Super Interesting Maps Of The U.S. That You Need To See

[@General.Knowledge]

*Which other countries should I look at maps of?*

[@fcsuper]

New Hampshire has no sales or income tax. Property tax is a bit high to compensate.

[@smithnatalie4803]

Uk 🇬🇧

[@anduxmapping]

Northern Europe - Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Baltics, Åland, Faroese Islands, Iceland, (maybe) Greenland

[@anduxmapping]

There's alot of interesting things like finland being the worlds most happy country and also the one with the most suicides in europe.

[@MarijnRoorda]

That of the actual real world. The very first map in your video (0:03)is that of the mercator projection. Its plain wrong. Greenland isn't the size of Africa, Africa is easily like 12x as big. Canada is also half its size, as are many other countries from the north end of the world. I could explain why this was done, but i think you get a much better video out of it if you figure it out on your own. (hint, have a look at the peters projection)

[@michaelrae9599]

The middle of the U.S. is not desert or forest. It is the Great Plains, arable grasslands where we grow food. The Plains stretch all the way deep into Canada. California is largely agricultural outside of the coast.

[@kingding-a-ling9794]

And in the desert where I live in Arizona we have a lot of arable land where we have the 5C's of the economy where Cattle, Cotton and Citrus are king followed by Copper Climate

[@sgrant9814]

At the rate they are using and running out of water it will soon be desert as it was in the thirties

[@darklordnoodlez9863]

Until modern forms of farming were developed in the mid to late 1800s, it was actually considered desert. It was referred to as the "Great American Desert".

[@michaelrae9599]

There are actually 4 deserts in the U.S., and they take up a lot of that white space. But so do mountains. A topographical map could give a better understanding of what is where and why.

[@oppionatedindividual8256]

Hence why it is surprising the area has no trees. The farmlands of England were previously a dense forest. You’d think the same of the US.

[@jaquiring]

In the forest map, you missed that the vast inland is mostly Great Plains rather than desert. The Great Plains are a naturally occurring grassland and savanna, and much as been used for grazing and agriculture.

[@General.Knowledge]

This is correct! My mistake, thank you.

[@viewer-of-content]

@@General.Knowledge Sad fact. Less than 4% of virgin grassland exist in the USA despite The Great Plains being one of largest natural Praries/Savanas/grasslands. This has actually been a greater destruction of biodiversity and nature than the Deforisting of virgin forrest.

[@jalicea1650]

@@General.Knowledge Actually you're not wrong until the late 1800s it was known as the Great American Desert as the plains were mostly devoid of forests and major rivers. We changed that by killing off the buffalo and much of the Plains Indians and ripped deep into the topsoil to change it into arable farmlands thanks to the Industrial Revolution. We over cultivated the land and caused the Great Dustbowl. Since then, we have kept pumping the soil with Monsanto's products i.e. nitrogen and other fertilizers to force the plains to produce all our agricultural products, but scientists predict that the deserts will grow as the quality of soil is not recovering faster than we can exploit it. Also we are digging deeper to get to the groundwater, but that's running out... Some areas due to droughts and overuse are now dangerously close to environmental collapse. Most people in the middle part of the country refuse to believe otherwise...

[@sixchuterhatesgoogle3824]

@@jalicea1650 Where do you get your information? Your post is one of the most absurd things I've read. Here, in Iowa the average yearly precipitation is 34 inches. Even Nebraska averages 23.6 inches. Most experts agree that a desert is an area of land that receives no more than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of precipitation a year. Major rivers? Ever heard of the Missouri River, or the Mississippi?

[@tornater5403]

@@jalicea1650 Bruh, you might want to relearn geography and history.

[@blondieosaurus]

Not a lack of data, those states do not have sales taxes. I live in Washington and have met many people who travel or have things sent to friends from out of state to avoid sales tax. From my understanding those states typically make up for the lack of sales tax with a higher property tax. Interesting that it appears several counties in Montana near the eastern border have taken up sales tax. Possibly in an effort to maximize profits from people who cross state lines to avoid taxation.

