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How Land Diversity in Minnesota Compares to Other States

imageForEntry8 27Spanning nearly 3.8 million square miles, the United States is one of the largest countries in the world by total landmass. From the Smokey Mountains to the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains to the Great Lakes, it is also one of the most geographically diverse.

Not all states in the Lower 48 are equally endowed with that diversity, however. Some are defined largely by their geographic uniformity, while others have a wide range of varying landscapes, including mountains, deserts, farmland, forests, lakes, and cities. (If you like mountains, this is the highest point in every state.)

Based on a land diversity index, created using data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Minnesota ranks as having the 22nd most diverse landscape of the Lower 48 states, with a 64.2% likelihood that two randomly selected parcels would have a different land cover type.

Of Minnesota’s total surface area of 86,936 square miles, agricultural and developed vegetation is the most common type of land cover, accounting for 43.9% of the state’s area.

Landscape diversity rank State Odds two random land parcels have a different use (%) Total land area (sq. mi.)
1 Texas 80.2 268,596
2 Montana 78.5 147,040
3 California 77.9 163,695
4 Washington 77.1 71,298
5 Delaware 76.6 2,489
6 Colorado 76.6 104,094
7 Louisiana 76.2 52,378
8 Maryland 75.6 12,406
9 Florida 74.3 65,758
10 New Jersey 73.2 8,723
11 Idaho 72.7 83,569
12 Oregon 71.2 98,379
13 North Carolina 70.0 53,819
14 Utah 69.8 84,897
15 Rhode Island 69.5 1,545
16 Oklahoma 69.5 69,899
17 Michigan 68.2 96,714
18 New Mexico 68.2 121,590
19 Wisconsin 67.9 65,496
20 Ohio 66.4 44,826
21 Massachusetts 66.3 10,554
22 Minnesota 64.2 86,936
23 South Carolina 63.9 32,020
24 New York 63.6 54,555
25 Tennessee 63.2 42,144
26 Virginia 63.0 42,775
27 Wyoming 62.5 97,813
28 South Dakota 62.4 77,116
29 Connecticut 61.3 5,543
30 Kentucky 61.1 40,408
31 Georgia 60.8 59,425
32 Mississippi 60.7 48,432
33 Arkansas 58.6 53,179
34 Nebraska 57.9 77,348
35 Missouri 57.7 69,707
36 Pennsylvania 57.7 46,054
37 Alabama 57.6 52,420
38 Indiana 54.3 36,420
39 Kansas 53.5 82,278
40 Arizona 53.4 113,990
41 North Dakota 53.4 70,698
42 Illinois 51.1 57,914
43 Nevada 43.7 110,572
44 Vermont 42.6 9,616
45 Maine 39.5 35,380
46 New Hampshire 34.5 9,349
47 West Virginia 34.4 24,230
48 Iowa 33.5 56,273
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