20 Most Fascinating Facts About America: Important Things to Know About USA

Here are some interesting facts about America, American culture and lifestyle. The country is well known as a melting point of various cultures and lifestyles. Check out some of the most interesting USA facts and information, some of which might fill you with national pride and some are just entertaining or informative facts.

Among these facts, you might find many that once made this nation a great one, like a beacon for the rest of the world. Some of these facts are fun, while others are troubling. As you read the fun facts, also take a note of the serious ones. It’s like a medicine given with a spoonful of sugar, it makes it easier to swallow. These are some of the top things to know about America! Let’s take a peek.

20 Most Interesting Facts About America

1. One of the top United States facts is that Americans eat pizza a day that can cover 100 acres of land

• According to the Daily, the US pizza industry serves this amount of pizza per day.
• Americans get much more satisfaction by eating a pizza than a burger.
• Pizza Hut is the most preferred vendor of their choice for fast pizza.
• There are about 75,243 pizza outlets in the US, which constitutes 19% of the restaurants in the country.
• It is said that Americans eat about 350 pizza slices every second.
• The US sells 3 billion pizzas a year, excluding 1 billion frozen pizzas.
• The average person in the US consumes 23 pounds pizza a year.

2. One of the United States of America facts is that in case California were a country, it’s economy would be the 6th largest in the world, more than that of Russia and Italy

• According to the AEI, the GDP of every US state is the same as the GDP of a major country of the world.
• California is a state with the biggest economy in the US, with $2.33 trillion economic output, compared to $2.42 of France in the same period. (Silicon Valley has a major role in the economic growth, with the economy being unequal across the state)
• California also, ironically, has the highest poverty rates in the country.

3. Americans are perceived to be unusually friendly and more likely to help strangers than any other race in the world

• While considering the amazing facts about America, there’s a story going around that the best way to find American tourists in another country is to spot a stranger who smiles at you.
• They interact with others with a great deal of informality, such as saying ‘Have a nice day’ and ‘Howdy’ to a complete stranger.
• They will readily chat with people standing near them.
• Head over to these cities to find the friendliest of Americans.
• Buffalo is actually called the City of Good Neighbors, with New York repeatedly earning the No.1 spot for the friendliest places in the country.

4. The Pentagon has the world’s largest office area, with nearly 6,500,000 sq feet covering 34 acres, being used as offices

• The building perimeter is in a pentagon shape, with side lengths being 921 feet. It is home to the Defense department and is the military headquarters for the country.
• One of the facts about America is that G Edwin Bergstrom was the architect behind the Pentagon.
• The area is 3 times the floor space seen in the Empire State Building, New York.
• There are 7 floors, 10 corridors in the building.
• It has 67 acres of parking space surrounding it.

5. The debt per person in the US is $64,000!!!

• As of today,the national debt of the US government stands at $21.3 trillion, which translates to $64,000 per person.
• This could lead to reduced living standards; reduced wages; reduced spending on government programs; greater inflation; loss in pension funds and mutual funds; increased chances of fiscal crises.
• The NBC News and Wall Street Journal conducted a poll that found 80% of Americans were concerned a great deal about the national debt and worried that it would affect future generations of the country.

6. The US is the most obese country in the world

• 2 out of 3 American men are said to be obese, with rates for women being higher, being one of the facts about America.
• The rate of obesity in the US is the highest among the OECD groups.
• Obesity has led to around 100,000 to 400,000 deaths in the US every year and incurs around $117 billion in direct and indirect costs.
• 13% of obese people in the world ( the highest proportion) live in the US. Around 160 million Americans are obese.

7. American History Facts everyone should know: The US flag was designed by Robert G. Heft, a high school student and a boy scout

• He got a B for designing the flag for his history project. His teacher changed it to A when it was selected by Congress.
• One of the facts about America is that the flag got selected in the year 1959.
• He realized that Alaska and Hawaii would soon become states, so he cut 50 stars in a blue fabric. His teacher asked him: You don’t even know the number of states that we have. However, he also told him that if it got accepted in Washington, he would change the grade!