[@General.Knowledge]

From a European perspective not having ANY tax is very strange!

[@mckenziecallahan5196]

@@General.Knowledge it is made up for by those states with Income and/or Property taxes. Income and Sales tax tend to be inversely related from state to state. The obvious exception to that rule being Florida who has all taxes low, largely due to the high number of retirees

[@lp-xl9ld]

I lived for quite a while not far from the border between Pennsylvania and Delaware. (I was on the PA side.) Not only does Delaware not have sales tax, they brag about it with signs just over the border. But PA had a law (rarely enforced, but still) that if you bought anything in DE, you were liable for PA's state sales tax.

[@jasonremy1627]

There is no sales tax in the grey states.

[@WonBrainCell]

Minnesota has variable sales tax. We have a 0% sales tax on clothing so a lot of people come here to shop from border states.

[@klug_d]

It is incredible that the US has more forest area than whole Europe.

[@SilvanaDil]

It has more climate types, too.

[@bladehea]

Of course its bigger than europe

[@richardtalbott6215]

I've been a tree trimmer my whole life. I've paid a little attention here and there. Very little, really, but, anyway.... I've heard tell that, in Germany, most trees are, like, numbered and cataloged and , like, cared for on an individual basis. Sure, trees in city parks. That makes sense, right? But I understand they mark all trees. In the forests and mountains and shit I live in Colorado. That idea just blows me away.

[@PurelyCoincidental]

I live in Washington state and am from New Jersey. The sales tax map is interesting, but you have to consider other localized taxes. Sales tax may look relatively high for Washington, but we have no state income tax. New Jersey's sales tax is relatively low, especially compared with New York, but property taxes are very high. Each jurisdiction decides how it'll get its money through a variety of taxes-it might be interesting to compare the different kinds of taxes in each state, since it is such a weird hodge-podge.

[@Linkbetweenus27]

It's the same with Tennessee. We pay the most in sales tax out of almost anywhere, but the state has no income tax and property tax rates are either low or at least reasonable in most areas.

[@deirdre108]

WA resident here. Regarding sales tax, some consideration should be made for groceries (food) and pharmaceuticals for which there is no WA sales tax, and I think that is how it should be. Of course food in restaurants is taxed and our liquor taxes are probably the highest in the country, but beer and wine is relatively inexpensive.

[@bhg123ful]

Great maps! But a few comments on the map of forest cover in the US: 1. The middle part of the US is definitely not desert, though a lot of it is technically semiarid, or close to it.. It is the Great Plains and is mostly all agricultural (either cropland or grazing). 2. Much of the Eastern US may be heavily forested on paper, but its highly fragmented by houses, roads - not exactly wilderness. The East coast especially has little farmland, and is either built up or covered in trees.

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks for the info!

[@luiskross6454]

Take a trip to maine or nh it will change your mind, probably more deer and black bears than anywhere in the country

[@bhg123ful]

@@luiskross6454 Oh yes! I’ve been to Maine though back in the 90s. And went to school in northern Michigan. Yes, there are a LOT of exceptions to what I said regarding eastern forest cover. I was just pointing out to General how a lot of areas are both densely populated and at the same time heavily wooded.

[@dubo2769]

Yeah, as someone who lives Eastside, there's not many real forests, just a ridiculous amount of trees. You go outside and look in any direction and you see a tree. Only exception is if you're in a big city, and even then some of them have trees lining the sidewalks.

[@gaspikefan]

@Bob's - You are certainly correct regarding the definition of "forest" not meaning wilderness, but most of the east coast is still considered forested. It's easier to see when in an airplane flying above the eastern states. Even though many trees have been cleared for various reasons, much of it is still covered. My spouse and I have marveled at how large cities like Atlanta and Charlotte look like the downtown areas appear to be springing up out of the forest when flying over them. Not dense, for sure, but tree covered.

