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Last Month’s Index
[ May 2020 ]

Harper’s Index

Last Month’s Index
Next Month’s Index
Adjust

Percentage of Americans who operate doors and sinks in public restrooms with paper towels to avoid germs

: 65
May 2020 • Source: Bradley Corporation (Menomonee Falls, Wis.)

Who flush with their feet

: 44
May 2020 • Source: Bradley Corporation (Menomonee Falls, Wis.)

Who hover over the toilet seat

: 29
May 2020 • Source: Bradley Corporation (Menomonee Falls, Wis.)

Portion of global ocean currents that have sped up since 1990

: 3/4
May 2020 • Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Seattle)

Average percentage by which those currents have accelerated

: 10
May 2020 • Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Seattle)

Number of hurricane names that have been officially retired

: 89
May 2020 • Source: National Hurricane Center (Miami)

Number of countries that are carbon-negative

: 2
May 2020 • Source: Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (London)

Number of times that the price of an average U.S. domestic flight changes in a week

: 59
May 2020 • Source: Hopper (Boston)

Average percentage by which the price fluctuates with each change

: 25
May 2020 • Source: Hopper (Boston)

Minimum number of motor vehicles that crashed into non-residential buildings in the United States last year

: 20,000
May 2020 • Source: Storefront Safety Council (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Minimum number of people inside those buildings who were killed

: 500
May 2020 • Source: Storefront Safety Council (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Percentage of time that ride-hailing vehicles on Manhattan streets lack passengers

: 40
May 2020 • Source: Schaller Consulting (NYC)

That taxis on Manhattan streets do

: 35
May 2020 • Source: Schaller Consulting (NYC)

Estimated number of Americans who spend at least three hours commuting each day

: 4,300,000
May 2020 • Source: Apartment List (San Francisco)

Percentage of American commuters who “typically” use their commuting time to work

: 14
May 2020 • Source: Driving-Tests­.org (Hamilton, Ontario)

Percentage of Americans who believe that enjoying one’s career is essential to a fulfilling life for a man

: 57
May 2020 • Source: Pew Research Center (Washington)

For a woman

: 46
May 2020 • Source: Pew Research Center (Washington)

Percentage of Democrats who believe that their personal finances will improve over the next year

: 60
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)

Of Republicans who do

: 83
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)

Percentage of Americans who say they are better off now than when President Trump took office

: 61
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)

Who said they were better off during President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign than they were when he took office

: 45
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)

Number of current members of the Trump Administration who have worked as Fox News contributors

: 7
May 2020 • Source: Media Matters for America (Washington)

Portion of Trump’s 2019 tweets that were live responses to Fox News or Fox Business programs

: 1/10
May 2020 • Source: Media Matters for America (Washington)

Chance that an American has received a government document in the mail that he or she didn’t understand

: 1 in 4
May 2020 • Source: Morning Consult (Washington)

Percentage of Americans aged 65 and over who say it’s unlikely that they will fill out a census form

: 6
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)

Of Americans aged 18 to 34 who say so

: 13
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)

Rank of African Americans among demographic groups most likely to fear that census information will be used against them

: 2
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)

Rank of Asian Americans

: 1
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)

Factor by which the number of physical records in the National Archives has increased since 1991

: 3
May 2020 • Source: National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Md.)

By which the number of electronic records has increased since then

: 1,654
May 2020 • Source: National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Md.)

Estimated number of years the National Archives will spend reviewing materials for George W. Bush’s presidential library

: 250
May 2020 • Source: National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Md.)

Factor by which Americans go to the library more often than they go to the movies

: 2
May 2020 • Source: Gallup

Percentage decrease from 2008 to 2017 in the number of full-time U.S. public school librarian positions

: 26
May 2020 • Source: RSL Research Group (Louisville, Colo.)

Percentage increase between 2014 and 2018 in health care costs for Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance

: 18
May 2020 • Source: Health Care Cost Institute (Washington)

In the average retail price of prescription medicine

: 21
May 2020 • Source: Health Care Cost Institute (Washington)

Average U.S. retail price for a vial of prescription insulin

: $400
May 2020 • Source: Health Care Cost Institute (Washington)

Average Craigslist price for one

: $30
May 2020 • Source: ChristianaCare (Newark, Del.)

Estimated amount that Utah spent last year sending public employees to Mexico to buy cheaper medicine

: $250,000
May 2020 • Source: Public Employee Health Plan (Salt Lake City)

Estimated number of dead-end streets in the world

: 17,680,000
May 2020 • Source: Christopher Barrington-Leigh, McGill University (Montreal)

Portion of those dead ends that are in the United States

: 1/4
May 2020 • Source: Christopher Barrington-Leigh, McGill University (Montreal)
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