35 Amazing Facts About the USA You Must Know

by Petr Novák, ? The accuracy of the information provided in this article was last verified on this date. If you spot any errors, please let us know in the comments. Thank you. :-) Updated 07/15/2024 Fun Facts

Which American state has more cows than people? How many days could Elon Musk feed the US federal budget? What is the only place in the USA where coffee beans are grown? And where do they have a grizzly bear on their national flag, even though no one has seen one there since 1922?

Fun Facts About the USA

How many days would it take the US federal government to spend all of Elon Musk’s fortune? How many years on average have American brides aged, and which city is bigger than the entire country? Read interesting facts about the USA with links to relevant sources.

1. The Pentagon Building Is Larger Than the Entire Vatican

   The Pentagon serves as the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, the building is located in Arlington, Virginia. With a floor area of 0 mi², it is the second largest office building in the world, the largest being the Surat Diamond Bourse in Surat, India.

   The Pentagon is even bigger than the Vatican City, which is only 0 mi².

2. Florida’s Highest Point Measures Just 345 ft

   The highest point in the state of Florida is Britton Hill with an elevation of only 345 ft. Of all the highest points in all US states, Britton Hill is the lowest.

3. 3 Out of 4 Americans Are Overweight

   According to Department of Health statistics, 73.6% of the US population over the age of 20 is overweight. Worse than being overweight is obesity, which affects 41.9% of Americans over the age of 20. Obesity also affects 22.2% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 and 20.7% of children aged 6 to 11.

4. The Smallest US State Has a Larger Population Than the Largest State

   Alaska, with an area of 663,264 mi², is 546 times larger than the state of Rhode Island, which is only 1,214 mi². However, Rhode Island has a population of 1,097,379, while Rhode Island has only 733,391.

5. Americans Throw away up to 40% of Their Food

   In the US, 120,000,000 lb of food is thrown away every year, which represents approximately 40% of the entire food chain. If you think of 10 apples on the supermarket shelf, 4 of them are thrown away without any benefit.

   Thus, on average, each American throws away 325 lb of food each year. The approximate value of all food thrown away in the USA is $218,000,000,000 per year.

6. 11.5% of Americans Live in Poverty

   According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 37.9 million people in the USA lived in poverty in 2022, a rate of 11.5%. You can tell a neighborhood is socially deprived by the teeth of its residents – if they are decayed or completely missing, it is a slum.

7. Alaska’s Coastline Is Longer Than All the Other States Combined

   The length of Alaska’s coastline is 6,640 mi. That’s more than the coastline of all the other 22 coastal states combined (5,839 mi).

8. Americans Spend $12,555 Annually on Health Care

   Health care costs each American an average of $12,555 per year. In Switzerland, it costs an average citizen $8,049 per year, in Germany $8,011 and in Norway $7,898. The data is from 2022.

9. There Are 4 Times More Cows Than People in South Dakota

   There are 3,550,000 cattle in South Dakota, but only 909,824 residents. This translates to nearly four head of cattle for every resident, the highest ratio of any U.S. state.

10. Every American Drinks 348 Cans of Soda a Year

    The average U.S. resident drinks 348 cans of soda each year, a number that has been declining over the years.

11. Hawaii Is the Only US State Where Coffee Is Grown

    Hawaii is the only US state where coffee is grown. The most famous region is Kona on the Island of Hawaii, and coffee also grows in the Hamakua, Puna and Ka’u areas on the same island. During the 2022/2023 season, Hawaii grew coffee cane with a total weight of 25,200,000 lb.

12. There Are 908 Motor Vehicles per 1,000 Residents of USA

    There are 908 motor vehicles for every 1 000 US residents. Of the countries with at least one million inhabitants, New Zealand has the most cars (1,086), while the absolute record holders are the small states of Gibraltar (1,444 motor vehicles), Guernsey (1,365) and San Marino (1,300).

    On the other hand, North Korea has the lowest number of motor vehicles (only 1 for every 1 000 inhabitants) and Bangladesh (2). Kosovo has the lowest share of European countries (94), with data from 2022-2023.

13. California’s State Animal Has Not Been Seen in Over 100 Years

    The grizzly bear is the official animal of California despite the fact that no one has seen any animal in the state since 1922.

14. Jimmy Carter Is the First US President Born in a Hospital

    Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. President, it happened on October 1, 1924 at the Wise Sanitarium facility in Plains, Georgia. All previous presidents of USA were born at home.

15. The USA Was the Country With the Highest GDP per Capita

    In the middle of the last century, the United States was the country with the highest GDP per capita; in 2023, it was twelfth. According to World Bank data, U.S. GDP per capita was $81,695.

16. Half of Americans Aged 18-29 Live with Their Parents

    Approximately 23 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 still live with their parents, a share of approximately 45%. This is about the same number as in the 1940s. Back then, it was customary for women to live with their parents until marriage and for men to stay home to work on the family farm after the Great Depression.

17. 63% of Americans Have Watched Pornography at Work

    According to an older survey from 2014, 63% of Americans have watched a pornographic video at work in the last 3 months. Approximately 38% of men have done so more than once. Among women, 36% admitted to watching pornography at work, and 13% of women watched a titillating video more than once.

18. How Dependent the USA Is on Chinese Imports

    In 1985, the difference between imports and exports of goods between the US and China was $6 million in favour of imports from the Asian country. By 2023, the balance of trade was already $279,107 million. Thus, over the course of 38 years, the USA has become dependent on China as the trade gap has grown 46,517 times.

