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Top 10 U.S. States Taller than Wide

Name the states with the most "vertical" shape.
Ratio = ratio of average height to average width
Read the comments for methodology
Also see States Wider than Tall
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: September 12, 2019
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First submittedSeptember 10, 2019
Times taken11,666
Average score70.0%
Rating3.85
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Ratio
State
2.43
Delaware
2.09
Rhode Island
2.06
New Hampshire
1.89
Vermont
1.78
Illinois
Ratio
State
1.77
Indiana
1.75
Mississippi
1.65
New Jersey
1.53
Alabama
1.48
Maine
Quizmaster
+6
Level ∞
Sep 11, 2019
Here's how I computed the average height of a state. I represented each state as a grid of 900 points. Then, for each point, I calculated how far you could travel in a straight north-south line without leaving the state. The average height is the average of these distances.
ayjayh
+18
Level 67
Sep 11, 2019
The methodology should be in the quiz instructions, not the comments.
halpie
+12
Level 77
Sep 11, 2019
oh pfffttt. how is the methodology going to aid your ability to fill out the quiz? It's fine in the comments.
IsleAuHaulte
+11
Level 89
Sep 12, 2019
Because you'll see a ton of comments saying California is obviously much taller than its average width.

Stuff like that.

Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Sep 12, 2019
If you look at a map, you can see that California is bent into an elbow shape. This is why Reno, Nevada is actually further west than Los Angeles. The methodology used doesn't change anything in this regard.
kalbahamut
+4
Level 82
Sep 13, 2019
I can think of other methodologies that would get California, Florida, and Vermont on this list for sure. Maybe Idaho, too.
TWM03
+1
Level 70
Oct 28, 2019
Vermont is already here, and I doubt you could get both Florida and Idaho on here using any sensible methodology. They both have protrusions which affect their ratio quite a lot.
tshalla
+1
Level 75
Oct 29, 2019
Wow - I wouldn't have said that Reno was farther west than L.A. It's actually not even very close.
Hollywood
+2
Level 62
Oct 27, 2019
Rhode Island? I want a recount!
mikeb
+2
Level 66
Oct 28, 2019
In my "mental projection map", Rhode Island was kinda square.
interopia
+1
Level 85
Sep 11, 2019
Fun idea for a quiz!!
SuperT
+1
Level 70
Sep 11, 2019
Still wondering where Cali falls into this...
sumguy
+2
Level 84
Sep 11, 2019
And Idaho.
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Sep 12, 2019
California #17, Idaho #15.
tom19
+1
Level 65
Sep 11, 2019
Florida??
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Sep 12, 2019
#11
samiamco
+2
Level 69
Sep 12, 2019
Man, the Mercator projection really messes with reality.
TWM03
+3
Level 70
Sep 12, 2019
It doesn't have anything to do with the Mercator projection. This is actually one of the few cases where the Mercator projection hardly changes the figures at all.
zack22
+1
Level 67
Nov 1, 2021
I might have affect Alaska but that is all
drlancy
+2
Level 58
Sep 12, 2019
I'm guessing the methodology used is why these results.
martay
+1
Level 70
Sep 13, 2019
Ya think?
RuthlessCosmo
+6
Level 72
Oct 28, 2019
Any system for calculating the "height" and "width" of a state that leaves out California or Idaho is, to put it politely, idiotic. Why not use latitude and longitude to measure these?
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Oct 28, 2019
For one, longitude is not the same distance at every latitude. But the bigger problem is that California is actually very wide. You probably don't have an accurate picture of it in your head.
whc03grady
+2
Level 59
Oct 28, 2019
California, Idaho, Nevada, Michigan, and Minnesota not on the list? Time to make a new list.
LKWH
+1
Level 39
Oct 30, 2021
You can stand by your chosen methodology all you want, but most people taking this quiz are going to assume--as any sane person would--that you would go by the distance from the northernmost point to the southernmost point compared to the western versus eastern in the same regard. Sorry, but California, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin are all clearly vertical states and it's not because of some image in our heads, as you tried to tell someone. You want an accurate image, take the state off the map and look at it apart from any neighboring states, which should not affect the answer--yet that's your claim. If you're going to use this methodology, you should have explained that at the intro to the quiz, not argue about it in the comments.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Oct 30, 2021
Sorry, but you're wrong about California and Florida by your own methodology.
DIALKIA
+1
Level 71
Aug 30, 2023
I know it's been two years but the Quizmaster is correct in saying that your own methodology disagrees with you. If you used Florida's greatest northenmost to southernmost length and greatest westernmost to easternmost width you'd get about 1.2 which is much below the other states. And you can't really use the smallest widths and lengths otherwise states with tiny bits of land jutting out would probably get on the list and it'd be ridiculous.

And yes, California does look pretty wide when I look at it on a map.

Additionally, the main person "arguing in the comments" is you, as far as my knowledge of the definition of arguing goes.

Finally, so what if they're vertical states? This quiz isn't about all the vertical states. It's about the states that are the most taller than wide.

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