8. McDonald’s is among the biggest employers in the USA

• Walmart, Target, and Sears are also in the list.
• One of the fun facts about America is that 1 out of 8 workers in the US has worked at McDonald’s. It includes celebrities like Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com.
• Number of customers served daily is 69 million.
• McDonald buys around 2 billion eggs a year.

9. Alaska has a bigger coastline than any other state of the US

• One of the geography facts about USA is that Alaska has over 50% of the coastline of the US, which is 6640 miles.
• Alaska is bigger than the combined areas of Texas; California; and Montana.
• Next after Alaska, comes Florida with 1350 miles of coastline.

10. USA is the only country to complete manned trip to Moon

• Another of the facts about America is that no other country has done it, because it is very expensive and needs great aerospace infrastructure; computing; applied physics; etc.
• Apollo is the 1st manned US mission that landed on the moon on the 20th of July in 1969.

11. 81% of Americans own Barbecue Grills

• America has always been in love with its backyard cooking.
• One of the facts about America is that its people love grilled/smoked food.
• 43% of them cook on it at least once in a month during the winter.
• Most popular days for using barbecue grills are 4th of July; Memorial Day; Labor Day; Father’s Day; Mother’s Day.

12. Apple has More Money than the US Treasury

• In addition, Microsoft has more money than Uncle Sam.
• Apple has 3 times as much cash as the US government.
• A stranger truth is that if you have even one single dollar bill and no debt, you have more than the Feds have!!!

13. South Dakota has more cows than people!

• This is one of the interesting facts about USA states.
• 9 states have more cows than people, with South Dakota topping the list with the proportion being more than 4:1 ( cattle is to people).
• Other states include Montana; North Dakota; Kansas; Idaho: Iowa: Wyoming; Oklahoma; and Nebraska.

14. The USA does not have any official national language

• This is one of the weird facts about America. While drafting the Constitution, issues like official language were dropped, as there were other more critical ones.
• 1/3 of the colonial population consisted of German and Dutch speakers, so English as a national language would have created a problem.

15. The last on this list of facts about America: the average American spends 4.4 years on a job

• Job hopping seems to be the new norm.
• 91% millennial’s expect to stay for less than 3 years in a job, which means that they might have 15 to 20 jobs during their lifetime.

16. 40% of babies born in America are born out of wedlock

• The national average is 40%, whereas the average for whites is 29%; Hispanics 53%; Blacks 71%.

17. Mules deliver the mails in a town in Arizona

Check out this video: https://youtu.be/gy8ANjfnKTo

• Supai is a small town with just 200 people, being one of the most remote towns of USA, where mail is delivered by mules.
• Each mule carries about 200 pounds of postcards; letters and other packages and goes out with the outgoing mail.

18. One fourth of the total global prison population is found in the US

• 5% of the total world population and 25% of the world’s prison population is in US prisons.
• The violent crime rates of the US is higher than those of most of the other industrialized countries.
• The US also gives longer sentences when compared to other countries.

19. The college football/basketball coach is the highest paid public employee

• It’s not the judge, the governor or the senator as most would think.
• Salaries for highest paid public employee ranges from $246,000 to $11 million.

20. US Highway 550 is called Million Dollar Highway, as it is paved with gold ore!

• It’s the most spectacular drive in the country, part of San Juan Skyway with a jaw dropping vistas on either side, stretching for 25 miles, in Western Colorado.
• It is called so due to the roadbed being paved with gold ore or that it cost a million dollars to pave it.

Last Word

The United States of America includes a lot of fascinating attractions, with every city having a museum, fantastic zoos, monuments, theme parks and each being special in its own way. It’s fun to just take a step back and dig deeper into some lesser known facts about this fascinating country.

Some call America The Land of the Free. Whatever you wish to call it, take a break from grilling those hamburgers and enjoy these interesting and thought provoking facts about America.