today, some trivia. The richest and poorest, the most (and least) Whites, Black, Latinos, and others, and the most Democratic and most Republican districts in the USA, and, for each, the Cook PVI
below the fold
The poorest districts are:
rank dist. Med.Inc. Cook PVI Location
1 NY16 19.3 43 The south Bronx, NY City
2 KY05 21.9 -8 Southeast KY, bordering VA and WV
3 WV03 25.6 0 Southern WV, bordering KY and VA
4 CA31 26.1 30 Los Angeles, near Hollywood
5 AL07 26.7 17 Mostly western AL
6 CA20 26.8 5 Central valley, including Fresno
7 TX15 26.8 3 Central part of southern TX
8 MS02 26.9 10 Western MS, bordering AR and LA
9 LA02 27.5 28 New Orleans
10 LA05 27.5 -10 Eastern part of the north LA
the poorest district in the nation is also one of the most Democratic, and a couple others are very Democratic, but most are not rabidly partisan
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Most people in poverty:
rank dist. Percent Cook PVI Location
1 NY16 42.2 43 The south Bronx, NY City
2 CA20 32.2 5 Central valley, including Fresno
3 NY15 30.5 43 Harlem, NYC
4 TX15 30.5 3 Central part of southern TX
5 CA31 30.1 30 Los Angeles, near Hollywood
6 TX28 29.9 -1 Western part of southern TX
7 NY10 29.0 41 Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brookln, NYC
8 NY12 28.3 34 Mostly Brooklyn NYC
9 KY05 28.1 -8 Southeast KY, bordering VA and WV
10 MS02 27.3 10 Western MS, bordering AR and LA
Lots of overlap with the first list, but not total
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The richest districts:
rank dist. Med.Inc. Cook PVI Location
1 VA11 80.4 -1 Northeast VA, near DC
2 NJ11 79.0 -6 Central northern NJ, NYC suburbs
3 CA14 78.0 18 San Mateo (silicon valley
4 CA15 74.9 14 Just east of CA14, Santa Clara
5 NJ07 74.8 -1 Northern NJ, some NYC suburbs
6 CO06 73.4 -10 South and west of Denver
7 NJ05 72.8 -4 Northernmost NJ, some NYC suburbs
8 GA06 71.7 -18 Central part of northern GA
9 IL10 71.7 4 North of Chicago
10 IL13 71.7 -5 Far suburbs of Chicago
CA14 and CA15 are rich and Democratic; most are middle of the spectrum
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Fewest in poverty:
rank dist. Percent Cook PVI Location
1 CO06 2.7 -10 South and west of Denver
2 IL13 2.9 -5 Far suburbs of Chicago
3 NJ07 3.4 -1 Northern NJ, some NYC suburbs
4 WI05 3.4 -12 Milwaukee suburbs
5 MN03 3.5 -1 Suburbs of the Twin Cities
6 NJ11 3.5 -6 Central northern NJ, NYC suburbs
7 MO02 3.6 -9 St Louis suburbs
8 NJ05 3.6 -4 Northernmost NJ, some NYC suburbs
9 VA11 3.8 -1 Northeast VA, near DC
10 MN02 3.9 -3 Southern suburbs of Twin Cities
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Most Whites: (note that this is White, non-Latino)
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 KY05 97.1 -8 Southeast KY, bordering VA and WV
2 ME02 96.7 4 Northern ME
3 PA09 96.4 -15 Southern PA
4 ME01 96.3 6 Southern ME, including Portland
5 VTAL 96.2 9 Vermont
6 WI03 96.1 3 Southwestern WI
7 PA05 96.0 -10 Northern PA
8 OH18 95.9 -6 Southeastern OH
9 WV01 95.8 -6 Northern WV
10 PA10 95.5 -8 Northeastern PA
Hmmmm, not all the most heavily White districts are Republican….
