2,199 meters) and held the world record for more than a decade before explorers pushed Veryovkina past it in the same Caucasus massif.

The data table below lists the world’s 10 deepest caves in feet and meters, along with the country where each is located:

Rank	Cave	Depth (feet)	Depth (meters)	Country
1	Veryovkina	7,257	2,212	Georgia / Abkhazia
2	Krubera-Voronja	7,215	2,199	Georgia / Abkhazia
3	Sarma	6,004	1,830	Georgia / Abkhazia
4	Snezhnaja	5,774	1,760	Georgia / Abkhazia
5	Lamprechtsofen	5,692	1,735	Austria
6	Gouffre Mirolda	5,686	1,733	France
7	Gouffre Jean-Bernard	5,305	1,617	France
8	Sistema del Cerro del Cuevón	5,213	1,589	Spain
9	Hirlatzhöhle	5,118	1,560	Austria
10	Sistema Huautla	5,118	1,560	Mexico

After the top two, the rankings remain tightly packed: eight of the 10 deepest caves fall between roughly 5,100 and 6,000 feet deep. Third-place Sarma reaches 6,004 feet (1,830 meters) and is considered so hazardous that only professional speleologists are permitted to attempt it.

It is followed by Snezhnaja at 5,774 feet (1,760 meters) and Austria’s Lamprechtsofen at 5,692 feet (1,735 meters), rounding out the planet’s five deepest caves.

Why the Deepest Caves Cluster in Abkhazia

The clustering at the top is no accident. Four of the 10 deepest caves, and five of the 20 deepest, lie within Abkhazia’s Arabika Massif, a block of thick, soluble limestone in the Western Caucasus.

Over millions of years, rain and meltwater seep through cracks in this karst rock and slowly dissolve it into vast vertical shafts. Together, high mountains, heavy precipitation, and thick limestone create the conditions for cave systems that can drop thousands of feet underground.

It’s a different mechanism from the one that produces the world’s deepest lakes, which owe their depth to tectonic rift basins rather than dissolving rock, but the result is similarly concentrated geography.

Beyond the Caucasus, the deepest caves sit in the limestone ranges of the Alps and Pyrenees, with entries in Austria, France, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, and Türkiye. To see how cave depths compare to the oceans and the deepest holes humans have ever drilled, explore this deep dive into Earth’s vertical extremes.

The World’s Deepest Caves Are Still Being Explored

Because a cave’s depth is defined by how far explorers have physically reached, these rankings are always provisional. Many of the listed caves are thought to extend well beyond their currently known floors, and a newly discovered connection between two separate systems can rewrite the order overnight.

The most closely watched contest is in Mexico. In February 2026, a U.S. Deep Caving Team expedition set out to link Chevé Cave with a lower system, a connection that, if confirmed, could make Chevé the deepest cave on Earth and unseat Veryovkina. For now, the title still belongs to the Caucasus.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about our planet, check out this visualization on Voronoi, which breaks down what the Earth is made of.

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Mapped: Press Freedom Around the World in 2026

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The global state of press freedom has reached a 25-year low, according to the latest World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The index ranks 180 countries and territories based on five indicators: political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and journalist safety.

This world map shows press freedom scores around the world in 2026, revealing a widening divide between Europe, the only region with countries rated “good,” and much of the rest of the world.

Most Countries Have Constrained Press Freedom

The deterioration in press freedom has been dramatic over the past two decades. In 2002, only 13.7% of countries and territories were classified as having a “difficult” or “very serious” situation. By 2026, that figure had nearly quadrupled to 52.2%, meaning most countries now face substantial obstacles to independent journalism.

This deterioration mirrors broader declines in global freedom, as governments increasingly restrict access to information, criminalize journalism, and place pressure on independent media.

