Random Density Facts

Matthew Yglesias: "First if Texas (268,820 square miles) were as densely populated as New Jersey (1,134 per square mile) it would contain about 305 million people—essentially the entire population of the United States. Second, if the entire state of Maine (35,385 square miles) were as densely populated as the city of Somerville, Massachusetts (18,147 per square mile) it could hold over 640 million people.

To reach for a policy point here, the Texas/Jersey thing illustrates that it would be possible for the United States to contain a lot more wilderness without jamming everyone into super-dense cities. New Jersey is the quintessential suburban state.