The Associated Press ranked each state and the District of Columbia on how closely they match national averages on a combination of 21 demographic factors, including race, age, income, education, industrial mix, immigration and the share of people living in urban and rural areas.
Below is a ranking of how each state fared, with Illinois ranked No. 1 as the state that best mirrors the country, and West Virginia ranked 51st as the most atypical:
State and Rank
Illinois 1
Oregon 2
Michigan 3
Washington 4
Delaware 5
Georgia 6
Kansas 6
North Carolina 8
Missouri 9
Ohio 10
Pennsylvania 11
Rhode Island 11
Texas 13
Utah 14
Arizona 15
Nebraska 16
New York 16
Indiana 18
Florida 19
New Jersey 19
Oklahoma 21
Minnesota 22
Connecticut 23
South Carolina 24
Colorado 25
Hawaii 25
Virginia 27
New Mexico 28
Wisconsin 29
Idaho 30
Tennessee 31
California 32
Nevada 33
Massachusetts 34
Alaska 35
Maryland 36
Louisiana 37
Maine 38
Wyoming 39
South Dakota 40
Iowa 41
Montana 41
District of Columbia 43
Alabama 44
Arkansas 45
North Dakota 46
Kentucky 47
Vermont 47
New Hampshire 49
Mississippi 50
West Virginia 51
Source: AP analysis based on Census Bureau data.
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