Here’s the full ranking from RSF’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index:

Rank	Country	Score	Classification
1	Norway	92.7	Good
2	Netherlands	88.9	Good
3	Estonia	88.5	Good
4	Denmark	88.5	Good
5	Sweden	87.6	Good
6	Finland	86.2	Good
7	Ireland	85.9	Good
8	Switzerland	84.8	Satisfactory
9	Luxembourg	84.1	Satisfactory
10	Portugal	83.7	Satisfactory
11	Czechia	83.0	Satisfactory
12	Iceland	82.8	Satisfactory
13	Liechtenstein	82.6	Satisfactory
14	Germany	82.2	Satisfactory
15	Lithuania	81.3	Satisfactory
16	Belgium	81.2	Satisfactory
17	Latvia	81.0	Satisfactory
18	United Kingdom	79.5	Satisfactory
19	Austria	79.4	Satisfactory
20	Canada	78.8	Satisfactory
21	South Africa	78.0	Satisfactory
22	New Zealand	77.4	Satisfactory
23	Namibia	77.0	Satisfactory
24	Fiji	76.8	Satisfactory
25	France	76.7	Satisfactory
26	Jamaica	75.9	Satisfactory
27	Poland	75.5	Satisfactory
28	Taiwan	75.4	Satisfactory
29	Spain	75.4	Satisfactory
30	East Timor	75.3	Satisfactory
31	Moldova	74.8	Satisfactory
32	Trinidad and Tobago	74.7	Satisfactory
33	Australia	74.6	Satisfactory
34	Suriname	73.2	Satisfactory
35	Seychelles	73.0	Satisfactory
36	Slovenia	72.9	Satisfactory
37	Slovakia	72.7	Satisfactory
38	Costa Rica	72.4	Satisfactory
39	Ghana	72.2	Satisfactory
40	Cabo Verde	72.0	Satisfactory
41	Montenegro	71.8	Satisfactory
42	Mauritius	70.9	Satisfactory
43	Gabon	70.6	Satisfactory
44	Dominican Republic	69.7	Problematic
45	North Macedonia	69.5	Problematic
46	Gambia	69.4	Problematic
47	South Korea	69.1	Problematic
48	Uruguay	68.7	Problematic
49	Romania	67.7	Problematic
50	Armenia	67.0	Problematic
51	Brazil	66.4	Problematic
52	Croatia	66.3	Problematic
53	Côte d’Ivoire	66.3	Problematic
54	Ukraine	66.1	Problematic
55	Italy	65.2	Problematic
56	OECS	64.6	Problematic
57	Liberia	64.5	Problematic
58	Samoa	64.5	Problematic
59	Andorra	63.9	Problematic
60	Mauritania	63.4	Problematic
61	Japan	62.9	Problematic
62	Botswana	62.9	Problematic
63	United States	62.6	Problematic
64	Panama	62.1	Problematic
65	Belize	61.7	Problematic
66	Malta	61.4	Problematic
67	Congo-Brazzaville	61.2	Problematic
68	Malawi	61.0	Problematic
69	Chile	60.8	Problematic
70	Bulgaria	60.3	Problematic
71	Comoros	60.2	Problematic
72	Papua New Guinea	60.1	Problematic
73	Hungary	59.9	Problematic
74	Qatar	59.8	Problematic
75	Guyana	59.6	Problematic
76	Zambia	58.6	Problematic
77	Senegal	58.1	Problematic
78	Sierra Leone	57.1	Problematic
79	Cyprus	56.9	Problematic
80	Central African Republic	56.7	Problematic
81	Northern Cyprus (Occupied)	56.6	Problematic
82	Albania	56.5	Problematic
83	Kosovo	55.9	Problematic
84	Mongolia	55.8	Problematic
85	Greece	55.1	Problematic
86	Paraguay	54.7	Difficult
87	Nepal	54.8	Difficult
88	Lesotho	54.4	Difficult
89	Bosnia-Herzegovina	54.3	Difficult
90	Bolivia	54.3	Difficult
91	Thailand	54.0	Difficult
92	Chad	53.9	Difficult
93	Equatorial Guinea	52.8	Difficult
94	Malaysia	52.7	Difficult
95	Brunei	52.6	Difficult
96	Togo	52.6	Difficult
97	Argentina	52.4	Difficult
98	Mozambique	52.3	Difficult
99	Guinea-Bissau	52.0	Difficult
100	Eswatini	51.9	Difficult
101	Colombia	51.7	Difficult
102	Kenya	50.5	Difficult
103	Morocco / Western Sahara	50.6	Difficult
104	Serbia	50.8	Difficult
105	Haiti	50.3	Difficult
106	Madagascar	51.0	Difficult
107	Maldives	49.2	Difficult
108	Angola	48.8	Difficult
109	Burkina Faso	48.5	Difficult
110	Guinea	48.5	Difficult
111	Nigeria	48.1	Difficult
112	Benin	47.4	Difficult
113	Philippines	46.8	Difficult
114	Lebanon	46.5	Difficult
115	Israel	46.5	Difficult
116	Tanzania	46.2	Difficult
117	South Sudan	46.2	Difficult
118	Burundi	46.1	Difficult
119	Niger	46.0	Difficult
120	Mali	45.6	Difficult
121	Mexico	45.2	Difficult
122	Singapore	44.6	Difficult
123	Ecuador	44.4	Difficult
124	Zimbabwe	44.4	Difficult
125	Somalia	43.8	Difficult
126	Oman	43.7	Difficult
127	Guatemala	43.2	Difficult
128	Indonesia	43.0	Difficult
129	DR Congo	42.2	Difficult
130	Uganda	42.0	Difficult
131	Honduras	41.0	Difficult
132	Cameroon	40.9	Difficult
133	Georgia	40.8	Difficult
134	Sri Lanka	40.8	Difficult
135	Kuwait	40.4	Difficult
136	Tunisia	40.4	Difficult
137	Libya	40.3	Difficult
138	Rwanda	39.6	Very Serious
139	Hong Kong	39.5	Very Serious
140	Syria	39.4	Very Serious
141	Jordan	39.3	Very Serious
142	El Salvador	38.9	Very Serious
143	Peru	37.9	Very Serious
144	Algeria	37.4	Very Serious
145	Kyrgyzstan	35.1	Very Serious
146	Uzbekistan	35.0	Very Serious
147	Ethiopia	34.7	Very Serious
148	Kazakhstan	34.4	Very Serious
149	Bhutan	33.5	Very Serious
150	Cambodia	33.3	Very Serious
151	Bangladesh	33.1	Very Serious
152	Pakistan	32.6	Very Serious
153	Laos	32.5	Very Serious
154	Tajikistan	32.2	Very Serious
155	Palestine	32.1	Very Serious
156	India	32.0	Very Serious
157	United Arab Emirates	30.9	Very Serious
158	Venezuela	30.5	Very Serious
159	Sudan	29.0	Very Serious
160	Cuba	29.2	Very Serious
161	Iraq	28.9	Very Serious
162	Yemen	27.9	Very Serious
163	Türkiye	27.9	Very Serious
164	Belarus	27.7	Very Serious
165	Myanmar	26.4	Very Serious
166	Djibouti	25.0	Very Serious
167	Nicaragua	25.0	Very Serious
168	Egypt	24.9	Very Serious
169	Bahrain	24.8	Very Serious
170	Azerbaijan	24.0	Very Serious
171	Russia	23.2	Very Serious
172	Turkmenistan	23.1	Very Serious
173	Vietnam	21.2	Very Serious
174	Afghanistan	19.5	Very Serious
175	Saudi Arabia	19.1	Very Serious
176	Iran	17.5	Very Serious
177	China	13.9	Very Serious
178	North Korea	12.7	Very Serious
179	Eritrea	10.2	Very Serious

