The chart above shows the proportion of each region that is wooded area. The Northeast has by far the greatest proportion of wooded area.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the greatest proportion of wooded area, the Northeast, and the region with the least, the Midwest, is 45.13 percentage points.
- The Northeast has 3.22 times the wooded area as a proportion of the region that the Midwest does.
- The difference between the region with the largest absolute value of wooded area, the West, and the region with the least, the Northeast, is 296,583,000 acres.
- The West has 5.08 times the wooded area that the Northeast does.
Caveats
- Data is from 2016.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Details
Within the regions there are vast differences in the amount of wooded area each state has. For instance, New York is responsible for 26.09% of the wooded area in the Northeast while Delaware is only responsible for 0.47%. Texas accounts for 22.34% of the wooded area of the South while West Virginia only accounts for 4.35%. Alaska makes up 34.82% of the wooded area of the West while Hawaii only makes up 0.47%. Michigan composes 20.65% of the wooded area in the Midwest while North Dakota only composes 0.78%.
Although the Northeast has the greatest proportion of wooded area, its total wooded area is quite small compared to the other regions. The state of Alaska by itself has more wooded area than the entire Northeast. Alaska also has more wooded area than the entire Midwest.
The Northeast has the state with the least amount of wooded area: Delaware with 340,000 acres. The West has the state with the greatest amount of wooded area: Alaska with 128,577,000 acres.
Northeastern states have the smallest median of wooded area at 3,024,000 acres. The Midwest follows with 4,839,000 acres which is followed by the South at 16,684,000 acres. Western states have the largest median of wooded area at 22,435,000 acres.
Northeastern states have the smallest mean of wooded area at 6,608,364 acres. The Midwest follows with 8,123,250 acres which is followed by the South at 19,955,000 acres. Western states have the largest mean of wooded area at 28,405,769 acres.
The Northeast has the smallest range in wooded area among its states ranging from 340,000 acres in Delaware to 18,966,000 acres in New York. The West has the largest range in wooded area among its states ranging from 1,748,000 acres in Hawaii to 128,577,000 acres in Alaska.
As far as coverage goes, the West has the smallest range with a low of 15.90% in Nevada to a high of 52.75% in Washington. The Northeast has the greatest range in coverage with a low of 27.27% in Delaware to a high of 89.47% in Maine.
Only seven states (3 Northeast, 4 South) have a greater coverage than the Northeast as a whole (these range from 89.47% wooded area to 67.29%): Maine, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Vermont, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. Only eight states (6 Midwest, 2 West) have a smaller coverage than the Midwest as a whole (these range from 18.42% wooded area to 1.72%): Wyoming, Nevada, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
Sources
United States Department of Agriculture. 2016. "Forest Inventory and Analysis: Fiscal Year 2016 Business Report." Accessed September 24, 2020. https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fs_media/fs_document/publication-15817-usda-forest-service-fia-annual-report-508.pdf.