[@gerganapanayotowa3339]

A lack of forest doesn't necessarily mean desert 😁 These are mostly the Great plains you're looking at :)

[@plots4]

People tend to underestimate the sheer size of the US and the diversity of landscapes and cultures within the same state. It’s a 7 hour drive from one corner of Pennsylvania to the other, most of which is uninhabited with cities and towns sprinkled throughout. We have beaches, mountain ski resorts, rural farmlands, “Amish country”, and New York City all within a 90 minute drive from Philadelphia. Each area has its own distinct subculture and way of life. The biggest political divide (and most consistent) is actually urban vs. rural, which makes sense when you look at population distribution.

[@rachelorlando6296]

Forests in the eastern part of the US tend to be more fragmented, so while they count as "forest" they may not be suitable for various forms of wildlife because each section of contiguous forest is relatively small. The Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois is a good example of that.

[@klug_d]

Same here in Europe but nature always finds a way 💚

[@mapes87]

I live next to part of that forest.

[@poatocat9534]

That large forestless section in the middle of the country isn’t dessert, it’s steppe. It’s all grassland. However, right next to it is a massive dessert.

[@roombagunguy7441]

Kansas, The Dakotas and Nebraska is just a massive farmstead

[@malepositivemedia7937]

*desert.

[@General.Knowledge]

Okay! Thank you

[@nickmonks9563]

Go back a bit, though, and early settlers used to refer to the Great Plains as "The Great American Desert"

[@jonp2338]

@@General.Knowledge yea bro u gotta make sure ur info is correct before you start sharing…

[@kj64gaming19]

You said that none beat California for house prices, but Hawaii does. It makes total sense.

[@drscopeify]

Great video as always, I knew that Oregon had no sales tax but wasn't aware that Montana had no tax as well. The western USA high cost is mostly due to more people moving there then housing is available and the technology companies that pay really big salary to support that rise in price even more. However some cities have limited land available like San Francisco and Seattle so they have high prices due to geography but most areas also have much cheaper housing mixed usually smaller or older houses can in some areas be found for much lower than average price. Also some states just have larger families so the average home size is just larger so I think it just costs more perhaps.

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks! The limited land logic makes sense!

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

Yea

[@maddykrantz]

I live in SF and I can verify that the house my parents got is a 2 story and was 3 mil, but if we were in Texas, it may have only been 200k or something.

[@Shockprowl]

TOTALLY with you on maps. I cannot help but be transfixed by almost any map. I get a lot out of a visual manifestation of information. Great channel, by the way, thank you for all the great content.

[@kandipiatkowski8589]

It was interesting to see my county, in a relatively less populated state of Kansas, showing up. My hometown, Wichita, is actually known as the "Air Capital" (as identified by the industry map) because of all of the aircraft manufacturing plants in the city.

[@jessimatic]

Oregon having Pub as most common restaurant cuisine could be due to the fact that every establishment that sells alcohol must offer 5 or 6 hot dishes to sell as well. So every bar in Oregon is also a restaurant. And there are a lot of bars in Oregon. That isn't to say that some of them just offer a menu of 5 or 6 microwavable frozen snacks, but it also encourages bars to compete with delicious food.

[@operator0]

That area that you circled in Tennessee is Williamson County. It's a suburb of Nashville, and it's where most of the music label executives, music stars, NFL players, NHL players, and Nissan executives live. It is one of America's top ten wealthiest counties (by net worth). The other counties in the Nashville area with a little lighter shade of purple used to be relatively inexpensive to purchase a house in, but that all changed two years ago when America experienced its second Great Migration. Five years ago, it was relatively easy to purchase a starter home for less than $150,000. Now, even as the housing market is experiencing a slow down, it is very difficult to find a starter home for less than $300,000.

