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Last Month’s Index

Harper’s Index

Last Month’s Index
Adjust

In the number of bird watchers in the United States

: 16
January 2023 • Source: Sports & Fitness Industry Association (Silver Spring, Md.)

Portion of Republicans who say it would be unconstitutional to declare the United States a Christian nation

: 3/5
December 2022 • Source: Stella Rouse, University of Maryland (College Park)

Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of independent bookstores in the United States

: 34
October 2022 • Source: American Booksellers Association (White Plains, N.Y.)

Percentage of the global supply of these drugs that is used in the United States

: 57
August 2022 • Source: IQVIA Institute (Parsippany, N.J.)

Average cost of an abortion in the United States

: $606
November 2022 • Source: Ushma Upadhyay, University of California, San Francisco

Number of copies of Jill Biden’s memoir sold in the United States in its first week of publication

: 250
August 2022 • Source: The NPD Group (Port Washington, N.Y.)

Estimated miles of toilet paper used in the United States each year

: 2,650,000,000
May 2022 • Source: QS Supplies (Leicester, England)

Average value this year, to the tooth fairy, of a lost tooth in the United States

: $5.36
May 2022 • Source: Delta Dental (Oak Brook, Ill.)

Minimum number of dogs in the United States on anti-anxiety medication

: 10,350,000
April 2022 • Source: American Pet Products Association (Stamford, Conn.)

Factor by which PR specialists outnumber journalists in the United States

: 6
March 2022 • Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (Washington)

Of daily newspapers in the United States that have been shuttered since 2005

: 1/4
March 2022 • Source: Penny Abernathy, Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

Portion of daily newspapers in the United States that are controlled by investment groups

: 1/2
March 2022 • Source: Financial Times (London)

Number of years by which the average retirement age is lower in China than in the United States

: 3
February 2022 • Source: Society of Actuaries Research Institute (Schaumburg, Ill.) and Matthew S. Rutledge, Boston College

Percentage change in the number of major crimes in the United States in the past year

: –5
January 2022 • Source: YouGov

Portion of adults who think COVID-19 will change the United States for the better

: 1/5
January 2022 • Source: Washington Post/ABC News

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

: 30
December 2021 • Source: National Center for Health Statistics

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

: 1 : 1,211
December 2021 • Source: National Association of School Psychologists (Bethesda, Md.)

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

: 18.5
December 2021 • Source: National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.)

Of the United States

: 6
November 2021 • Source: Aled Jones, Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge, England)

Year in which the first known insect species was driven extinct in the United States by humans

: 1941
November 2021 • Source: Corrie Moreau, Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.)

Portion of time spent on smartphones in the United States that can be attributed to “self-control problems”

: 3/10
November 2021 • Source: New York University

Estimated portion of the contiguous United States affected by wildfire smoke on July 21, 2021

: 9/10
October 2021 • Source: Nancy H. F. French, Michigan Technological University (Houghton)

Percentage increase last year in the sale of vacation homes in the United States

: 16
September 2021 • Source: National Association of Realtors (Chicago)

Percentage of Americans who thought religion was gaining influence in the United States a year ago

: 38
September 2021 • Source: Gallup (Washington)

Estimated percentage by which parking demand will decline across the United States by 2050

: 40
September 2021 • Source: Walker Consultants (Indianapolis)

Percentage of new chain stores in the United States that are either a Dollar General, Family Dollar, or Dollar Tree

: 39
August 2021 • Source: Coresight Research (NYC)

Percentage by which the frequency of power failures in the United States has increased since 2015

: 146
August 2021 • Source: Brian Stone Jr., Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta)

Percentage of adults worldwide who believe the United States is a “threat to democracy” in their country

: 44
August 2021 • Source: Latana (Berlin)

Estimated percentage by which the COVID-19 death toll in the United States exceeds the reported figures

: 55
August 2021 • Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (Seattle)

Minimum number of real estate agents in the United States this spring

: 1,463,806
July 2021 • Source: National Association of Realtors (Washington)
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