Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from US Census Bureau
- Using data from the US Census Bureau, we found the town in every state with the highest share of residents who identify as male, and the town with the highest share identifying as female.
- Many of the male-heavy towns are home to or near prisons or military bases, while some of the towns with a large population share of female residents are retirement communities.
The American Community Survey is an annual survey run by the Census Bureau to allow the government, corporate and academic researchers, and anyone who is curious about demographics to better understand the US population. Among many other subjects, the ACS asks the sex of each member of a given household.
Using the ACS estimates from 2013 to 2017 for places with at least a 1,000-person population, excluding college campuses and military bases, Business Insider made the above map showing the town in each state with the highest share of residents identifying as male. Below, we have a map showing the town with the highest share identifying as female.
Read more: The economy of every state and DC, ranked from worst to best
Some of the towns with a large male population share, like Rising Sun-Lebanon, Delaware, are on the outskirts of military bases, often large employers of men. Others, like Dannemora, New York, are home to male-only state or federal prisons.
This table shows the town with the highest share of residents identifying as male:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from US Census Bureau
And here are the towns in each state with the highest female population share:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from US Census Bureau
Many of these towns, like Leisure World, Maryland, are planned communities for retirees. As women often have longer life expectancies than men, it is not overly surprising that such communities would have relatively high female population shares.
This table shows the town with the highest share of residents identifying as female:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from US Census Bureau
- Read more about demographics and economics in the US:
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- The most and least expensive places to live in America
- The most disproportionately high-paying job in every state
- Here's how many people in each state were born outside the US