[@Jagogold656]

There indeed are 5 states with no sales tax

[@rand49er]

Regarding the maps showing forested areas of the U.S., I noticed the lower peninsula of Michigan in particular the Thumb region did not show much forest. There were devastating forest fires occurring in 1871 and more so in 1881 that swept across that area and wiped out much of the forests. One of nine children, my father was born on a farm in 1922 near Cass City in the Thumb and recalled hearing the older folks talk about those fires. I was born in 1949. We would visit the many relatives I had there from the early 1950s, and I recall the open farm land at my grandparents' farm and my uncles' farms. Today, about 70 years later, the area looks different. It took me a while to put my finger on it, but I finally figured it out. It's different because the trees are much larger and there are more of them. Farming is still prevalent, but it is not the sole means of support for everyone living there which puts less pressure on the trees. Yes, this is certainly anecdotal information, but I'm sure both the number of trees and their size are increasing steadily in many places.

[@cdjhyoung]

Additionally, the Thumb area of Michigan was one of the great lumber producing areas in and around the Civil War era. Not only was raw lumber exported, but a large industry based on building wood product thrived. This is one of the few places that once the lumber was removed, the land was flat enough, and fertile enough to be converted to agriculture. The fires mentioned were devastating, but only accelerated the conversion of this land to agriculture from forests.

[@standardannonymousguy]

Yes the grey states of the Sales Tax map mean that there is no sales tax. Even though there is no sales tax in Oregon, that does not mean that living there is cheap, and yes the property taxes are much higher. Specifically in Portland which has some of the highest property taxes in the USA. Excellent video, that first map was indeed interesting.

[@Bonesters]

for the sales tax map at 9:28, the grey ones are 0% sales tax. Stores in New Hampshire frequently mention in their ads that there's no sales tax in the entire state.

[@kelhapam]

No sales tax or income tax in New Hampshire. I know, I live there.

[@ToABrighterFuture]

One thing you might want to look at, is sales tax and income tax combined. I'm a Maryland expat living in Florida: Florida has no state income tax, but Maryland does. It's not insignificant. Maryland withholds state income taxes, so they already get first dibs on your money before you even make it; then when you go to spend it, they want yet another cut. So, yes, sales tax is higher here in Florida, but Tallahassee doesn't care how much I make. It's a whole different modus vivendi. I no longer have to (metaphorically) bring the first fruits of my labor before the General Assembly, so they can take their portion, only to have to give them even more money later, when I spend what they deigned to let me keep in the first place.

[@yowsers6475]

Limit the press. Limit what journalists and reporters are allowed to do.

[@stevengernhart2556]

For the sales tax, I live in Oregon and we have no sales tax whatsoever.

[@ericburton5163]

So the virgin forest vs. forest thing is very accurate. My state (Michigan) has lots of forests. However it has very few virgin forests left. They were basically all cut down. Believe it or not the Great Lakes region used to be the area hit hardest by forest fires because of all of the logging. It's both sad and amazing that almost all of the parks and forests that I visit, hike, camp, etc., were all made by humans. The US was hit really hard by the Great Depression. There were lots of unemployed people (especially young people). The US also had tons of logged wasteland, eroded flood plains, and dried out plains (dustbowl). To "kill two birds with one stone" the government created the Civilian Conservation Corps, in which young people were hired for conservation work. They planted over 3 billion trees. So there were a lot more trees in the 1950s then there were in the 1920s. Although the original CCC ended during WW2, the forest and conservation work has expanded and lived on.

[@robertgotschall1246]

I've always loved maps. Interesting about house prices. Since the majority of people live in the East, I assumed generally higher prices. Colorado is easy, Aspen and Vail. The people who actually work in Aspen all live in a a separate community a few miles out of town. They used to say that a squirrel could travel through unbroken forest from the East Coast to the Mississippi River. The Area between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains has always been treeless. Nevada has a lot of Mountain lions, we have a resident population of at least 20 wild Mountain lions living within a half hour drive of Las Vegas, but bear are restricted to a handful in the Sierra near Reno.