19. 82% of Americans Have a Credit Card, 57% Have Debt

    According to a Forbes.com study, 82% of American adults had a credit card in 2022. The largest share of holders are Baby Boomers between the ages of 58 and 73, where each U.S. citizen has an average of 4.6 credit cards.

    The share of credit cards with existing debt is 56.9%, with the average amount of debt being $11,210. Interestingly, 13% of the US population has at least 5 credit cards.

20. The Largest City in the USA Is Bigger Than the Entire State

    The city of Sitka, Alaska, has an area of 2,870 mi² and a population of only 8,458. By area, it is the largest city in the US, larger than the entire state of Delaware.

21. One Out of Every 188 People in the USA Is Currently in Prison

    There are 531 people currently in prison for every 100,000 people in the US. This makes one in 188 people behind bars, making the United States the 6th largest in the world. The largest numbers of people in prison are in Central America’s El Salvador (1,086 people per 100,000), Cuba (794) and Africa’s Rwanda (637).

22. There Are More Unemployed People in the USA Than the Population of Denmark

    The proportion of unemployed people in the USA is around 4.10%, which represents approximately 6.2 million people. There are thus more unemployed people in the whole of the United States than there are in Denmark.

23. Atlanta in Georgia Was Originally Called Something Else

    The city of Atlanta, Georgia was originally named Terminus and Marthasville. It was not named Atlanta until December 29, 1845. Other names were originally borne by dozens of American cities.

24. One in Two Children in Syracuse Lives in Poverty

    Syracuse, New York is one of the cities most affected by poverty, with 48.4% of children living in poverty. Up next on the list of cities with at least 100,000 residents were Rochester City, New York (48.2%), Detroit, Michigan (47.2%), and Cleveland, Ohio (46.6%) and Dayton, Ohio (43.8%).

25. 1 in 3 Men in the USA Do Not Have a Job

    In 1950, more than 80% of American men had a job when all ages are included. By 2023, only 65.5% of men were employed.

26. More Than Half of Students in USA Have Loans

    Approximately 55% of students at four-year public schools in the USA have a loan. The average amount of student loans is $28,950, with the highest loan amounts in New Hampshire ($39,928), Delaware ($39,705) and Pennsylvania ($39,375).

    In contrast, the lowest average student loan amounts in the USA are in Utah ($18,344), New Mexico ($20,868) and California ($21,125).

27. There Are Three Communities in the USA Called Santa Claus

    The largest town named Santa Claus is located in southwestern Indiana and had a population of 2,586 in 2020. Roughly ten times smaller is the town of Santa Claus in Georgia, and you’d be looking for it on a map for quite a while. Rounding out the top three is an uninhabited ghost town in Arizona, whose last residents left in 1995. You can visit it on your way to Las Vegas, just look at the map.

28. Food Stamps Feed 12.3% of Americans

    There are 333.3 million people in the USA, with 41.2 million of them using food stamps in 2022. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) serves as a social assistance program to help the poorest segment of the population earn a living. The average benefit amount in 2022 was $231 per person per calendar month. 43% of American children depend on food stamps.

29. In the US, 45,000 Flights Check in Every Day

    Air Traffic Control in the USA handles 45,000 flights every day with more than 2.9 million passengers on board. That’s 16 405 000 flights a year, overseen by 520 control towers and 21 flight control centres. They employ over 14 000 air traffic controllers, with around 5 400 aircraft in the air at any one time during peak operating hours. There are 19,633 airports in operation in the United States – 5,082 are public and 14,551 are private.

30. Brides in USA Have Aged 8 Years in Two Generations

    In the 1950s, American women were getting married for the first time at an average age of 20; men were getting married at just under 23. With subsequent generations, the ages of brides and grooms grew significantly. In 2023, American women were getting married for the first time at an average age of 28; men were having their wedding even in their 30s.

31. 15 Out of 1,000 American Teenage Girls Will Become Pregnant

    On average, 15 out of 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 will become pregnant in 2022, according to World Bank data. The highest number of pregnant teenagers is in Africa, with 168 out of 1,000 women in Niger and 165 in Mozambique, for example. In the context of developed countries, the number of pregnant teenagers is relatively high in the USA, with more in Slovakia (27) and Hungary (22).

32. One in Four Americans Suffers From a Mental Disorder

    An estimated 26% of Americans over the age of 18 suffer from some form of mental disorder. Depression is the most common problem, affecting approximately 9.5% of Americans, with women about twice as likely as men to develop it. Bipolar affective disorder affects about 2.6% of Americans aged 18 and older.

33. Every American Owes More Money Than They Earn in a Year

    The average per capita national debt in the USA is $76,426, while the average annual income is $59,384. Thus, the state owes more money for each resident than he or she earns in one year.

    The US national debt as a percentage of GDP is 90.28%. However, the national debt of Luxembourg, for example, is 5 968% of GDP, so each citizen of this small European country owes $5,790,000.

34. The US Government Would Spend Elon Musk’s Entire Fortune in Just 14 Days

    If Elon Musk donated his entire fortune to the US government, it would cover the entire US budget in just 14 days. Elon Musk’s total fortune is estimated at $245.7 billion, with the US federal government planning to spend $6.32 trillion in 2024.

35. National Debt of USA In 2024

    As of July 15, 2024, the total debt of the United States federal government is $349,063,398,905,450. Since the country’s founding until 1981, it has only grown to $1,000,000,000,000, and since Jimmy Carter’s presidency it has grown 349 times.

Do you know of any other statistical trivia from the US? Post them in the discussion. And don’t forget to read the next article with USA fun facts.