Index Archive

Who considered the summer of 2021 to be bad or the “worst summer ever”

: 1/4

Portion of Americans who considered the summer of 2020 to be average or above average

: 1/2

Number of pounds by which the average weight of an adult male in the United States has increased since 1988

: 18.5

Average weight, in pounds, of a professional Santa

: 245

Rank of New Mexico among states whose residents googled the phrase “is Santa real” most often this year

: 1

Amount West Virginia will pay prospective residents to move to the state

: $12,000

Rank of The Villages, a Florida retirement community, among the fastest-growing U.S. metropolitan areas

: 1

Chance that an American planning to move in the next year blames natural disasters or extreme temperatures

: 1 in 2

Factor by which the rate of body mass index growth for U.S. children has increased during the pandemic

: 2

Portion of teen girls who say that Instagram has aggravated their body image issues

: 1/3

Number of TikTok videos removed from the platform last year for violating its “minor safety” policies

: 55,401,107

Ratio of school psychologists to K–12 students in the United States

: 1 : 1,211

Number by which U.S. college enrollment has declined over the past five years

: 1,500,000

Percentage of this decline that can be attributed to male students

: 71

Portion of adults worldwide who have experienced increased stress in the past year

: 7/10

Who describe themselves as “emotionally exhausted”

: 1/2

Percentage of U.S. executives who think their workplace culture has improved since the start of the pandemic

: 72

Of U.S. human resources professionals who think so

: 21

Portion of U.S. adults who have not participated in a video call since the pandemic began

: 1/5

Who say digital interactions are just as good as in-person ones

: 1/5

Percentage of U.S. adults taking virtual exercise classes who plan to continue as gyms reopen

: 86

Percentage of U.S. prisoners released in 2008 who were arrested again in the following decade

: 82

Portion of those arrests that were for drug-related offenses

: 1/2

Amount, in grams, of marijuana the Drug Enforcement Administration plans to produce this year

: 2,000,000

Percentage increase in the amount of psilocybin the agency plans to produce

: 4,900

Minimum number of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who have been invited to join intradepartmental gangs

: 254

Percentage increase last year in the number of deaths by overdose in the United States

: 30

Rank of 2020 among years with the highest number of recorded deaths by overdose

: 1

Percentage change over the past two decades in the number of U.S. estates paying estate taxes

: -96

Portion of millionaires who worry about leaving “too much” money to their heirs

: 2/3

Average amount of outstanding student debt owed by U.S. public school teachers

: $56,900

Average salary of a U.S. public school teacher

: $65,090

Percentage of U.S. families with health insurance that have medical debt

: 16

Median amount of debt held by those families

: $2,000

Average cost of a fake COVID-19 vaccination card on the messaging app Telegram

: $250

Minimum number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been made available to U.S. zoo animals

: 11,000

Percentage change since 2016 in the wild reindeer population

: -13

Estimated year by which the woolly mammoth could become de-extinct

: 2026

Harper’s Index

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