Studies
Original data-driven geographic research from SimpleMapLab. The two ZIP-based studies are built on SimpleMaps’ free US ZIP database (CC BY 4.0, with Census ACS 2024 5-year population figures) and the coastline study on NOAA data (public domain). Each comes with a downloadable JSON or CSV under a CC BY 4.0 license and links into the SimpleMapLab tools that produced the underlying calculations. Reuse and citation welcome.
Every US postal town of 50+ people, ranked by distance to the nearest place whose ZIP codes hold 10,000+ people. Montana's Hi-Line dominates the lower-48 top five; Alaska's Aleutian villages anchor the all-50 ranking. Every state's loneliest town gets its own page.
A 50-state ranking of how much of each state’s population sits within a 100-mile geodesic radius of its capital. Florida’s capital reaches under 4% of Floridians; Alaska’s reaches under 7%. Four small Northeastern states are fully enclosed by their capital’s circle.
Every US state ranked by ocean coastline, tidal shoreline (which includes bays + sounds), and Great Lakes shoreline. Maryland's general coastline is just 31 miles but its tidal shoreline is 3,190 — a 100× ratio thanks to the Chesapeake Bay's fingered shore. Choropleth maps included.
More studies are in development. Topics under research: population centroid drift vs. state capital location, and a tour of the antipodes of every US capital. Get in touch via contact to hear when each one ships.