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Visualized: The Decline of Affordable Housing in the U.S.

by Chris Dickert
This post is by Chris Dickert from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by Boxabl
Infographic showing how U.S. house prices have risen between 1984 and 2021, in terms of multiples of household incomes.

Visualized: The Decline of Affordable Housing in the U.S.

Over 80% of U.S. residents have chosen to live in an urban setting, as of 2023.

And with that number set to rise to nearly 90% by 2050, house prices are rising, with significant consequences to housing affordability. 

This visualization, the second in the Reimagining Home Series from our sponsor Boxabl, takes a deep dive into the evolution of the housing market in the U.S.

Housing Affordability At Its Lowest Ebb in Decades

The U.S. house-price-to-income ratio, which tracks house prices in multiples of annual income, has steadily climbed since the mid-1980s, when the market was recovering from a real estate crash earlier that decade.

Historically, the ratio has hovered between three and four. But in the early aughts, the ratio passed four and kept going, reaching a high of 5.11 in 2005. The ratio fell somewhat in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage meltdown, but never returned to historical averages. New records were set in 2014 (5.33), and again in 2021 (5.61).

Note that because median housing prices and median household incomes are released at different frequencies, quarterly versus annually respectively, in order to calculate the ratio, housing prices were averaged on an annual basis.

YearMedian House PriceMedian Household IncomeRatio
1984$79,950$22,4153.57
(Read more...)

Mapping U.S. Urbanization, by State

by Chris Dickert
This post is by Chris Dickert from Visual Capitalist

Published • Updated •
The following content is sponsored by Boxabl
An infographic showing the percent urbaniztion of U.S. states with a heat map, accompanied by a graph showing the national urbanization statistics for 1790 to 2022.

Mapping U.S. Urbanization, by State

More and more U.S. residents are choosing to make their homes in urban settings.

And with the homeowner vacancy rate already at an all-time low of 0.8% at the end of 2022, this is putting increasing pressure on housing supply.

This visualization from sponsor Boxabl is part one of the Reimagining Home Series and asks which U.S. states are most urban?

The Social Fabric of the U.S. is Urban

At its founding and like many other countries at the time, the U.S. was largely a rural country. In 1790, only 5.1% of U.S. residents lived in urban settings.

Rising industrialization and immigration after the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877) helped drive the growth of cities. As more and more people made their homes in cities, the U.S. became more urban than rural, some time in the late 1910s.

But it wasn’t only immigrants that drove this rapid growth—rural migration also played a part. Between 1880 and 1890, almost 40% of U.S. townships experienced a population decrease, according to the Library of Congress.

Fast forward to 2023, and 83.3% of people in the U.S. now live in an urban setting. Here are the state-by-state numbers from the 2020 U.S. Census.

StateUrban PopulationUrban Population (%)
Alabama2,900,88057.70
Alaska475,96764.90
Arizona (Read more...)

The Explosive Growth of Sports Betting

by Rida Khan
This post is by Rida Khan from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by Roundhill

The Explosive Growth of Sports Betting

In 2022, the sports betting market showed the fastest growth in all commercial gaming segments, with a staggering 75% increase in revenue year-on-year.

This growth is more than that of all other streams of gaming revenue combined. This includes slots, table games, and iGaming. 

In this infographic from Roundhill, we explore this explosive growth and the factors that are driving it.

What is Driving this Growth?

Legalization, innovation around the user experience, and other new business opportunities are all factors that are driving growth in the sports betting industry.

State-Level Legalization

Legalizing sports wagering at the state level has been a pivotal factor in this equation.

The federal ban was lifted in 2018. Since then, it has become live and legal, in-person and online, in 19 states as of 2020, and 33 states as of 2023.

Additionally, it’s now legal to bet online but not in person in Kentucky and Tennessee. Hence the entire industry in these states is being driven entirely by digital betting.

Innovative Technologies

This frictionless experience is proving to be quite the appeal to consumers, with 86% of sports wagers now being placed online.

In addition to mobile betting, other features are enhancing the sports wagering experience, such as:

  • In-play betting
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to increase prediction accuracy
  • (Read more...)

Visualizing Asia’s Dominance in the Titanium Supply Chain

by Govind Bhutada
This post is by Govind Bhutada from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by IperionX
titanium supply chain infographic

Asia’s Dominance in the Titanium Supply Chain

Titanium is a unique metal with important applications in defense, aerospace, automotives, and medicine. 

But before making it into all its end uses, titanium goes through a complex supply chain that involves both geopolitical and environmental challenges. 

This infographic sponsored by IperionX explores the titanium supply chain and highlights the countries that dominate it.

The Stages of Titanium Production

Titanium’s end-to-end production process typically involves five steps: 

  1. Mineral extraction
    The minerals ilmenite and rutile are the primary feedstocks for titanium production. These minerals are partly composed of titanium dioxide, which is later refined into titanium metal.
  1. Sponge metal production
    Ilmenite and rutile are refined into titanium sponge using the Kroll refining process.
  2. Ingots and melted products
    Titanium sponge is melted into ingots and other melted products.
  3. Mill products
    Finished products like bars, sheets, and tubes are manufactured from ingots. This process typically generates large amounts of machining scrap.
  4. Scrap
    Scrap or waste accounts for large material losses in the supply chain. The current scrap recirculation rate is less than 70%.