[@BanaiFeldstein]

Re: county sizes. I learned that county borders were drawn based on one day of travel (or a certain number of hours) from anywhere to the county seat. So in the east, counties were formed earlier in time when travel was slower. By the time we made counties in the west, we could travel faster because of technology. While that might not be entirely accurate for all county lines, I think that's a better reason than fewer people live there. Counties are not drawn based on population, or metropolitan areas would have multiple counties splitting up the cities.

[@robgronotte1]

My cat always bugs me about moving to Hawaii so she can be a badass monster predator.

[@michaelscott1307]

Someone probably already pointed this out, but Cindy Hyde-Smith has been serving as the junior Senator from Mississippi since 2018. Vermont elected a woman to congress for the first time in November, 2022, so pretty recent from the publication of this video

[@jaquiring]

Yes, some of those states such as Oregon have no sales tax (0%).

[@Graffititude]

Correct! I’m from VT and go shopping in NH for bigger purchases. It’s great paying no sales tax!!

[@Rom3_29]

Property taxes are very high in Oreeegone.

[@r.ndomperson]

Here in Alaska, we don't have any sales or income tax, which is cool.

[@tylerlong6270]

I live in northeast arkansas. It's interesting and I think accurate. The area I live in is the Mississippi River delta. It was flooded swamplands before America. It has now been GPS flattened for farming. There are very few trees today. You can see all along the Mississippi River where the farmland is.

[@Automedon2]

By the mid 1800s, 75% of New England forests had been cut down for farms and lumber. Today, most has grown back but it is with fast growing trees, like maples, not the original hardwood species like chestnut and oak. Turkey and deer were almost extinct in those days since their habitats had been cut and there were no hunting limits. Today they are everywhere again.

[@stephenmarcus9601]

NYC may have high rents but one saves a fortune not owning a car. In addition shopping is far cheaper in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx

[@swimmingviolin29]

That's not missing data, those states do in fact not have any sales tax. In the USA states have 3 main ways to gain revenue. Sales tax, state (not federal) income tax, and property tax. States like New Hampshire might have no sales tax, but they have the 2nd highest property tax in the country. Washington has no income tax, and Oregon has no sales tax, therefore some people live and work in Washington and shop in Oregon.

[@Dai5tr0y3r]

Oregon doesn't have any sales tax, so the map showing 0% is correct, Oregon has a fairly high income tax (among others) to balance this. As an Oregonian, it's really nice to see the price of something listed and pay the amount. I'm not claiming that it's better nor perfect, to be clear. I believe the same (or similar) is true for the other two states as well.

[@xxxBradTxxx]

The trick is to live in Vancouver to avoid state income tax, and shop in Portland to avoid state sales tax.

[@kenaikuskokwim9694]

Vancouver, Washington, that is. Not as famous as the one in BC, but much closer to Oregon. BTW, namesake Capt. Vancouver was the one who gave the Union Jack to the Hawaiians; it's in their state flag.

[@firstlas9647]

0:28 Lol. I live right there!

[@markgarin6355]

North western Wyoming housing prices should have peaked your interest. That's why it's called the plains ..

[@KyleDB150]

Here's my unsolicited 2 cents: 2:00 usually median house prices are used, instead of mean, otherwise the presence of $10M+ mansions/penthouses skews it. Its arguable whether it makes sense to include these or not, stats are always subjective in some ways. 7:30 aerospace probably includes military missile design/manufacture, and low population states are good for rocket engine testing. Washington has Boeing, Maryland has Lockheed, Arkansas has Aerojet/Rocketdyne and ULA, Georgia has Gulfstream, Kansas has various small aircraft stuff, no clue about Kentucky lol. 8:45 pub food probably comes from all the Irish farmers who settled the prairie there

[@nickmonks9563]

Wichita was where Beechcraft, Cessna, Mooney and Stearman Aircraft all got their start, and continues to be significant for Textron Aviation, Learjet, Airbus, and Boeing/Spirit AeroSystems. Airbus and Bombardier also have a substantial presence there. Wichita often touts itself as the "air capital of the world" as a result.