Europe is the only region in the world with countries scoring 85 or higher in the index, which corresponds to “good” press freedom. Norway leads the list with a score of 92.7, followed by the Netherlands (88.9), Estonia (88.5), and Denmark (88.5).

While several European countries continue to score highly, they account for only a small share of the global population. As a result, RSF estimates that less than 1% of people worldwide live in a country classified as having “good” press freedom, underscoring how rare robust press freedom has become globally.

At the bottom of the ranking, Eritrea has a score of 10.7, with North Korea (12.7) and China (13.9) rounding out the bottom three. Iran (17.5) and Saudi Arabia (19.1) are the next two countries at the bottom of the list, and Russia is ninth from the bottom with a score of 23.2.

The Legal Environment for Press Is Getting Worse

RSF says the legal indicator saw the sharpest decline in 2026, worsening in 110 of 180 countries. Notable declines were recorded in India, Egypt, Israel, and Georgia.

This reflects the growing use of national security laws, emergency legislation, lawsuits, and other legal tools to restrict reporting. In many countries, journalism is being squeezed less by outright censorship and more by legal risk.

U.S. Among Big Movers in Press Freedom in 2026

Niger saw the steepest fall in the 2026 index, dropping 37 places to 120th. RSF links this to worsening conditions in the Sahel, where armed groups and military juntas have undermined access to balanced information.

