A
akog
I'm sure info like this is already out there, but I was bored this afternoon and decided to do some research/playing around.
I got state population numbers (from wikipedia) and divided them by the number of active dentists in each state (from the Kaiser Foundation). Then I made a spreadsheet and plugged it into a heat map generator. Here's the map. (I'm sure there are errors here and there, but it's fun to think about.)
The extreme light areas represent about 2100 people per active dentist and the extreme dark areas about 1100. In other words, the darker the state the more dentists per resident, and the darkest states have double the dentists per person compared to the lightest.
The Black Belt in the South is obviously visible. The relative lightness of Vermont, Delaware, and Rhode Island is interesting---they're political entities without really dense metropolitan areas, so they're small glimpses into how saturation trails off away from big cities. (They would look less abrupt if you could see a county by county heat map, I believe.) I guess Oregon must have a pretty large rural population relative to its denser Portland area. Really not sure why Nebraska is so dark.
Looking at that map and comparing it with this great chart of population growth by state from the last century... I gotta say, Texas looks like the place to be.
Now, this is all almost useless because of how zoomed out the perspective is. All the character and variation seen on this level also exists on the county and neighborhood level, which is what the real choice comes down to regarding practice location. But it's good to think big picture. I mean, at least it's obvious here why it's more difficult practicing in the Northeast, for example.
I got state population numbers (from wikipedia) and divided them by the number of active dentists in each state (from the Kaiser Foundation). Then I made a spreadsheet and plugged it into a heat map generator. Here's the map. (I'm sure there are errors here and there, but it's fun to think about.)
The extreme light areas represent about 2100 people per active dentist and the extreme dark areas about 1100. In other words, the darker the state the more dentists per resident, and the darkest states have double the dentists per person compared to the lightest.
The Black Belt in the South is obviously visible. The relative lightness of Vermont, Delaware, and Rhode Island is interesting---they're political entities without really dense metropolitan areas, so they're small glimpses into how saturation trails off away from big cities. (They would look less abrupt if you could see a county by county heat map, I believe.) I guess Oregon must have a pretty large rural population relative to its denser Portland area. Really not sure why Nebraska is so dark.
Looking at that map and comparing it with this great chart of population growth by state from the last century... I gotta say, Texas looks like the place to be.
Now, this is all almost useless because of how zoomed out the perspective is. All the character and variation seen on this level also exists on the county and neighborhood level, which is what the real choice comes down to regarding practice location. But it's good to think big picture. I mean, at least it's obvious here why it's more difficult practicing in the Northeast, for example.
