Where Are All the Consumers?

Mapping population centers across the US

The Setup:

For the first post in a data-and-chart-driven newsletter about the US economy, I thought it would be helpful to get a feel for its population distribution. Where do American consumers physically live? I add some bonus maps of other countries just for contrast.

The data used in today's maps is from humdata.org, specifically the 400m population hexagons. The 3D plotting capability is made possible thanks to the rayshader package.

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Contents

1. Continental USA

2. Florida

3. Japan

4. Italy

5. India

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1. Continental USA

The population pattern in the United States clearly demarcates between Western and Eastern states. The Eastern United States has many more population centers. New York and Washington stand out on the East Coast, while Los Angeles stands out on the less densely populated West Coast.

Continental USA Relief Map (Source: Reddit)

Clearly, the population distribution is primarily driven by the country’s topography.

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2. Florida

Here’s a map of Florida, a state with an easily recognizable outline. The map’s 400m hexagons are visible once you zoom in on a smaller map like this.

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3. Japan

Japan is mainly mountainous, which explains the population pockets visible in its map profile—you don’t really see contiguous population swathes across its territories. They’re all concentrated in valleys and a few lowland areas. Tokyo towers over the landscape. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the most populated metropolitan area in the world. As of 2024, it had a population of 41 million, which is about one-third of Japan's total population.

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4. Italy

The northern part of the country seems to be more populated than the south, and people in the southern part primarily live along the coastline.

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5. India

Unsurprisingly, with its 1.4 billion people, India is densely populated across most of its territory, with vast concentrations present particularly along its northern border. The Mumbai and Surat urban centers stand out with their peaks in the western part of the country.