Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. Where did home prices rise most in the last year?
  2. Where does US electricity come from?

Chart 1 of 2 · Housing

Where did home prices rise most in the last year?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In the year to June 2026, the change in home prices was highest in Hawaii (8.7%), West Virginia (8.0%) and Illinois (6.0%), on FHFA's index, and lowest in Colorado (0.2%) and District of Columbia (-0.6%); across the U.S. it was 3.0%. The index follows repeat sales and refinance appraisals of the same single-family houses with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, is not adjusted for inflation, and can swing more in small states with fewer sales.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index, all-transactions index by state (Public domain (U.S. government work; FHFA)) · Data as of Jun 30, 2026

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Chart 2 of 2 · Energy

Where does US electricity come from?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2025 natural gas made 40.8% of US electricity, followed by nuclear (17.7%) and coal (16.6%). Wind made 10.5% and solar 6.7%. Solar counts only utility-scale plants, not rooftop panels, and the 2025 figures are preliminary.

How to read this chart

Each bar is one energy source's share of all the electricity made in the U.S. in a year, so the bars add up to about 100%. The bars start at zero, so a bar twice as long means twice the share. Solar counts only large power plants, not panels on rooftops.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which source makes the most electricity? About how many times more than the smallest bar?
  2. Which of these sources burn fuel and which don't? What share of electricity comes from each group?
  3. Why might a chart of this kind look different in your state than for the whole country?

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (Table 7.2a) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025

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