Not all states in the Lower 48 are equally endowed with that diversity, however. Some are defined largely by their geographic uniformity, while others have a wide range of varying landscapes, including mountains, deserts, farmland, forests, lakes, and cities. (If you like mountains, this is the highest point in every state.)
Based on a land diversity index, created using data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Louisiana ranks as having the seventh most diverse landscape of the Lower 48 states, with a 76.2% likelihood that two randomly selected parcels would have a different land cover type.
Of Louisiana’s total surface area of 52,378 square miles, forest and woodland is the most common type of land cover, accounting for 37.9% of the state’s area.
Landscape diversity rank | State | Odds two random land parcels have a different use (%) | Total land area (sq. mi.) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Texas | 80.2 | 268,596 |
2 | Montana | 78.5 | 147,040 |
3 | California | 77.9 | 163,695 |
4 | Washington | 77.1 | 71,298 |
5 | Delaware | 76.6 | 2,489 |
6 | Colorado | 76.6 | 104,094 |
7 | Louisiana | 76.2 | 52,378 |
8 | Maryland | 75.6 | 12,406 |
9 | Florida | 74.3 | 65,758 |
10 | New Jersey | 73.2 | 8,723 |
11 | Idaho | 72.7 | 83,569 |
12 | Oregon | 71.2 | 98,379 |
13 | North Carolina | 70.0 | 53,819 |
14 | Utah | 69.8 | 84,897 |
15 | Rhode Island | 69.5 | 1,545 |
16 | Oklahoma | 69.5 | 69,899 |
17 | Michigan | 68.2 | 96,714 |
18 | New Mexico | 68.2 | 121,590 |
19 | Wisconsin | 67.9 | 65,496 |
20 | Ohio | 66.4 | 44,826 |
21 | Massachusetts | 66.3 | 10,554 |
22 | Minnesota | 64.2 | 86,936 |
23 | South Carolina | 63.9 | 32,020 |
24 | New York | 63.6 | 54,555 |
25 | Tennessee | 63.2 | 42,144 |
26 | Virginia | 63.0 | 42,775 |
27 | Wyoming | 62.5 | 97,813 |
28 | South Dakota | 62.4 | 77,116 |
29 | Connecticut | 61.3 | 5,543 |
30 | Kentucky | 61.1 | 40,408 |
31 | Georgia | 60.8 | 59,425 |
32 | Mississippi | 60.7 | 48,432 |
33 | Arkansas | 58.6 | 53,179 |
34 | Nebraska | 57.9 | 77,348 |
35 | Missouri | 57.7 | 69,707 |
36 | Pennsylvania | 57.7 | 46,054 |
37 | Alabama | 57.6 | 52,420 |
38 | Indiana | 54.3 | 36,420 |
39 | Kansas | 53.5 | 82,278 |
40 | Arizona | 53.4 | 113,990 |
41 | North Dakota | 53.4 | 70,698 |
42 | Illinois | 51.1 | 57,914 |
43 | Nevada | 43.7 | 110,572 |
44 | Vermont | 42.6 | 9,616 |
45 | Maine | 39.5 | 35,380 |
46 | New Hampshire | 34.5 | 9,349 |
47 | West Virginia | 34.4 | 24,230 |
48 | Iowa | 33.5 | 56,273 |