Harpers Index.................April 2020
Percentage of Americans who operate doors and sinks in public restrooms with paper towels to avoid germs : 65
May 2020 • Source: Bradley Corporation (Menomonee Falls, Wis.)
Who flush with their feet : 44
May 2020 • Source: Bradley Corporation (Menomonee Falls, Wis.)
Who hover over the toilet seat : 29
May 2020 • Source: Bradley Corporation (Menomonee Falls, Wis.)
Portion of global ocean currents that have sped up since 1990 : 3/4
May 2020 • Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Seattle)
Average percentage by which those currents have accelerated : 10
May 2020 • Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Seattle)
Number of hurricane names that have been officially retired : 89
May 2020 • Source: National Hurricane Center (Miami)
Number of countries that are carbon-negative : 2
May 2020 • Source: Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (London)
Number of times that the price of an average U.S. domestic flight changes in a week : 59
May 2020 • Source: Hopper (Boston)
Average percentage by which the price fluctuates with each change : 25
May 2020 • Source: Hopper (Boston)
Minimum number of motor vehicles that crashed into non-residential buildings in the United States last year : 20,000
May 2020 • Source: Storefront Safety Council (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Minimum number of people inside those buildings who were killed : 500
May 2020 • Source: Storefront Safety Council (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Percentage of time that ride-hailing vehicles on Manhattan streets lack passengers : 40
May 2020 • Source: Schaller Consulting (NYC)
That taxis on Manhattan streets do : 35
May 2020 • Source: Schaller Consulting (NYC)
Estimated number of Americans who spend at least three hours commuting each day : 4,300,000
May 2020 • Source: Apartment List (San Francisco)
Percentage of American commuters who “typically” use their commuting time to work : 14
May 2020 • Source: Driving-Tests.org (Hamilton, Ontario)
Percentage of Americans who believe that enjoying one’s career is essential to a fulfilling life for a man : 57
May 2020 • Source: Pew Research Center (Washington)
For a woman : 46
May 2020 • Source: Pew Research Center (Washington)
Percentage of Democrats who believe that their personal finances will improve over the next year : 60
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)
Of Republicans who do : 83
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)
Percentage of Americans who say they are better off now than when President Trump took office : 61
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)
Who said they were better off during President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign than they were when he took office : 45
May 2020 • Source: Gallup (Atlanta)
Number of current members of the Trump Administration who have worked as Fox News contributors : 7
May 2020 • Source: Media Matters for America (Washington)
Portion of Trump’s 2019 tweets that were live responses to Fox News or Fox Business programs : 1/10
May 2020 • Source: Media Matters for America (Washington)
Chance that an American has received a government document in the mail that he or she didn’t understand : 1 in 4
May 2020 • Source: Morning Consult (Washington)
Percentage of Americans aged 65 and over who say it’s unlikely that they will fill out a census form : 6
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)
Of Americans aged 18 to 34 who say so : 13
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)
Rank of African Americans among demographic groups most likely to fear that census information will be used against them : 2
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)
Rank of Asian Americans : 1
May 2020 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)
Factor by which the number of physical records in the National Archives has increased since 1991 : 3
May 2020 • Source: National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Md.)
By which the number of electronic records has increased since then : 1,654
May 2020 • Source: National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Md.)
Estimated number of years the National Archives will spend reviewing materials for George W. Bush’s presidential library : 250
May 2020 • Source: National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Md.)
Factor by which Americans go to the library more often than they go to the movies : 2
May 2020 • Source: Gallup
Percentage decrease from 2008 to 2017 in the number of full-time U.S. public school librarian positions : 26
May 2020 • Source: RSL Research Group (Louisville, Colo.)
Percentage increase between 2014 and 2018 in health care costs for Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance : 18
May 2020 • Source: Health Care Cost Institute (Washington)
In the average retail price of prescription medicine : 21
May 2020 • Source: Health Care Cost Institute (Washington)
Average U.S. retail price for a vial of prescription insulin : $400
May 2020 • Source: Health Care Cost Institute (Washington)
Average Craigslist price for one : $30
May 2020 • Source: ChristianaCare (Newark, Del.)
Estimated amount that Utah spent last year sending public employees to Mexico to buy cheaper medicine : $250,000
May 2020 • Source: Public Employee Health Plan (Salt Lake City)
Estimated number of dead-end streets in the world : 17,680,000
May 2020 • Source: Christopher Barrington-Leigh, McGill University (Montreal)
Portion of those dead ends that are in the United States : ¼
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