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U.S. States That Beat Canada

For each category, name any U.S. state that ranks higher than our 51st state, Canada. Have fun!
Answer must correspond to the yellow box
Quiz by Geographystar
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Last updated: May 27, 2024
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First submittedMarch 29, 2021
Times taken36,666
Average score81.3%
Rating4.17
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Rank
Category
States
4
Lowest population density
Alaska | Wyoming | Montana
6
Highest maize (corn) production
Iowa | Illinois | Minnesota | Nebraska | Indiana
4
Most tornadoes annually
Texas | Kansas | Oklahoma
9
Highest % indigenous population
Hawaii | Alaska | Oklahoma | New Mexico | South Dakota |
Montana | North Dakota | Arizona
2
Highest maximum elevation
Alaska
5
Oldest median age
Maine | New Hampshire | Vermont |
West Virginia | Florida
3
Earliest permanent European settlement
Florida | Virginia
2
Highest % of commuters who use
public transit
New York
12
Lowest % black population
Montana | Idaho | Wyoming | Utah | Vermont |
New Hampshire | Maine | South Dakota | Hawaii |
New Mexico | Oregon
2
Lowest GDP per capita
* 2023, nominal
Mississippi
2
Most populous urban area on
the Great Lakes
Illinois
2
Highest % foreign-born population
California
2
Most crude oil production
Texas
2
Highest population living on islands
New York
2
Most populous capital city
* city proper population
Arizona
2
Highest average latitude
Alaska
92 Comments
+4
Level 77
Mar 31, 2021
Will Puerto Rico ever become a state?
+25
Level 75
Mar 31, 2021
I was speaking with a Puerto Rican friend about this recently. He thinks there are too many competing interests in Puerto Rico to make statehood likely, at least in the near future. Some want statehood, some prefer the status quo, others would like independence, and still others would like the territory to become an autonomous zone (like the Azores for Portugal or Greenland for Denmark).
+8
Level 63
Apr 1, 2021
I would consider adding a note that the population is city proper population, not metropolitan area.

Atlanta is both a capital city and absolute huge (same size as toronto) and is an obvious city left out without this clarification

+6
Level ∞
Apr 1, 2021
Added a note.
+4
Level 77
Apr 1, 2021
The wording on this one makes it seem possible that Toronto should be included as a capital city - and as such I think its city proper population would be the largest?
+4
Level 86
Apr 1, 2021
Toronto is not the capital of Canada.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto

