Population powers of ten

Population densities in the United States vary over nine orders of magnitude.

In case you’re wondering, the most densely populated block group is one in New York County, New York — 3,240 people in 0.0097 square miles, for about 330,000 per square mile. The least dense is in the North Slope Borough of Alaska — 3 people in 3,246 square miles, or one per 1,082 square miles. The Manhattan block group I mention here is 360 million times more dense than the Alaska one; population densities vary over a huge range.

That’s approximately the same range from the height of an iPod to the diameter of the Earth. (via fakeisthenewreal)

• mathematics
• population
• usa