The U.S. fell seven places to 64th in 2026, extending a decline that has seen it drop 47 positions since the index began in 2002. The country now ranks below many Western European nations as well as several smaller democracies, underscoring how perceptions of media freedom have shifted over the past two decades.

Meanwhile, Syria posted the largest improvement, rising 36 spots following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship in late 2024.

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To learn more about public trust in news sources, check out Where People Trust the Media (and Where They Don’t) on Voronoi.

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Ranked: The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes in 2025–26

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Elite sports earnings are increasingly concentrated among a small group of global superstars.

Across the 2025–26 season, the world’s 10 highest-paid athletes earned more than $1.4 billion combined from salaries, prize money, endorsements, appearance fees, licensing, and business ventures.

This visualization ranks the world’s 10 highest-paid athletes using data from Forbes, showing each athlete’s total earnings and how that income breaks down between on-field and off-field sources.

Cristiano Ronaldo Earned $300M in 2025–26

At the top of the ranking, Cristiano Ronaldo earned an estimated $300 million, making him the only athlete to clear $200 million for the season. The Portuguese forward banked $235 million on the field from his Saudi Pro League contract and another $65 million off it, putting him roughly $130 million ahead of any rival.

The data table below shows the 10 highest-paid athletes in the 2025–26 season, split into on- and off-field earnings, along with their sport and nationality:

Rank	Athlete	Total Earnings ($M)	On-Field ($M)	Off-Field ($M)	Sport
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	300.0	235.0	65.0	Soccer
2	Canelo Alvarez	170.0	160.0	10.0	Boxing
3	Lionel Messi	140.0	70.0	70.0	Soccer
4	LeBron James	137.8	52.8	85.0	Basketball
5	Shohei Ohtani	127.6	2.6	125.0	Baseball
6	Stephen Curry	124.7	59.7	65.0	Basketball
7	Jon Rahm	107.0	97.0	10.0	Golf
8	Karim Benzema	104.0	100.0	4.0	Soccer
9	Kevin Durant	103.8	54.8	49.0	Basketball
10	Lewis Hamilton	100.0	70.0	30.0	Formula 1

Boxing’s Canelo Álvarez ranked second at $170 million, almost all of it ($160 million) earned inside the ring. Lionel Messi rounded out the top three at $140 million, split evenly between on- and off-field income. Messi famously turned down a reported $1 billion offer from a Saudi soccer league in 2023, choosing instead to join Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

Soccer and Basketball Athletes Dominate the Top 10

Two sports account for the majority of the list. Soccer placed three names in the top 10 with Ronaldo, Messi, and Karim Benzema, and basketball matched it with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant. The four remaining spots went to one athlete each from boxing, baseball, golf, and Formula 1.

By nationality, the United States led with three athletes, all from the NBA, ahead of a spread across Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. Every athlete in the top 10 was male.

The mix of earnings varies sharply by sport. Soccer and basketball stars often combine large salaries with global endorsement portfolios, while athletes in sports like boxing and golf can rely much more heavily on prize money, purses, and competition-related income.

Shohei Ohtani’s Earnings Are Almost Entirely Off-Field

While most of these athletes earn the bulk of their money competing, two are striking exceptions. Shohei Ohtani took home an estimated $127.6 million, yet just $2.6 million of it, or about 2%, counted as on-field income.

That is because most of his record $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers is deferred and will not begin paying out until 2034, leaving endorsements to power his current earnings. LeBron James shows a similar tilt, with 62% of his $137.8 million coming from off-field deals.

At the other end of the spectrum, Karim Benzema (96%), Canelo Álvarez (94%), and Jon Rahm (91%) earned nearly everything from competition. Messi sat right in the middle, with a clean 50-50 split between salary and commercial income.

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If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Highest Earning Sports Teams per League on Voronoi.

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For English speakers, learning Spanish or Italian can take less than a year. Reaching the same level of proficiency in Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, or Arabic may require nearly four times as much study.

This wide gap reflects how closely a language resembles English in its vocabulary, grammar, sounds, and writing system.

This visualization, created by Julie R. Peasley, ranks languages by difficulty using categories and study-time estimates from Effective Language Learning and Rosetta Stone, which reference Foreign Service Institute-style benchmarks.

Which Languages Are Easiest to Learn for English Speakers?

Languages are generally easier to learn when they share familiar grammar, vocabulary, sounds, or writing systems. That’s why many Category I languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish, are considered relatively approachable.

