Bookstores in America, 2013: A State-by-State Guide

Now this is a fun post, if I do say so myself.  Here's material produced by Publishers Weekly with Gabe Habash.

Be sure and see the state by state graph at the bottom of the post!

California and Texas may have been the states with the most bookstores in 2012, but the state with the most bookstores per capita was Montana. That was one of the findings of PW’s look at the health of bookselling around the country. PW collected figures on the number of bookstores in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a total that includes every branch of bookselling: chain stores, big-box stores, independents, and the Association of Christian Retailers’ CBA stores.

Wyoming and Vermont came in second and third in terms of bookstores per capita. In 2007, the last time PW surveyed bookselling by state, the Montana, Wyoming, and Vermont were #3, #1, and #2, respectively, indicating long-term bookselling stability. Despite the fact that none of the three have many chain bookstores (Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million), these states rank at the top because of relatively low populations and relatively high independent bookstore numbers. Perhaps most impressive is Vermont: of its 38 bookstores, only one is a big-box retailer and one is a chain; the rest are indies.

 The takeaway: a large number of traditional bookstores alone isn’t enough to ensure a high per-capita ratio—it must be supplemented by big-box stores.

In general, states with relatively low populations ranked highly while states with high populations didn’t fare as well. 

(Click on a state's name to get a more detailed breakdown of its bookselling stats.)

	States	Population	Total Stores	Per Capita
1	Montana	1,005,141	64	15,705
2	Wyoming	576,412	35	16,469
3	Vermont	626,011	38	16,474
4	Alabama	4,822,023	286	16,860
5	Tennessee	6,456,243	369	17,497
6	Nebraska	1,845,525	105	17,576
7	Arkansas	2,949,131	165	17,874
8	Colorado	5,187,582	288	18,012
9	Kansas	2,885,905	160	18,037
10	Missouri	6,021,988	330	18,248
11	Alaska	731,449	40	18,286
12	Iowa	3,074,186	168	18,299
13	Minnesota	5,379,139	293	18,359
14	Washington, D.C.	632,323	34	18,598
15	South Carolina	4,723,723	251	18,820
16	Mississippi	2,984,926	157	19,012
17	West Virginia	1,855,413	97	19,128
18	Georgia	9,919,945	508	19,527
19	Indiana	6,537,334	333	19,632
20	North Carolina	9,752,073	486	20,066
21	Oklahoma	3,814,820	189	20,184
22	Kentucky	4,380,415	211	20,760
23	New Mexico	2,085,538	97	21,500
24	Louisiana	4,601,893	213	21,605
25	South Dakota	833,354	38	21,930
26	Virginia	8,185,866	372	22,005
27	Oregon	3,899,353	173	22,540
28	New Hampshire	1,320,718	55	24,013
29	Florida	19,317,568	797	24,238
30	Illinois	12,875,255	523	24,618
31	Ohio	11,544,225	467	24,720
32	Wisconsin	5,726,398	231	24,790
33	Idaho	1,595,728	63	25,329
34	North Dakota	699,628	27	25,912
35	Texas	26,059,203	1,004	25,955
36	Maine	1,329,192	51	26,062
37	Utah	2,855,287	109	26,195
38	Pennsylvania	12,763,536	478	26,702
39	Arizona	6,553,255	238	27,535
40	Maryland	5,884,563	199	29,571
41	Washington	6,897,012	230	29,987
42	Michigan	9,883,360	327	30,224
43	Delaware	917,092	30	30,570
44	Nevada	2,758,931	89	30,999
45	Massachusetts	6,646,144	213	31,203
46	California	38,041,430	1,185	32,102
47	Connecticut	3,590,347	102	35,199
48	Hawaii	1,392,313	36	38,675
49	New York	19,570,261	505	38,753
50	Rhode Island	1,050,292	27	38,900
51	New Jersey	8,864,590	217	40,851
	Total	313,904,193	12,703	24,053