By John Lindstrom
Publisher
Posted: May 7, 2014 3:47 PM

Burt Reynolds, who as a young boy lived for a short while in Lansing, is the most popular actor to come from Michigan. Not Charlton Heston, not Robin Williams, Burt Reynolds.

Or so says a map.

Among currently popular musical artists the most popular from Michigan is not Eminem nor Jack White nor Kid Rock, it’s Young Jeezy.

Or, again, so says a map.

In recent months there have been a spate of maps running through the Internet dealing with a whole variety of characteristics, statistics, attributes. Anyone interested in data on how much the federal government spends in a state compared to what the state sends the feds can find a map with the info. Ditto on statistics on those with or without health insurance, or most popular baby name, percentage of people who went to college, dominant faiths, etc.

The popular website Buzzfeed has now put together a list of 28 maps of the U.S. from a variety of sources that detail a wide array of interesting, odd and possibly dubious items of each state.

Some are historic, tracking when each state joined the union (it was 1837 for Michigan, don’t forget). Some deal with facts you might wonder why you would care, such as a breakdown by every county in the nation of how much snow has to fall for a snow day to be called (in Michigan it ranges from six inches to 24 inches, according to the map).

Some have to do with bar bet kinds of trivia, like what’s the most popular beer in the state (sorry, Bell’s, according to this map in Michigan it is Bud Light).

One details how people in the state would describe their state. According to this map, just 28 percent of Michigan residents call the Mitten the best or one of the best states to live in. In contrast, 61 percent of Minnesotans say their state is the best or one of the best.

And finally, there is the question of whether Michiganders are afraid of wild gorillas. You can look that up on your own.