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Fewest Whites
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 NY16 2.9 43 The south Bronx, NY City
2 CA31 9.8 30 Los Angeles, near Hollywood
3 CA35 10.4 33 South Central, Watts, Los Angeles
4 CA34 11.4 23 Latino areas of Los Angeles
5 NY06 12.8 38 Eastern Queens, NYC
6 CA38 13.6 20 East LA, Pomona
7 CA32 14.8 17 Eastern suburbs of LA
8 NY10 16.2 41 Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brookln, NYC
9 NY15 16.4 43 Mostly Harlem NY City
10 CA37 16.6 27 Long Beach
But all the districts with very few Whites are heavily Democratic (they are also all in NY or CA)
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The districts with the fewest Latinos:
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 OH18 0.6 -6 Southeastern OH
2 PA04 0.6 -1 Western PA, Pittsburgh suburbs
3 PA12 0.6 5 Southwestern PA
4 PA18 0.6 -2 Pittsburgh suburbs
5 WV03 0.6 0 Southern WV
6 KY05 0.7 -8 Southeast KY
7 ME02 0.7 4 Northern ME
8 WV01 0.7 -6 Northern WV
9 ME01 0.8 6 Southern ME, including Portland
10 MN08 0.8 4 Northeastern MN
11 OH06 0.8 0 Southeastern OH
12 PA05 0.8 -10 Northern PA
13 WV02 0.8 -5 Central WV, including Charleston
don’t show much pattern, although most are Republican
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The districts with the most Latinos
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 TX16 77.7 9 El Paso
2 TX15 77.6 3 Central part of southern TX
3 TX28 77.5 -1 Western part of southern TX
4 CA34 77.2 23 Latino areas of Los Angeles
5 IL04 74.5 31 Two separate parts of Chicago
6 CA38 70.6 20 East LA, Pomona,
7 CA31 70.2 30 Los Angeles, near Hollywood
8 FL21 69.7 -6 Southern FL incl. Hialeah
9 TX27 68.1 -1 Eastern part of southern TX
10 TX20 67.1 8 San Antonio
show clear regional patterns; California and Illinois vs. Florida and Texas
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Those with few Blacks:
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 ID01 0.3 -19 Western ID
2 MN07 0.3 -6 Northwestern MN
3 MTAL 0.3 -11 Montana
4 NE03 0.3 -24 Most of the state
5 WI07 0.3 2 Northwestern WI
6 ME02 0.4 4 Northern ME
7 OR02 0.4 -11 The eastern 2/3 of OR
8 ID02 0.5 -19 Eastern ID
9 ME01 0.5 6 Southern ME, incl. Portland
10 MN08 0.5 4 Northeastern MN
11 OR04 0.5 0 Southeastern OR
12 UT03 0.5 -26 Mostly western UT, plus Provo
13 VTAL 0.5 9 Vermont
14 WI03 0.5 3 Southwestern WI
are mostly Republican
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Whereas those with many Blacks
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 IL01 65.2 35 South side of Chi. some suburbs
2 LA02 63.7 28 New Orleans
3 MS02 63.2 10 Western MS, bordering AR and LA
4 IL02 62.0 35 South side of Chi. some suburbs
5 AL07 61.7 17 Mostly western AL
6 IL07 61.6 35 Chicago loop
7 MI14 61.1 33 Detroit
8 PA02 60.7 39 Philadelphia and some suburbs
9 MI13 60.5 33 Detroit
10 NY10 60.2 41 Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brookln, NYC
are all Democratic, many among the most Democratic districts.
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Districts with the most veterans:
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 FL01 21.7 -19 Western panhandle
2 FL05 21.5 -5 Northern gulf coast of FL
3 VA02 20.3 -6 SE VA, both sides of Chesapeake
4 CO05 19.9 -16 Central CO, Colorado Springs
5 FL14 19.8 -10 Southern gulf coast of FL
6 WA06 19.8 4 Eastern WA, Spokane
7 AZ02 19.6 -9 Mostly northwestern AZ
8 FL15 19.4 -4 Middle Atlantic coast of FL
9 FL13 19.2 -4 Sarasota and suburbs
10 AZ08 19.1 -1 Southeastern AZ, Tucson
not surprisingly, pretty Republican. This might change with how the Bushites are screwing the veterans
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and the fewest veterans:
rank district Percent Cook PVI Location
1 CA31 3.7 30 Los Angeles
2 NY16 3.9 43 South Bronx, NYC
3 NY12 4.0 34 Mostly Brooklyn NYC
4 NY11 4.1 40 Brooklyn and Queens, NYC
5 IL04 4.3 31 Two separate parts of Chicago
6 NY15 4.6 43 Harlem, NYC
7 CA34 4.8 23 Latino areas of Los Angeles
8 FL21 4.8 -6 Southern FL incl. Hialeah
9 NY08 5.1 28 West side of Manhattan
10 CA47 5.2 5 Los Angeles
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And the most Democratic?
