A mathematical look at where the United States ranks in the world.

If one were to look from afar into the United States right now, they couldn't help but to be afraid of what they see. COVID-19 cases are through the roof, and the U.S. has raced to the front of the line since March. Social media is a conflagration of people claiming masks don't help at all, the virus isn't real, and even wearing a mask for ten minutes at a grocery store is infringing upon their rights as an American. Yet as a collective country, we seem to continue to chant that "USA IS NUMBER ONE!". 

Don't get me wrong, I love our country. The freedoms we are afforded are unlike any in the world. But being married to a research scientist has made me naturally question any type of survey or broad proclamation. So this got me thinking obsessing with the question, "What are we actually the best in?". The results are what I figured. As a country, we are statistically.....okay. Does this mean we live in a terrible country? Nope. It means we have plenty of room for improvement and that we need to continue to forge forward with the drive of integrity and progression that we are known for. 

HEALTH

Lets start with the most obvious, our health. 

• The average life expectancy is 79.8 years, ranking 42nd among 224 nations. 
• The US has the highest chronic disease burden and double the obesity burden than other countries
• The US has the highest number of hospitalizations from preventable causes. 

EDUCATION

This issue is simple and also not new. The United States continues to lag behind other countries when it comes to education. 

• In science, the US ranks 24th in the world.
• When it comes to Math, we are much worse. We rank 38th in the world.
• In reading, we again rank 24th. 

FREEDOM

Freedom can be hard to gauge, but we used freedom of press rankings worldwide. The United States ranked 45th in the world. Scary, and ironic. 

INCOME DISPARITY

The United States ranks 7th amongst developed nations in income disparity, meaning we are ranked higher for having a higher income disparity. 

OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE

The United States ranks 15th in the world for quality of life. It placed 1st for job market, but unfortunately placed 56th for affordability.

So now we can see how average we are as a country. With the impending pandemic, I can't help but what wonder what these numbers will look like in a year or two. What do you think??