The United States by the Numbers

By Math Values Editorial Board

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Equality

  • Gini Index of the US (2021 data): 39.8

  • Share of total wealth held by the top 10% in the US (2022 data): 70.7%

  • Share held by the top 1%: 34.9%

  • Share held by the bottom 50%:  1.5%

Life

  • Years by which life expectancy in the US differs from comparable countries: -4

  • Ratio of US spending on healthcare to comparable countries’ spending: 2:1

  • Rank of US in infant mortality among 227 measured countries: 54

Liberty

  • Rank of US among 165 countries in Personal Freedom: 27

  • Rank of US in Human Freedom: 17

  • Overall Economic Freedom Score of the US, out of 100: 70.1

  • Property Rights Score: 95.1

  • Fiscal Health Score: 0

  • Number of wrongful convictions overturned by the Innocence Project: 251

  • Number overturned using DNA evidence: 203

  • Collective number of years Innocence Project clients spent wrongfully incarcerated: 3942

  • Number of people wrongfully incarcerated in the US: unknown

  • Number of bills introduced last year restricting the right to protest: 23

  • Number enacted: 5

Safety

  • Clearance (“solve”) rate for murder in the US in 2022: 52.3%

  • Clearance rate for rape the same year: 26.1%

  • Percentage of LGBTI adults who live in states with laws covering hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression: 54

  • Number of anti-LGBTI bills were enacted in 2023: 84

  • Change that represents over 2022: 400%

Happiness

  • Rank of US in World Happiness Report, out of 143: 23

COMMUNITY, MAA LEADERSAnnie Petittdata, Constitution, independence, equality, life, liberty, safety, happiness