[@adamsouthard1155]

Yes - the gray area is 0% sales tax. Oregon and Delaware have no sales tax. Presumably neither does Montana or New Hampshire. There are states without no sales tax. I'm from Oregon and they had a high income tax. I didn't like that but it's far less regressive than a sales tax. And I think it's a bit of a travesty that so many places rely so heavily on necessary purchases made by poor people for their revenue.

[@micon9460]

I have 20acres that's classified as a forest, only benefit is a tax deduction. Kind of sucks because I can't cut any of the trees.

[@LigerGatter273]

I rarely comment but i noticed something on 'most popular restaurant type' pub is most popular in the north. It makes sense for alot of that is rural small towns which even the smallest town. Has at least a pub! Not enough bigger cities in those states to offset rural pubs

[@mariajoaoferrazdeabreu150]

Congrats, great video.

[@TheMapGod275]

2:21 NOOOOO SECOND BARELY WHYYYYYYYYY

[@ItsACrazyWorld]

Thanks for the share

[@ExitiumNL]

2:20 "But none beat California" Except for Hawaii by over 25% 😜

[@stephenmarcus9601]

East Coast is original America, the entire region of the 13 Colonies could be called New England. Amazing how different the ethos of other US regions can be

[@colehowe]

Super cool map ideas :)

[@jeffreynicol8287]

Do something like this for Canada please

[@General.Knowledge]

Okay!

[@virginiathomasakaicedragon6579]

That was very interesting😎

[@TheSloppyjoejr]

The central isn't "desert" it is the great plains

[@dingusdingus2152]

Liked the band playing national emblem in the background. Also the Sousa march.

[@groverrobinsoniv8399]

Your forestry map is just that forest. The areas that aren't forest does not mean they are desert. In fact grassland and farming are a big reasons for the non-forest area east of the Rockies. If you looked at a desert map in the US, very little of it would be east of the Rockies. Historically the plains were a huge sea of grass between the Rockies and the Mississippi River. East of the Mississippi most of the non-forested area has been lost to either urbanization or farming, the largest part is actually farming.

[@firefalcoln]

Yes. Some regions really do have 0% sales tax. They typically make up for it by having higher income and/or property taxes.

[@RyanCAyers]

On the sales tax map, the grey states are known as duty-free states, where the tax burden is just calculated into the price. This makes the advertised prices seem higher, but also cuts down on the exchange of pennies.

[@aarushpalai2539]

9:27 the grey areas represent zero sales tax! This is the reason why its cheaper to buy stuff in different states.

[@KristianWontroba]

YES 👍🏼 The grey color does equal zero % tax on food.

[@oakparksacramento]

The areas without forest aren’t necessarily deserts. A lot of it is the Great Plains and the Sacramento/Central Valley which are our most fertile agricultural lands in the US.

[@CamChowdah]

For the sales tax part, certain states have no state sales tax, such as New Hampshire, so when you buy something it's the flat rate cost that you see on the label

[@logy7]

3:15The centre of the U.S. isn't desert but rather the Great Plains: A massive swath of agricultural land

[@zacherymooney]

I love maps I put em on my wall

[@leighnbrasington]

Really enjoy your videos - thank you. A couple of comments: 1) Oregon does not have any sales tax, so that why it is gray; I assume that is the case for all the gray areas on the sales tax map. 2) In the east, counties were created as an area that encompassed the maximum distance someone could travel by horse & buggy to the county seat (biggest town) in a day. So lots of small counties. But as the West was opened up, it needed organizing before there was much population, so other criteria were used (don't know details - I grew up in Mississippi = 82 counties).

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks! And thanks for watching :)

[@kadinwilliams8045]

Connecticut doesn't use counties. We have 169 towns and some of the towns do unite for social services. In 1960, Connecticut voters eliminated the 8 counties we had.