+9
Level 89
Apr 1, 2021
I think tshalla is referring to the fact that Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
+4
Level 69
Nov 9, 2021
Toronto is a capital, of Ontario
+5
Level 68
Nov 9, 2021
This quiz works off of the assumption that Canada would be 1 state, and Ottawa would be it's capital.
+3
Level 69
May 29, 2024
I did not assume that and was very confused by that question.
+1
Level 67
Oct 15, 2024
I was so confused at how Ottawa could possible have a higher population than all but one US State capital, but I still got it by guessing the US State capital with the highest population; had to scroll the comments to figure out that provincial capitals were fair game.
+58
Level ∞
Apr 1, 2021
Well I can already see this is going to be fun. I hope they have April Fool's Day in Canada, because it's meant to be a joke. No one thinks Canada is the 51st state. That would be ridiculous, like saying Cyprus is part of Europe, even though it's much closer to Asia and Africa.
+18
Level 81
Apr 1, 2021
Unfortunately our government, led by Stephen Harper at the time, abolished April Fool's Day in Canada about 10 years ago because someone pulled a practical joke that made him laugh so hard, he peed his pants. He was not amused and neither were his devoted followers, so prepare for copious indignation and complaint.
+9
Level 77
Apr 1, 2021
For various reasons, a big part of Canadian identity/patriotism more or less revolves around separating ourselves from the US, so many Canadians will get upset at something like this even if it's in jest.
+11
Level 90
Apr 1, 2021
I can understand why. The USA is a horrible country.
+20
Level 82
Apr 1, 2021
Classy. You could probably leave JetPunk then, since it's run by someone from such a horrible country.
+1
Level 76
May 28, 2024
He's close enough to Canada to have a dollar each way
+8
Level 58
Apr 1, 2021
Well ECon211 unless you want to bring a valid argument to the table what was the purpose of the comment.
+13
Level 57
Apr 5, 2021
According to his profile, he has never visited the US. This of course means that he is incredibly knowledgeable about the US and any of his opinions should be taken as fact.
+7
Level 90
Apr 5, 2021
Plenty of great people I'm sure and I'll admit I was being provocative by saying 'horrible', but America is perceived by the rest of the world through it's geopolitical activities and these have been mostly horrible post WW2. I hate laissez-faire capitalism and social inequality and America has consistently tried to force it's brand of individualism, hyper-capitalism, and consumerism on the rest of the world. A lot of people have died as a result. Vietnam, Iraq, basically every Latin American country etc. Just read up on America's involvement with someone like Pinochet or the Contras in Nicaragua. Even my homeland of Australia had it's most progressive government toppled in the 70s with the support of the CIA. The entire American political system needs to be overhauled and the whole world will be a worse off place until this happens.
+6
Level 82
Apr 8, 2021
I just love it when people want to have it both ways. On one hand: "oh, the USA is so horrible, look at what they've done for the last 70 years, their political system needs to be torn down", whilst never thinking about what that capitalistic system has actually done in those same 70 years for them and billions of people around the world (medicine, tech, etc., not to mention the generosity of the people and it's still the #1 emigration destination in the world). It's so intellectually dishonest. The world is messy and yes, the USA has made plenty of geopolitical mistakes. On balance though, the USA has been a massive force for good.

Have a look at this and tell me that the world generally would be better off with all the autocratic governments that we had as recently as 1977. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/14/more-than-half-of-countries-are-democratic/

+3
Level 61
Jan 9, 2022
Well, America may have Iraq and Vietnam and all that, but Canada has Trudeau. So there's that.
+12
Level 71
Apr 1, 2021
Possibly controversial comment, but I've never understood why Cyprus can't be in both Europe and Asia. I mean, there are plenty of transcontinental countries, and the boundary between Europe and Asia is already vague as is. I personally think we should just abolish the idea of Europe and Asia as two distinct entities and combine them into one continent--not only would that solve the Cyprus problem, it would just rid of a nonsensical boundary!
+4
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
But, most importantly, it would solve the Cyprus problem.
+11
Level 64
Apr 12, 2021
i have an idea

make cyprus its own continent

+1
Level 40
Apr 1, 2021
I'd say calling USA part of Canada is more like calling all of Ireland a part of the UK rather than being on the level as saying Cyprus is a part of Europe since Cyprus' continent is a debatable topic
+1
Level 68
Jan 15, 2022
It would be, if we had a history of invading Canada.

We only invaded them once (and lost), so I don't really think that it's the same thing.

+12
Level 74
Apr 1, 2021
I had no idea Canada's GDP/c was so much lower than most US states. Or rather, I had no idea American states had such a high GDP/c compared to Canada!
+6
Level ∞
Apr 1, 2021
It's somewhat complicated. Median incomes in Canada are only a little lower than the United States. But Canada has fewer jobs that pay a very high salary. Canadians such as Alex Trebek, Mike Myers, and my friend Kevin have to move to the United States if they want to make the big bucks.
+3
Level ∞
May 27, 2024
Things have gotten worse for Canadians since 2021 and now they are only ahead of one state.

Oh well, at least the houses are cheaper in Canada...

