How Sparse Is Alaska?
To make Alaska's population density vivid: spread only Kentucky's population across the whole U.S., and it would still be denser than Alaska.
Use this cartoon
Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.
Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2025-09-25-how-sparse-is-alaska/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)Transcript
[1] "We all know Alaska is sparsely populated." Alaska: 1.1 people/mi². Whole U.S. (including Alaska): 94 people/mi². "But what does that really mean?"
[2] "Well, empty out the U.S. (340 million people) except for the state of Kentucky (4.6 million). Disperse the people of Kentucky evenly across the now-vacant nation (including Alaska)."
[3] "A present-day Alaskan, arriving in this scenario, would say…" Alaskan: "Whoa! How did it get so crowded here?" [Kentucky resettlement scenario: 1.2 people/mi²]