Maps of Current U.S. Census Data in 19th Century Style

Since the 1870s, the United States Census Bureau has produced the Statistical Atlas of the United States, a visual compendium of maps of data on the country, from the distribution of forests, rivers, and crops to population densities to voting returns. However, due to funding cuts, the agency isn’t working on a tome of geographical knowledge for the last census in 2010.

Dismayed by the loss of such an awesome reference, stats enthusiast Nathan Yau decided to create the atlas himself on his blog Flowing Data, using publicly available data and styling inspired by the original 1874 atlas. Most of the sources cover data current as of 2013 and 2015. 

Here is where railroad tracks cross the U.S.:

Poor Utah's got almost nothing.

This is how cancer rates stack up across states:

Dark times for that little region of upstate New York.

Which counties are more male versus more female:

Nevada and Alaska—so manly.

Where America farms:

Hi there, Mississippi River!

Where Americans pay more taxes:

Sorry, Northeast. But who knew southern Florida would end up forking over that much income? 

And here's a grand chart of what the U.S. spends money on: 

There are many more maps over at Flowing Data.

All images by Nathan Yau // Flowing Data