The data table below shows the difficulty rankings and estimated learning time for 70 different languages:

Language	Category	Time to learn
Afrikaans	I	24-30 weeks
Danish	I	24-30 weeks
Dutch	I	24-30 weeks
French	I	24-30 weeks
Italian	I	24-30 weeks
Norwegian	I	24-30 weeks
Portuguese	I	24-30 weeks
Romanian	I	24-30 weeks
Spanish	I	24-30 weeks
Swedish	I	24-30 weeks
German	II	36 weeks
Haitian Creole	II	36 weeks
Indonesian	II	36 weeks
Malay	II	36 weeks
Swahili	II	36 weeks
Albanian	III	44 weeks
Amharic	III	44 weeks
Armenian	III	44 weeks
Azerbaijani	III	44 weeks
Bengali	III	44 weeks
Bulgarian	III	44 weeks
Burmese	III	44 weeks
Czech	III	44 weeks
Dari	III	44 weeks
Estonian	III	44 weeks
Farsi	III	44 weeks
Finnish	III	44 weeks
Georgian	III	44 weeks
Greek	III	44 weeks
Hebrew	III	44 weeks
Hindi	III	44 weeks
Hungarian	III	44 weeks
Icelandic	III	44 weeks
Kazakh	III	44 weeks
Khmer	III	44 weeks
Kurdish	III	44 weeks
Kyrgyz	III	44 weeks
Lao	III	44 weeks
Latvian	III	44 weeks
Lithuanian	III	44 weeks
Macedonian	III	44 weeks
Mongolian	III	44 weeks
Nepali	III	44 weeks
Pashto	III	44 weeks
Polish	III	44 weeks
Russian	III	44 weeks
Serbo-Croatian	III	44 weeks
Sinhala	III	44 weeks
Slovak	III	44 weeks
Slovenian	III	44 weeks
Somali	III	44 weeks
Telugu	III	44 weeks
Tibetan	III	44 weeks
Tamil	III	44 weeks
Tajiki	III	44 weeks
Tagalog	III	44 weeks
Thai	III	44 weeks
Turkish	III	44 weeks
Turkmen	III	44 weeks
Ukrainian	III	44 weeks
Urdu	III	44 weeks
Uzbek	III	44 weeks
Vietnamese	III	44 weeks
Xhosa	III	44 weeks
Zulu	III	44 weeks
Arabic	IV	88 weeks
Cantonese Chinese	IV	88 weeks
Mandarin Chinese	IV	88 weeks
Japanese	IV	88 weeks
Korean	IV	88 weeks

One of the most striking findings is the size of the gap between the easiest and hardest languages. While Spanish or French can often be learned in 24–30 weeks, mastering Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, or Arabic may require roughly 88 weeks of study.

Many Category I languages use the Latin alphabet and share vocabulary roots with English through Germanic or Romance-language connections.

This may also help explain why European languages often rank highly in language-learning apps and why Duolingo’s most popular languages globally include several widely taught European options.

What Makes a Language Harder to Learn?

Category III languages tend to have greater linguistic distance from English. This can include unfamiliar grammar structures, new alphabets, or pronunciation patterns that require more time to master.

For example, languages like Russian, Greek, Hindi, Turkish, and Vietnamese all fall into this category. Some use different scripts, while others introduce grammatical systems that are less intuitive for native English speakers.

The “Super-Hard” Languages

Category IV languages are considered exceptionally difficult for English speakers. This group includes Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean.

Many of these languages present multiple learning hurdles simultaneously. Mandarin and Cantonese require mastery of tones, Japanese combines several writing systems, Korean introduces a unique alphabet and grammar structure, and Arabic uses an entirely different script. Together, these differences significantly increase the time needed to reach professional proficiency.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about language use across the U.S., check out Mapped: America’s Most-Spoken Languages After English and Spanish on the Voronoi app.

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Ranked: U.S. Population Growth by State (1970–2025)

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America’s population shifted dramatically toward the South and West between 1970 and 2025, reshaping the country’s economic and political landscape.

States across the Sun Belt and Mountain West saw explosive growth as Americans moved toward lower-cost housing, warmer climates, and expanding job markets. Meanwhile, many Northeastern and Midwestern states posted comparatively modest gains.