[@BC465]

There are 5 states where there's no sales tax: Oregon, New Hampshire, Montana, Alaska and Delaware You might notice that Alaska does have some countries with sales tax... Those local municipalities can enact their own local sales tax rates :)

[@willungs541]

New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Delaware do not impose a sales tax at the state level. Outside the US, most countries impose “value added tax” at varying rates. Value added tax is essentially the same thing as sales tax, just a different name.

[@idahojake3444]

The highest house prices in Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah all correspond with ski resorts, Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, and Park City, respectively.

[@MukiBlalock]

Hawaii is actually the MOST expensive state.

[@connecticutaggie]

Oregon (grey) has no sales tax.

[@walmars3curity]

These maps have some major inaccuracies for sure...

[@finalGambitShedinja]

I went to college in Louisiana and the university kept a little swamp ecosystem in the middle of campus which included a small cypress lake and turtles and 3 alligators which they would change out for younger ones when they got big enough to climb observation barriers.

[@top10cars2]

9:08 Food is actually the only thing that doesn't have a sales tax, at least in Iowa, where I live.

[@ItalianT747]

heyyy guy from new hampshire here, i’ll let you know that NH doesn’t have a sales tax and so the sales tax rate IS in fact 0%, though there is a modest 9% room and meals tax, which applies to hotel and restaurant purchases

[@The_Hagseed]

For the Forest map, there's more than just forest and deserts. Most of what you call the desert is plains... y'know..... farmlands. The area of land that grows enough food to support the citizens and still have plenty left over for export. Or, I guess they grow their crops in the middle of forests or arid land?

[@MirkoC407]

German sales tax is the same everywhere as it is set by the federal government. There are however devolved topics that raise taxes and which can be different depending on where you live. For example taxes on real estate.

[@yowsers6475]

*For food or restaurants by state **8:12**, you should include American food. Excluding American food makes the results inaccurate and leads people to believe something that isn't true.*

[@anduxmapping]

Congrats on 720k

[@General.Knowledge]

Thank you!

[@Vasser12]

There is no sales tax in Montana and Oregon. That’s why everyone in the neighboring states shop there.

[@danr1920]

When traveling to the eastern U.S. I was surprised by how little farm land they was. I'm in southern Minnesota and often travel west to the Rockies. Montana has no sales tax!

[@lucasdog1]

County size is relevant to travel time. Eastern states were developed when fastest travel was by horse. In Michigan, counties were sized by how far you could travel in one day to reach the county seat.

[@MrDroenix]

Lived in New Hampshire most of my life, no sales tax. Price you see for products in stores is what you pay.

[@Epidombe]

I do know that sales tax varies in parts of the state based on many variables. In wisconsin, they will sometimes implement a .5% sales tax in for upgrades to the packer stadium. Locally we’ve had sales tax increase to pay for road construction when previous governor reduced the amount of infrastructure funding available to finish projects that were out of money and unfinished.

[@bitshtannicajohnson6957]

*The best map I have seen recently is density of areas where poopin in the street is common. Portland was the brownest area of them all, 2nd was SF*

[@tack3545]

3:05, the majority of the non forested land is not desert, it’s plains/grasslands only around 1/3 of it is desert

[@bertfarry3793]

Those deserts a mostly grassland

[@logy7]

9:20 Yes, there are some states and counties that charge a 0% sales tax.

[@coryg1109]

Grey is zero percent, NH and Oregon (Both I have lived in) do not have sales tax. NH tends to rely more on property taxes which are interesting. Forested areas in the midwest have always been rare until humans showed up. The prairie areas would naturally burn killed any newly sprouted trees. Buffalo grass would survive because it was very deeply rooted resulting in it killing the top but the bottom would survive to grow.

