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. How has your NFL team done each season since 1999?
  2. What is the typical household income in each state?

Chart 1 of 2 · NFL

How has your NFL team done each season since 1999?

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

Choose any NFL team to see its points scored, points allowed and wins each regular season since 1999, next to the NFL average. It opens with the Kansas City Chiefs, who scored 21.3 points a game in the 2025 regular season; their high since 1999 was 35.3, in 2018. Teams that moved include their old cities' seasons (the Raiders' in Oakland, the Chargers' in San Diego, the Rams' in St. Louis), and the Houston Texans start in 2002, their first season. Seasons grew from 16 games to 17 in 2021, so points are per game.

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: nflverse, NFL schedules and scores (nflverse-data) (CC BY 4.0 (nflverse)) · Data as of Jan 4, 2026

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Chart 2 of 2 · Income and poverty

What is the typical household income in each state?

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

In the Census Bureau's 5-year survey ending in 2024, the typical household in District of Columbia earned $109,870 a year, the most, followed by Massachusetts ($103,960) and Maryland ($103,678). Mississippi was lowest at $56,447, and the U.S. median was $80,734. These are 5-year estimates in 2024 dollars, each with a margin of error.

How to read this chart

Each bar is the median household income in a state: half of households earn more and half earn less. The dashed line is the whole U.S., for comparison. These are survey estimates, and each has a margin of error: the true value is likely within that range, so states with overlapping ranges may not really differ.

Questions to discuss

  1. Find your state. Is it above or below the U.S. median, and by about how much?
  2. Why do statisticians often use the median instead of the average (mean) for income?
  3. Housing and groceries cost more in some states. What would you need to know to compare what these incomes can buy?

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (Public domain (U.S. government work). This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

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