The data for this visualization comes from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nevada’s Las Vegas Boom

Nevada recorded the fastest population growth in the country, expanding by 572% since 1970. The state’s transformation was largely fueled by Las Vegas evolving from a tourism-centered economy into a broader metropolitan hub with expanding healthcare, logistics, construction, and business sectors.

Arizona ranked second, growing by 329%, while Florida nearly tripled its population over the same period.

Rank	State	Growth	1970 population	2025 population
1	Nevada	572%	488,738	3,282,188
2	Arizona	329%	1,775,399	7,623,818
3	Florida	246%	6,791,418	23,462,518
4	Utah	234%	1,059,273	3,538,904
5	Idaho	185%	713,015	2,029,733
6	Texas	183%	11,198,655	31,709,821
7	Colorado	172%	2,209,596	6,012,561
8	Georgia	146%	4,587,930	11,302,748
9	Alaska	144%	302,583	737,270
10	Washington	134%	3,413,244	8,001,020
11	North Carolina	120%	5,084,411	11,197,968
12	South Carolina	115%	2,590,713	5,570,274
13	New Mexico	109%	1,017,055	2,125,498
14	Oregon	104%	2,091,533	4,273,586
15	California	97%	19,971,069	39,355,309
16	Delaware	93%	548,104	1,059,952
17	New Hampshire	92%	737,681	1,415,342
18	Virginia	91%	4,651,448	8,880,107
19	Tennessee	86%	3,926,018	7,315,076
20	Hawaii	86%	769,913	1,432,820
21	Wyoming	77%	332,416	588,753
22	Montana	65%	694,409	1,144,694
23	Arkansas	62%	1,923,322	3,114,791
24	Oklahoma	61%	2,559,463	4,123,288
25	Maryland	60%	3,923,897	6,265,347
26	Minnesota	53%	3,806,103	5,830,405
27	Alabama	51%	3,444,354	5,193,088
28	Vermont	45%	444,732	644,663
29	Kentucky	43%	3,220,711	4,606,864
30	Maine	42%	993,722	1,414,874
31	South Dakota	40%	666,257	935,094
32	Nebraska	36%	1,485,333	2,018,006
33	Wisconsin	35%	4,417,821	5,972,787
34	Indiana	34%	5,195,392	6,973,333
35	Missouri	34%	4,677,623	6,270,541
36	Mississippi	33%	2,216,994	2,954,160
37	New Jersey	33%	7,171,112	9,548,215
38	Kansas	32%	2,249,071	2,977,220
39	North Dakota	29%	617,792	799,358
40	Louisiana	27%	3,644,637	4,618,189
41	Massachusetts	26%	5,689,170	7,154,084
42	Connecticut	22%	3,032,217	3,688,496
43	Rhode Island	17%	949,723	1,114,521
44	Iowa	15%	2,825,368	3,238,387
45	Illinois	15%	11,110,285	12,719,141
46	Michigan	14%	8,881,826	10,127,884
47	Ohio	12%	10,657,423	11,900,510
48	Pennsylvania	11%	11,800,766	13,059,432
49	New York	10%	18,241,391	20,002,427
50	West Virginia	1%	1,744,237	1,766,147
51	District of Columbia	-8%	756,668	693,645

Much of this growth came from Americans relocating away from higher-cost states in search of cheaper housing, lower taxes, warmer weather, and expanding job markets across the South and West.

The Rise of the Sun Belt

The biggest winners over the last 55 years were concentrated across the Sun Belt and Mountain West. Texas, Utah, Colorado, Georgia, and the Carolinas all more than doubled their populations as jobs and affordable housing drew in new residents.

Texas added more than 20 million residents between 1970 and 2025, more than the current population of New York state.

The state’s diversified economy, including energy, technology, manufacturing, and finance, helped fuel sustained growth across major cities like Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.

Florida’s growth story was similarly dramatic. Beyond retirees, the state attracted workers and businesses seeking lower taxes and lower living costs compared to coastal Northeastern states.

Slow Growth in the Northeast and Midwest

Many Northeastern and Midwestern states experienced far slower growth. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan all grew by less than 15% over the entire period.

Many of these states struggled to keep residents as manufacturing jobs declined and population growth increasingly shifted toward faster-growing Southern metros. While major cities like New York and Chicago remained economic centers, surrounding regions often struggled to retain population growth.