+4
Level 71
Apr 1, 2021
I didn't care for the 51st state joke either. It's only funny if Canadians tell it, to be honest. If it really is because of April 1, I hope you'll be taking it down after today.
+17
Level 72
Dec 3, 2022
I see someone's bitter about not being granted statehood yet...
+3
Level 73
Apr 1, 2021
Ottawa is a small city. I'm surprised only 2 states have capitals with higher population. I guess it's all about where the city lines were drawn and whether mergers have happened.
+16
Level 71
Apr 1, 2021
I'm Canadian and I took the whole 51st state thing as a joke, it being April Fool's Day and all. Jesus folks let's scale back on the reactions, shall we? Fun quiz, too
+5
Level 94
Apr 1, 2021
I prefer "America's Hat", but tomato, tomahto.
+1
Level 68
Jan 15, 2022
Yeah, that's probably a more universally-acceptable joke.
+2
Level 72
Apr 1, 2021
National hockey teams that beat the US team ...

Canada.

+6
Level 77
Apr 1, 2021
Indigenous Canadians never refer to themselves, nor are they ever referred to, as "Native Americans." As such, every state wins that one. You shouldn't claim "American" as a demonym specific to your country and then apply it more broadly.
+7
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
Fair enough, changed it to indigenous population.
+4
Level 77
Apr 1, 2021
Thanks for that.
+1
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
No problem.
+8
Level 78
Apr 1, 2021
A lot of miserable, overly sensitive people who get easily offend are taking the quiz today. Get a life people.....it's an April fools day joke.
+3
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
I wake up and see 31 comments, what in the world happened!
+1
Level 82
Apr 1, 2021
Your quiz got featured on the most wonderful day of the year in JetPunk land: April Fools Day!
+5
Level 76
Apr 1, 2021
As I always say, our continent should be renamed and Canada should be called North America. That's really just what it is, honestly.
+2
Level 28
Apr 1, 2021
We don’t need Canada in our union anyway, you’re not American 🇺🇸
+10
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
Astronaut 1: Wait it's all an April Fool's joke?

Astronaut 2: Always has been.

+13
Level 82
Apr 1, 2021
Canada is the 51st State, America is the 11th province.

It's all good

Love from,

A Canadian who loves America too <3

+9
Level 38
Apr 1, 2021
I completely agree

-Love from an American who loves Canada!

+2
Level 40
Apr 1, 2021
All April Fools' Day jokes aside, I think a Canadian-American Union would actually be kind of cool. Not necessarily Canada becoming a part of the US, but like a North American Union.
+7
Level 79
Apr 8, 2021
I don't think a Canadian-American union would work. I think that the majority of Canadians would find American politics and American discourse undesirable. Plus Canada's much lower population would have to mean that Canadian values would be washed out by American values. If anything, we'd have to do some trades. The central US and the South can have Alberta and Saskatchewan, and then the rest of Canada can take the original colonies and the western seaboard. Seems like the best way for everyone to get along!
+12
Level 70
Apr 1, 2021
I didn't realize so many Canadians were unable to take a joke...
+2
Level 69
Apr 1, 2021
Given that Question 9 specifies city proper population, I think Question 10 should specify metropolitan/urban population.

The population of Toronto (city proper) is larger than Chicago, but the metro/urban population of Chicago is larger.

