2024 Top States, Hometowns for US Summer Olympic Athletes

As the eyes of the sporting world turn to the Summer Olympics in Paris, BeenVerified examined which US states and cities have bragging rights for producing the most summer Olympic athletes in the history of the Games.

In our analysis, BeenVerified also looked at the birthplaces of US summer Olympians dating back to 1896, when the first games were held in Athens, Greece, to determine which states and hometowns earned the most medals—either in individual events or as members of medalist teams—in the past 32 summer Games.

Key takeaways

Olympians and medals by state

• California and New York continue to produce the most summer Olympians. Top states that were the birthplace of future Olympians are California (1,394) and New York (823), followed by Pennsylvania (521), Illinois (476), Texas (335), New Jersey (332), Massachusetts (326), Ohio (294), Missouri (253), and Michigan (220).

• California and New York also brought home the most medals. Top 10 birthplace states that saw their native sons and daughters on the medals podium were California (974), New York (444), Illinois (269), Pennsylvania (268), Ohio (237), Texas (209), New Jersey (169), Missouri (148), Massachusetts (134), and Michigan (132).

• California and New York also lead in gold medals. The gold medal totals are: California (480), New York (216), Ohio (128), Illinois (119), Pennsylvania (108), Texas (107), New Jersey (87), Florida (78), Michigan (63), and Washington (61). Of the 50 states, North Dakota is the only state to not be the birthplace of a gold medalist.

• By population, District of Columbia punches above its weight in producing Olympians. Looking at historic population levels in the 125 years since the first summer Games, the top areas producing an Olympian per 100,000 residents are District of Columbia (13.55), followed by Hawaii (11.49), California (8.43), Massachusetts (6.71), New Jersey (6.05), Washington (5.83), Missouri (5.84), Montana (5.49), Oregon (5.48), and New York (5.68).

   

State	Total Medals	Gold	Silver	Bronze
California	974	480	270	224
New York	444	216	138	90
Illinois	269	119	71	79
Pennsylvania	268	108	78	82
Ohio	237	128	54	55
Texas	209	107	57	45
New Jersey	169	87	44	38
Missouri	148	50	44	54
Massachusetts	134	52	38	44
Michigan	132	63	35	34
Florida	125	78	26	21
Washington	107	61	20	26
Georgia	90	54	20	16
Indiana	87	45	23	19
Maryland	86	51	16	19
Wisconsin	77	39	23	15
Virginia	64	34	16	14
Alabama	60	36	11	13
Iowa	59	29	17	13
Hawaii	58	23	23	12
Mississippi	57	31	16	10
Oregon	56	26	18	12
Minnesota	55	24	16	15
Oklahoma	48	24	11	13
North Carolina	48	24	14	10
Louisiana	47	28	11	8
Kansas	47	23	12	12
Connecticut	47	24	11	12
Kentucky	44	23	10	11
Arizona	44	14	17	13
Tennessee	41	17	11	13
Colorado	37	20	8	9
South Carolina	30	16	11	3
Arkansas	29	20	2	7
Nebraska	27	15	4	8
West Virginia	24	14	5	5
Utah	19	6	7	6
Maine	19	9	3	7
South Dakota	18	9	3	6
Rhode Island	16	4	4	8
Montana	16	8	3	5
Nevada	12	5	1	6
Vermont	11	3	1	7
Idaho	10	5	3	2
New Hampshire	8	6	1	1
New Mexico	7	3	2	2
Delaware	7	4	1	2
Wyoming	4	1	2	1
Alaska	4	2	0	2
North Dakota	2	0	2	0

Olympians and Medals by City

New York and Chicago are the top birthplaces for Summer Olympians. These cities gave birth to the most future Olympians: New York (349), Chicago (225), Philadelphia (201), Los Angeles (197), St. Louis (150), San Francisco (99), Boston (95), Washington (87), Brooklyn (81), and Detroit (79).

New York and Los Angeles have produced the most medalists. Native sons and daughters bringing home the most gold, silver, or bronze medals originally hailed from New York (164), Los Angeles (131), Chicago (121), Philadelphia (107), St. Louis (82), Washington (64), San Francisco (64), Baltimore (58), Cincinnati (57), and Detroit (53).

Los Angeles and New York lead in gold medals. Olympians born in Los Angeles (70) and New York (69) have produced the most gold medals, followed by Chicago (52), Philadelphia (48), Baltimore (39), San Francisco (34), Washington (34), Cincinnati (29), St. Louis (25), and Brooklyn (25).