The District of Columbia was the only area to post an overall population decline, shrinking by 8% since 1970. Much of this reflected suburbanization, as households moved into nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs supported by highway expansion and new residential communities.

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Mapped: The World’s Most and Least Corrupt Countries

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Key Takeaways:

Corruption perceptions are worsening globally, according to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Transparency International.

The index scores countries from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating cleaner perceived public sectors. In 2025, the global average fell to 42, while 122 of 182 countries scored below 50.

This map shows how corruption perceptions compare worldwide, from Denmark’s score of 89 to Somalia’s score of 9.

Fewer Countries Are Considered “Clean”

One of the most striking findings is how rapidly the number of top-performing countries has shrunk. In 2015, 12 countries scored above 80 on the CPI. By 2025, that number had fallen to just five.

This shift suggests that even nations traditionally associated with strong democratic institutions are facing mounting governance pressures. Transparency International points to rising political polarization, weaker institutional trust, and pressure on checks and balances as factors weighing on scores in several advanced economies.

Here’s a look at the global rankings from the latest CPI data:

Country	CPI Score (2025)
Denmark	89
Finland	88
Singapore	84
New Zealand	81
Norway	81
Sweden	80
Switzerland	80
Luxembourg	78
Netherlands	78
Germany	77
Iceland	77
Australia	76
Estonia	76
Hong Kong	76
Ireland	76
Canada	75
Uruguay	73
Bhutan	71
Japan	71
United Kingdom	70
Austria	69
Belgium	69
United Arab Emirates	69
Barbados	68
Seychelles	68
Taiwan	68
France	66
Lithuania	65
Bahamas	64
United States of America	64
Brunei Darussalam	63
Chile	63
South Korea	63
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	63
Cabo Verde	62
Israel	62
Dominica	60
Latvia	60
Czechia	59
Saint Lucia	59
Botswana	58
Qatar	58
Rwanda	58
Slovenia	58
Saudi Arabia	57
Costa Rica	56
Grenada	56
Portugal	56
Cyprus	55
Fiji	55
Spain	55
Italy	53
Poland	53
Malaysia	52
Oman	52
Bahrain	50
Georgia	50
Greece	50
Jordan	50
Malta	49
Mauritius	48
Slovakia	48
Croatia	47
Vanuatu	47
Armenia	46
Kuwait	46
Montenegro	46
Namibia	46
Senegal	46
Benin	45
Romania	45
Sao Tome and Principe	45
Jamaica	44
Solomon Islands	44
Timor-Leste	44
China	43
Cote d'Ivoire	43
Ghana	43
Kosovo	43
Moldova	42
South Africa	41
Trinidad and Tobago	41
Vietnam	41
Bulgaria	40
Burkina Faso	40
Cuba	40
Guyana	40
Hungary	40
North Macedonia	40
Tanzania	40
Albania	39
India	39
Maldives	39
Morocco	39
Tunisia	39
Ethiopia	38
Kazakhstan	38
Suriname	38
Colombia	37
Dominican Republic	37
Gambia	37
Lesotho	37
Zambia	37
Argentina	36
Belize	36
Ukraine	36
Brazil	35
Sri Lanka	35
Algeria	34
Bosnia and Herzegovina	34
Indonesia	34
Laos	34
Malawi	34
Nepal	34
Sierra Leone	34
Ecuador	33
Panama	33
Serbia	33
Thailand	33
Angola	32
El Salvador	32
Philippines	32
Togo	32
Belarus	31
Djibouti	31
Mongolia	31
Niger	31
Turkey	31
Uzbekistan	31
Azerbaijan	30
Egypt	30
Kenya	30
Mauritania	30
Peru	30
Gabon	29
Bolivia	28
Iraq	28
Liberia	28
Mali	28
Pakistan	28
Mexico	27
Cameroon	26
Guatemala	26
Guinea	26
Kyrgyzstan	26
Nigeria	26
Papua New Guinea	26
Madagascar	25
Uganda	25
Bangladesh	24
Central African Republic	24
Paraguay	24
Congo	23
Eswatini	23
Iran	23
Lebanon	23
Chad	22
Honduras	22
Russia	22
Zimbabwe	22
Guinea Bissau	21
Mozambique	21
Cambodia	20
Comoros	20
Democratic Republic of the Congo	20
Tajikistan	19
Burundi	17
Turkmenistan	17
Afghanistan	16
Haiti	16
Myanmar	16
Equatorial Guinea	15
North Korea	15
Syria	15
Nicaragua	14
Sudan	14
Eritrea	13
Libya	13
Yemen	13
Venezuela	10
Somalia	9
South Sudan	9

The U.S. is one of the clearest examples of this shift. With a score of 64, it ranks 29th globally and has fallen to its lowest score in the index. The decline reflects growing concerns around transparency and institutional confidence.