[@StValentine-uh5lv]

Just want to throw this out to those looking for a house and don't mind moving My hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana has the lowest housing prices in the nation. While the national median house cost is around $230K, the median house cost here is almost HALF at around $120K. It's also not a small farming town in the middle of nowhere. We're the 2nd largest city in Indiana with around 270,000 residents and we're rich with history. Baseball, the television, and the refrigerator were all invented here and we're building up our riverfront! Media and websites don't typically mention us because, well, it's Indiana, but I assure you that if you're looking to buy a house, you'll find one here at the fraction of a price than any other city! Also I don't work for my city's government or anything, I'm just a proud citizen who believes that people around the nation should know that you don't have to pay $1million for a 1 bedroom apartment. Hell, there was a 3 story mansion down the road from my house that sold the other day for $700,000!

[@TheAZPro-yi8bu]

County's are smaller in the east because when they were formed, there small size allowed citizens to get to the county seat by horse in one day. By the time most of the west was populated, the train and car were becoming available and citizens could get to the county seat in one day from a greater distance.

[@matthewlannoye]

Pub food is just bar food. Here in Wisconsin every bar/pub which is the most common restaurant serves Burgers of some variety, Cheese curds, and wings. There are other common foods but it all depends on the type of bar but I'd say these are the basics.

[@gavinrose1058]

Precision instruments would be microscopes, binoculars, cameras, surveyor's tools, surgical tools, etc.

[@thepigwillfly5869]

NH, OR and MT do not have a state sales tax....that is why they are grey. Another thing to consider is that some states (i.e. PA) don't charge sales tax on necessities (i.e. food, medicine, clothing). The reason the sales tax rate varies so much is because that is just one tax and it is controlled at the county level in most cases. There are numerous other taxes (State Income Tax, Federal Income Tax, SS, Medicare, Property Tax, etc....) that are collected at the various levels (Local, State, Federal) of GOV.

[@RisingShadow11]

No sales tax in Oregon they are really proud of that... When the cashier found out from out of of state they all mentioned it "no sales tax here"

[@mrhappy623]

Vermont not having any female senators or representatives is pretty surprising, but also it is important to remember that they only have one representative, plus the two senators, and they usually keep their positions for a long time. Their current senior senator has held the position since 1975. Still a bit surprising though.

[@General.Knowledge]

It was surprising to me too! Given how progressive they are in many aspects. I didn't know they only had one representative though! Is it based on population?

[@mrhappy623]

@@General.Knowledge yes it is, Vermont has less than 700k population

[@Scott-kl6ej]

FWIW, the senator that was elected in 1974 - Pat Leahy - retired this year and our congressman got elected to the Senate, leaving our 1 house seat open... That seat was won by Becca Balint. She was the first woman and LGBT person to serve as the leader of our state's senate and will be sworn in to the House of Representatives on Jan 3rd, so VT will be different on the next version of that particular map :)

[@mrhappy623]

@@Scott-kl6ej oh, good to know!

[@luiskross6454]

@@mrhappy623 Northeast has more trees than ppl lol, even in massachsetts which you think has more ppl but only 4 or 5 cities with more than 100k ppl, compare that to 37 million living in Tokyo a city that's bigger than most countries

[@mattmackewich9699]

That Souza background music slaps.

[@Raazorred1]

Yes, no sales tax in Montana

[@juliaravenscroft3030]

I would love if you included DC in your data analaysis!

[@landiahillfarm6590]

Forests in New England - it is absolutely true that in the middle 19th Century, right up until the Civil War, 99%+ of all trees had been cut. But interestingly post Civil War, the cattle and milk industries all moved west as the Great Plains really opened up. Today the vast majority of New England is once again covered in forests, even in highly populated areas [except obviously the the major cities like NYC or Boston].

[@Mister-Red]

You should talk about sibling nations

[@dingusdingus2152]

Excellent band music

[@shaneanderson1229]

Most of the unforested area in the middle of the country is high elevation grassland or steppe terrain. Drier than most forest areas but not desert by any means, and it’s where the vast majority of crops are grown

[@sergiedo4756]

In Switzerland you can find different tax rates. And some zones in particular inside a country have exemptions for taxes like some Alpine Italian towns and Islands like Canary Islands which there is not VAT tax.

[@Amitdas-gk2it]

Interesting