	Total Medals	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Los Angeles, California	131	70	36	25
New York, New York	164	69	58	37
Chicago, Illinois	121	52	32	37
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	107	48	28	31
Baltimore, Maryland	58	39	11	8
Washington, District of Columbia	64	34	18	12
San Francisco, California	64	34	13	17
Cincinnati, Ohio	57	29	15	13
St. Louis, Missouri	82	25	20	37
Seattle, Washington	43	25	6	12
Cleveland, Ohio	38	24	8	6
Brooklyn, New York	47	24	12	11
San Diego, California	50	23	13	14
Detroit, Michigan	53	23	15	15
Portland, Oregon	37	21	10	6
Oakland, California	36	20	9	7
Houston, Texas	52	20	15	17
Honolulu, Hawaii	49	19	18	12
Atlanta, Georgia	36	18	11	7
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	30	16	9	5
Boston, Massachusetts	46	15	18	13
Modesto, California	18	13	2	3
Dallas, Texas	21	13	4	4
Tacoma, Washington	18	12	3	3
Denver, Colorado	17	12	3	2
Madison, Wisconsin	17	11	2	4
Long Beach, California	36	11	15	10
Jacksonville, Florida	15	11	4	0
Indianapolis, Indiana	21	11	5	5
Birmingham, Alabama	16	11	3	2
Pasadena, California	17	10	4	3
Newport Beach, California	19	10	5	4
Milwaukee, Wisconsin	20	10	9	1
Miami, Florida	16	10	5	1
San Jose, California	20	9	7	4
Sacramento, California	24	9	6	9
New Orleans, Louisiana	16	9	2	5
Louisville, Kentucky	12	9	1	2
Evanston, Illinois	16	9	5	2
Danvers, Massachusetts	15	9	3	3
Syracuse, New York	10	8	1	1
Newark, New Jersey	26	8	9	9
Moraga, California	13	8	4	1
Minneapolis, Minnesota	12	8	1	3
Lafayette, Indiana	8	8	0	0
Jackson, Michigan	11	8	1	2
Des Moines, Iowa	12	8	4	0
Dayton, Ohio	16	8	3	5
Columbus, Ohio	19	8	6	5
Canandaigua, New York	14	8	3	3
Palo Alto, California	11	7	2	2
Orange Park, Florida	7	7	0	0
Charlotte, North Carolina	12	7	3	2
Akron, Ohio	15	7	5	3
Whittier, California	17	6	8	3
Tuscaloosa, Alabama	11	6	1	4
Toledo, Ohio	12	6	1	5
Stockton, California	10	6	2	2
Spokane, Washington	9	6	1	2
Portland, Maine	8	6	1	1
New Brunswick, New Jersey	7	6	1	0
Memphis, Tennessee	10	6	3	1
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	12	6	4	2
Fresno, California	12	6	4	2
Culver City, California	8	6	1	1
Columbia, South Carolina	6	6	0	0
Buffalo, New York	19	6	5	8
Beverly Hills, California	14	6	4	4
Berkeley, California	15	6	2	7
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	12	6	5	1
Youngstown, Ohio	6	5	0	1
Tulsa, Oklahoma	11	5	4	2
tucson, Arizona	16	5	7	4
Syosset, New York	6	5	1	0
St. Petersburg, Florida	9	5	4	0
Shreveport, Louisiana	6	5	1	0
Santa Monica, California	10	5	2	3
Santa Clara, California	11	5	5	1
Salt Lake City, Utah	15	5	6	4
Saginaw, Michigan	6	5	1	0
Phoenix, Arizona	14	5	6	3
Orlando, Florida	8	5	1	2
Omaha, Nebraska	7	5	0	2
Newport News, Virginia	6	5	0	1
New Rochelle, New York	6	5	0	1
Natlee, Kentucky	7	5	1	1
Lake Forest, Illinois	7	5	2	0
Jacksontown, Ohio	11	5	4	2
IRVINE, California	9	5	2	2
Healdsburg, California	8	5	2	1
East St. Louis, Missouri	7	5	1	1
Chino, California	5	5	0	0
Bronx, New York	10	5	3	2
Bremerton, Washington	9	5	2	2
Bellflower, California	11	5	4	2
Bay City, Texas	7	5	1	1
Astoria, New York	5	5	0	0
Yonkers, New York	8	4	3	1
Winter Haven, Florida	4	4	0	0
Vallejo, California	13	4	4	5
Stratford, New Jersey	4	4	0	0
Springfield, Illinois	7	4	2	1
Seal Beach, California	4	4	0	0
San Antonio, Texas	10	4	3	3
Riverside, California	6	4	2	0
Portsmouth, Virginia	6	4	0	2
Pine Bluff, Arkansas	6	4	0	2
Palos Heights, Illinois	8	4	3	1
Orange, New Jersey	7	4	1	2
Orange, California	8	4	1	3
New Haven, Connecticut	6	4	0	2
New Britain, Connecticut	5	4	0	1
Mount Kisco, New York	5	4	1	0
Montgomery, Alabama	4	4	0	0
Marietta, Georgia	5	4	0	1
Manhattan, New York	7	4	2	1
Lynwood, California	7	4	2	1
Iowa City, Iowa	5	4	1	0
Grand Rapids, Michigan	8	4	1	3
Gardena, California	4	4	0	0
Fullerton, California	6	4	1	1
Fontana, California	6	4	1	1
Elizabeth, New Jersey	7	4	1	2
East St. Louis, Illinois	8	4	2	2
Danville, Alabama	5	4	1	0
Canton, Ohio	4	4	0	0
Camden, New Jersey	7	4	3	0
Camarillo, California	8	4	1	3
Cairo, Georgia	6	4	1	1
Burbank, California	4	4	0	0
Anaheim, California	14	4	7	3
Almonesson Lake, New Jersey	5	4	1	0
Albany, Georgia	5	4	1	0
Worcester, Massachusetts	5	3	1	1
Winston-Salem, North Carolina	4	3	1	0
Winona, Minnesota	3	3	0	0
Winigan, Missouri	3	3	0	0
Wilmington, Delaware	5	3	1	1
Wichita, Kansas	8	3	2	3
Wellsburg, West Virginia	3	3	0	0
Waterford, New York	3	3	0	0
Tulare, California	3	3	0	0
Tampa, Florida	5	3	1	1
Sarasota, Florida	5	3	2	0
Santa Fe Springs, California	4	3	1	0
San Ramon, California	3	3	0	0
Saint Paul, Minnesota	12	3	5	4
Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee	4	3	0	1
Richton, Mississippi	3	3	0	0
Richmond, Virginia	6	3	0	3