1 NY15 43 Harlem, NYC
2 NY16 43 The south Bronx, NYC
3 NY10 41 Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brookln, NYC
4 NY11 40 Central Brooklyn, NYC
5 PA02 39 Philadelphia and some suburbs
6 CA09 38 Oakland and Berkeley
7 NY06 38 Eastern Queens
8 CA08 36 San Francisco
9 CA33 36 Near Los Angeles
10 PA01 36 Philadelphia and some suburbs
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and most Republican?
1 UT03 -26 Mostly western UT, plus Provo
2 AL06 -25 Central AL, Black areas removed
3 TX11 -25 Western central TX
4 TX13 -25 Northern TX
5 TX19 -25 Lubbock and Abilene
6 NE03 -24 Most of the state
7 GA09 -23 Northwestern AL
8 UT01 -22 Northern UT, Salt Lake City
9 IN05 -20 Central IN
10 KS01 -20 Most of the state
11 TX08 -20 Eastern TX
One final tidbit….. There are only 6 districts with fewer than 1% Blacks and fewer than 1% Latinos:
ME01 ME02 MN08 VTAL WI03 WI07
All are represented by Democrats.
This is, to me, a phenomenally interesting list.
Several points. The percentage of veterans is linked to two things: the presence of military bases in the area and status as a retirement community. In World War II, 16 million adults were in the armed forces out of a population of about 120 million (13%, a much higher percentage if children and the elderly are removed from the calculation).
Second, my guesses as to the four other districts with less than 1% black or Latino population proved pretty bad. I got VT-At Large but also guessed ND-AL, SD-AL, and NH-2. Not good guessing at all.
Third, wealth in the congressional districts does not correspond to traditional concepts. I live in the second richest district in the country but it does not include the richest and swankiest areas of New Jersey. It does not include any real poor areas, though (it was drawn to be as Republican as possible, and for NJ it succeeded). Silicon Valley got two districts, Beverly Hills or Malibu are not on the list.
Four, Arizona is no longer a retirement mecca. The state’s percentage of people 65 or over is now close to the national average. The Tuscon area does make your list at number ten.
The four most Democratic districts in the country, indeed, the four most lop-sided districts in either direction are all in New York City. It is stunningly odd that NY-13 (Staten Island and some surrounding areas) is in existence. Split Staten Island in half and the district is Democratic. Poof. As a kid, I remember looking through the Almanac and being fascinated at how one-sided certain districts in NY City, Chicago, and Los Angeles were. I’d also look at older almanacs for state-wide returns in parts of the south during the FDR years. The last Democrat to carry all 13 southern states (I’m adding WV and KY to the Confederacy for these purposes) was FDR who did it all four times. Jimmy Carter in 1976 came closest to duplicating the feat winning every southern state except VA.
This really ought to be placed on the right side as a permanently available diary. Did I say I loved it? Well, I do. It’s just great.
Most senior citizens (% of persons 65 or older)
Clearwater, Tarpon Spgs.
Apparently, there are a lot of old people in Florida.
Fewest senior citizens
An interesting mix of right-wing exurbs and heavily Latino areas.
This is a great point and I just wanted to make a quick note.
The district with the most Whites (KY-05) and fewest Whites (NY-16) are the two poorest districts in the country. What can you draw from that?
I have no clue.
But it seems significant.
I appreciate that.
NYC districting is very weird. Look at the boundaries of the districts. There are few districts that are all in one county.