Why Corruption Matters Economically

Corruption carries steep economic costs beyond political instability. Research published by the International Monetary Fund has linked corruption to lower investment, weaker economic growth, and reduced government effectiveness.

In many countries, corruption also distorts public spending priorities. Funds intended for infrastructure, health care, education, or climate adaptation can instead be siphoned away through bribery schemes or opaque procurement systems.

The effects are often most severe in lower-income countries, where weaker institutions leave governments more vulnerable to organized crime and state capture.

The Human Cost of Corruption

Beyond economics, corruption also creates significant human risks. Anti-corruption reporting remains especially dangerous in countries with weak governance protections. Since 2012, 150 journalists covering corruption stories outside of war zones have been murdered, with nearly all cases occurring in countries with high corruption levels.

International organizations including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime continue to emphasize that fighting corruption requires stronger legal institutions, independent media protections, and cross-border cooperation.

While some countries continue to improve transparency and accountability, the broader global picture suggests corruption remains deeply entrenched and increasingly difficult to reverse.

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Ranked: Who Controls the World’s Uranium Supply?

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Nuclear power is regaining momentum as countries seek stable electricity supplies and lower-carbon energy sources. That has pushed uranium, the fuel used in nuclear reactors, back into focus.

This visualization uses data from the World Nuclear Association to show annual uranium production by country from 2015 to 2024.

Kazakhstan remains the dominant supplier by a wide margin, while countries like Canada and Namibia have rapidly expanded production in recent years.

Kazakhstan Dominates Global Uranium Supply

Kazakhstan produced 23,270 tonnes of uranium in 2024, accounting for more than one-third of global output.

Rank (2024)	Country	2015 (Tonnes)	2024 (Tonnes)	Change (2015-2024)
1	Kazakhstan	23,607	23,270	-1.4%
2	Canada	13,325	14,309	7.4%
3	Namibia	2,993	7,333	145.0%
4	Australia	5,654	4,598	-18.7%
5	Uzbekistan	2,385	4,000	67.7%
6	Russia	3,055	2,738	-10.4%
7	China	1,616	1,600	-1.0%
8	Niger	4,116	962	-76.6%
9	India	385	500	29.9%
10	South Africa	393	200	-49.1%
11	Ukraine	1,200	288	-76.0%
12	USA	1,256	260	-79.3%
--	Others	357	155	-56.6%
--	World total	60,342	60,213	-0.2%

The country combines large sandstone uranium deposits with low-cost in-situ recovery mining techniques, which are generally cheaper and less labor-intensive than conventional mining. State-backed producer Kazatomprom has also helped scale production efficiently over the last decade. Kazakhstan also ranks second globally in uranium reserves.

While Kazakhstan’s output dipped during the pandemic years, production rebounded strongly by 2024 as uranium demand and prices recovered.

Canada and Namibia Expand Production

Canada ranked as the world’s second-largest uranium producer in 2024, with output rising to 14,309 tonnes.

Production had previously collapsed in 2020 due to mine shutdowns and weak market conditions, but the restart of major projects such as Cigar Lake and McArthur River helped drive a sharp recovery.

Namibia also strengthened its position as a major supplier, producing 7,333 tonnes in 2024. The country has emerged as one of the fastest-growing uranium suppliers in the world, supported by large open-pit mines and rising foreign investment tied to growing nuclear fuel demand.

U.S. Production Begins Recovering

U.S. uranium production nearly disappeared in 2020, falling to just six tonnes as low prices made domestic mining uneconomical.

However, the sector has started recovering amid higher uranium prices and geopolitical concerns surrounding global supply chains. Restrictions on Russian uranium imports have also increased interest in rebuilding domestic production capacity.

Even after rebounding from near-zero production in 2020, the U.S. produced just 260 tonnes of uranium in 2024 versus more than 23,000 tonnes in Kazakhstan. The gap highlights how dependent global nuclear fuel markets remain on a small number of suppliers.

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