+5
Level 82
Apr 1, 2021
I see one of the more contentious "I'm offended" threads was nuked by QM. Thanks for doing your part to calm international tensions! :-P
+4
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
You should make a quiz: 'Canadian Provinces that beat the US.'
+4
Level 74
Apr 1, 2021
That would be great. I'd love to see the categories that aren't based on national differences (people lacking health insurance, etc.) but draw out superlatives about each province. French-speakers and deepest lake are a couple I can think of that might work.
+5
Level 68
Apr 1, 2021
There would need to be questions where only some of the provinces beat the U.S., but not all. It would be a bit difficult, but it does sound interesting, I will consider it!
+1
Level 71
Apr 1, 2021
I bet the format could work for other countries too (so long as they have well known provinces/states/regions). It's too bad Australia doesn't have more states, otherwise it could make a good comparison to New Zealand :)
+1
Level 51
Apr 2, 2021
I hate being picky but Indigenous needs to be capitalized. It is a proper noun. Other than that good quiz.
+1
Level 68
Apr 3, 2021
Ok
+4
Level 75
Apr 4, 2021
"Our 51st state"? Spare me the arrogance.
+12
Level 67
Apr 7, 2021
Well you've certainly spared yourself good humor.
+1
Level 64
Jan 12, 2025
no.
+4
Level 67
Apr 28, 2021
As an Albertan, yes we'd be more than pleased to become your 51st state.... beats being controlled by Toronto.....
+1
Level 52
Jun 24, 2021
Chicago is smaller than Toronto now. Toronto overtook it in 2016.
+3
Level 68
Jun 24, 2021
If I was measuring by city limits, you would be right, but on most quizzes on Jetpunk metropolitan area is used because of the irregularity of city limit sizes, and Toronto's metro area is about 6 million, and Chicago's is about 9.5 million. Hope this clears things up!
+2
Level 43
Oct 29, 2021
Hawaii doesn't have a higher percentage of indigenous people than Canada?
+3
Level ∞
Oct 29, 2021
Good point. Added that, thanks!
+1
Level 37
Jan 12, 2025
Doesn't hawaii have a larger population living on islands? I swear everyone is focused on the 51th state thing instead of focusing on the obvious mistakes
+1
Level 63
Jan 12, 2025
I thought so too, but no, it's correct. Hawaii has 1.4 million people. The island of Montreal alone has 1.9 million.
+2
Level 72
May 27, 2024
Is New Mexico excluded because of Pope? Weren't there some settlements that stuck around through that whole period?
+3
Level ∞
May 27, 2024
Santa Fe was founded in 1610 but Quebec City was founded in 1608.
+4
Level 72
May 27, 2024
Canada's GDP per capita being right between Mississippi and West Virginia is BRUTAL
+5
Level 66
May 28, 2024
Even Canadians can say thank God for Mississippi
+1
Level 72
May 28, 2024
Am I missing something? How can New York have more people living on islands that Hawaii?
+2
Level 68
May 28, 2024
Hawaii has a population of around 1.5 million people. More than 10 million people live on the islands of New York.
+6
Level 71
May 28, 2024
Long Island alone has more people than Hawaii.
+3
Level 82
May 28, 2024
A Tim Hortons just opened up here near my house in Seoul. It's enormous.
+2
Level 94
May 28, 2024
Very excited to be visiting Canada for the first time this year.

I was also very confused by the last question as I kept reading it as "altitude" instead of "latitude". Finally re-read it correctly and the answer was obvious, but took about 30 seconds of me guessing New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana & Wyoming over and over.

+1
Level 88
May 31, 2024
A bit surprised that only Mississippi beat Canada with lowest GDP per capita. What about incredibly wealthy West Virginia?
+2
Level 68
Dec 8, 2024
GDP per capita can be weird sometimes.
+10
Level 65
Jan 12, 2025
Well, this has aged VERY badly ...
+5
Level 55
Jan 12, 2025
Well, this has aged VERY well...
+8
Level 45
Jan 12, 2025
There's literally another War of 1812 going on in the comment section 💀
+3
Level 65
Jan 12, 2025
Canada is truly the land of snowflakes
+6
Level 63
Jan 13, 2025
Don't know about Canadian snowflakes, but they can't outnumber those in Maga.
+7
Level 28
Jan 12, 2025
There wasn’t a worse possible time to make this quiz 💀
+1
Level 28
Jan 13, 2025
"Most populous capital city"

Me trying Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles after trying New York, New Jersey

+3
Level 53
Jan 13, 2025
A few questions you couldn't include because no American state beats Canada. 1. Highest life expectancy. 2. Lowest incarceration rate (source: World Population Review). Canada: where you can live free and not die.
+6
Level 70
Jan 13, 2025
Very poor taste and, whether you admit it or not, an extremely political statement to feature this quiz right now.
+3
Level 44
Jan 13, 2025
(un)United States wouldn't find it funny if it was the other way around.
+2
Level 67
Feb 28, 2025
Featuring this without changing the description, especially now, is... a choice.