RANKED: All 50 states and DC, from least to most average

Ina Fassbender/Reuters

The US is a huge, diverse country, and the characteristics of the states that make it up vary widely.

We used 38 demographic, social, and economic indicators that cover several aspects of American life, mostly from the US Census Bureau's recently released 2015 American Community Survey estimates.

We looked at how far away each state was from the average of each of those metrics among the states and Washington, DC. Adding those distances together, we figured out how far from average each state was. See our method and sources.

Here's all 50 states and DC, ranked from least to most average, along with some of the metrics for which they were outliers or average.

51. District of Columbia

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What's not average: The District of Columbia is very different from the states. Much of the capital's strangeness relative to the states stems from the fact that it is entirely a city, unlike the mix of urban and rural areas that exist in most states. That leads to a much younger and less white population than most states: The median age in the District is 33.8 years, well below the average among the states of 38.1. Meanwhile, DC is 36.0% white, also lower than the average of 68.9%.

What's average: About 76.8% of households in DC have a broadband internet connection, very close to the average rate of 76.2%.

50. Hawaii

Thomson Reuters

What's not average: Unsurprisingly, Hawaii has by far the largest proportion of residents who identify as Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander of any of the states, at 8.8% of the population, far above the 0.3% average among the states. Similarly, 36.1% of the population of Hawaii identifies as Asian, nine times the 4.0% average.

What's average: Hawaii's GDP per capita of $56,996 is very close to the average GDP per capita of $56,602.

49. Alaska

Greg A. Syverson/ Getty Images

What's not average: Alaska has the highest proportion of men — 52.6% — of any state. The average sex breakdown among the states is 49.4% male. Unsurprisingly, 13.3% of Alaskan residents identify as American Indian/Alaska Native, the highest ratio among the states and far above the average proportion of 1.4%.

What's average: About 29.7% of Alaskans have a bachelor's degree or higher, just below the average rate of 30.3%.

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