The Kroll process of refining titanium minerals to produce sponge metal is an 80-year-old method that involves high energy use and carbon emissions. It’s also heavily dependent on a few countries, primarily in Asia.

The Titanium Supply Chain

The mineral ilmenite accounts for 90% of all titanium (Read more...)

Visualizing the New Era of Gold Mining

by Govind Bhutada
This post is by Govind Bhutada from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by NOVAGOLD
gold mining

Visualizing the New Era of Gold Mining

Between 2011 and 2020, the number of major gold discoveries fell by 70% relative to 2001-2010. 

The lack of discoveries, alongside stagnating gold production, has cast a shadow of doubt on the future of gold supply. 

This infographic sponsored by Novagold highlights the need for new gold mining projects with a focus on the company’s Donlin Gold project in Alaska.

The Current State of Gold Production

Between 2010 and 2021, gold production increased steadily until 2018, before leveling and falling.

YearGold Production, tonnesYoY % Change
20102,560-
20112,6603.9%
20122,6901.1%
20132,8004.1%
20142,9906.8%
20153,1003.7%
20163,1100.3%
20173,2303.9%
20183,3002.2%
20193,3000.0%
20203,030-8.2%
20213,000-1.0%

Along with a small decrease in gold production from 2020 levels, there were no new major gold discoveries in 2021. Meanwhile, annual demand for the yellow metal increased by 10%, up from 3,651 tonnes to 4,020 tonnes. 

The fall in production and long-term lack of gold discoveries point towards a possible imbalance in gold supply and demand. This calls for the introduction of new gold development projects that can fill the supply-demand gap in the future. 

Sustaining Supply: Gold For the Future

Jurisdictions play an important role (Read more...)

Titanium: What You Should Know and Why You Should Care

by Govind Bhutada
This post is by Govind Bhutada from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by IperionX
  • titanium 101 series
  • titanium 101 series
  • titanium 101 series
titanium: what you should know

Titanium: What You Should Know and Why You Should Care

Titanium is a special metal that often flies under the radar. 

Stronger than aluminum and lighter than steel, titanium has unique properties that have enabled its uses in a range of different industries like defense and medicine. 

This infographic from our sponsor IperionX highlights what you need to know about titanium, from its unique properties to the metal’s uses in the modern economy. This is part one of three infographics in the Titanium 101 Series. 

The Properties of Titanium

What makes titanium so special? Here are some of the properties that make titanium naturally superior to more common substitutes like stainless steel and aluminum: 

  • High strength-to-weight ratio:
    Titanium is two times stronger than aluminum and 45% lighter than steel with comparable strength.
  • Resistance to corrosion:
    Titanium’s natural resistance to corrosion allows for applications in harsh environments, including under seawater.  
  • Abundance:
    Titanium is the 9th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, found in nearly all rocks and sediments. 
  • Biocompatibility:
    Titanium’s inertness inside the human body makes it biocompatible and suitable for medical and dental implants in humans.
  • Temperature resistance:
    Titanium has a melting point of 1,670 °C and can withstand temperatures higher and lower than stainless steel and aluminum.

Several industries harness titanium’s unique properties in different ways. (Read more...)

The U.S. Utilities Decarbonization Index

by Govind Bhutada
This post is by Govind Bhutada from Visual Capitalist

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The NPUC Annual Utility Decarbonization Report

Introducing the NPUC Annual Utility Decarbonization Report 2022
Created in partnership by Visual Capitalist and Motive Power.

Download the Free Report
decarbonization index

The U.S. Utilities Decarbonization Index

With the Biden administration targeting a zero-emissions power sector for the U.S. by 2035, how are the nation’s largest electric power providers faring in terms of decarbonization? 

Together, Visual Capitalist and our sponsor National Public Utilities Council have developed the Annual Utility Decarbonization Index. The index quantifies and compares the status of decarbonization among the 30 largest investor-owned utilities in the United States.

Decarbonization is quantified by scoring companies on six emissions-related metrics based on publicly available data from 2020 (the latest available).

Why the 30 Largest IOUs?

Why does the Decarbonization Index specifically look at the 30 largest IOUs by electricity generation? 

Well, these 30 utilities collectively generated around 2.3 billion megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity (including purchased power), making up over half of U.S. net electricity generation in 2020. Moreover, they also served over 90 million customers, accounting for roughly 56% of all electric customers in the country.

30 largest utilities in the U.S.

Therefore, it’s safe to say that the 30 largest IOUs have an important role in decarbonizing both the power sector and the U.S. economy. Since the residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors all use electricity, the decarbonization of utilities—the providers of electric power—can enable emissions reduction throughout the economy.

Decarbonization (Read more...)