MAP OF THE US POPULATION DENSITY SERIES

Atlanta, for example, is more than 137 square miles with around 4,200 people per square mile, and the map illustrates this as a mass of red amidst surroundings of more rural areas in green.Ĭurrently based in Milwaukee where he works as the Senior Manager of Data & Analytics for City Forward Collective, Schien focuses on building the maps and other statistical visualizations using open-source tools that help to alleviate financial barriers to information. You can find more of his work on his website. The more densely populated an area is, the higher the bars rise. He then translates statistical information about specific regions into highly contrasted maps utilizing Rayshader.

To compile the maps, Schien digs into the Kontur Population dataset, a publicly accessible project that layers global population numbers derived from sources like the Global Human Settlement Layer-a tool for assessing the presence of people on the planet-along with Microsoft’s Building Footprints and Facebook. In his work with nonprofits and NGOs, he uses R programming language to generate data visualizations that help organizations target where their services are most needed.

MAP OF THE US POPULATION DENSITY SERIES

It’s one thing to know that Chicago is the third largest city in the United States or that the fastest growing metropolitan areas are in the West and the South, but how can we see it? Data technologist Spencer Schien answers that question with an ongoing series of population density maps of states, rivers, and coastlines. is one of the most populous countries in the world, with a total population of over 327 million inhabitants, as of 2018.All images © Spencer Shien, shared with permission Most of the leading countries and territories are city states. Only 1.3 inhabitants per square mile reside in the largest state of the U.S.Ĭompared to other countries around the world, the United States does not rank within the top 50, in terms of population density. A number of New England states follow at the top of the ranking, making the northeastern region of the United States the most densely populated region of the country. Rhode Island is the second most densely populated state, with slightly over 1,000 inhabitants per square mile. The most densely populated state is New Jersey, with 1,208 people per square mile living there.

The population density of the United States varies from state to state. Population density doubled in 1900, and grew in total by around 800 percent until 2010. Since then, population density grew by about 16 percent each decade. Population density was roughly 11 at the time and has doubled in the last century. After examining the data in detail, it becomes clear that a major population increase started around 1870. Over the last two centuries, the number of people living in the United States per square mile has grown from 4.5 in 1790 to 87.4 in 2010. Population density has been tracked for over two hundred years in the United States. In 2019, the population density was approximately 92.9 residents per square mile of land area. This graph shows the population density of the United States of America from 1790 to 2019.

Map of the us population density