Statistics by sports, gender

Top Olympic Sport for US Competitors: The most popular Olympic sport for US competitors is track and field events, with 1,942 athletes having participated. Aquatics is the second most popular sport with 929 athletes, followed by rowing with 682 athletes.

Gender Ratio in Summer Olympians: Historically, the average ratio of male to female US Summer Olympians is approximately 7-to-3 (70.4% male and 29.6% female). This indicates a significant gender disparity, although women have been competing since the 1900 Summer Games.

States Producing More Female Olympians: Only two states have produced more female Olympians than male:

• Idaho: 11 women and 8 men.
• Alaska: 8 women and 3 men.

States with More Medals from Female Olympians: Some states have seen their female Olympians earn more medals than their male counterparts:

• Alaska: 3 medals from women versus 1 from men.
• Idaho: 10 medals from women and none from men.
• Tennessee: 26 medals from women compared to 15 from men.

Medal Efficiency by Gender: Female US Olympians tend to earn more medals on average than their male counterparts. On average, female athletes earn 0.66 medals per athlete, compared to 0.56 medals per male athlete.

State	Total Olympians	Women	Men
California	1394	520	874
New York	823	187	636
Pennsylvania	521	145	376
Illinois	476	122	354
Texas	335	111	224
New Jersey	332	84	248
Massachusetts	326	79	247
Ohio	294	70	224
Missouri	253	38	215
Michigan	220	54	166
Florida	206	86	120
Washington	186	59	127
Indiana	147	50	97
Wisconsin	140	54	86
Georgia	131	43	88
Minnesota	130	43	87
Virginia	115	38	77
Maryland	106	36	70
Colorado	106	43	63
Oregon	104	34	70
Connecticut	102	28	74
Iowa	101	19	82
Kansas	91	13	78
Louisiana	89	24	65
Oklahoma	88	14	74
Hawaii	87	29	58
North Carolina	78	24	54
Arizona	72	31	41
Mississippi	67	18	49
Alabama	63	20	43
Kentucky	62	12	50
Tennessee	61	27	34
Utah	51	17	34
Nebraska	51	6	45
South Carolina	48	15	33
Arkansas	43	8	35
New Hampshire	36	14	22
Rhode Island	35	13	22
Nevada	35	17	18
Montana	35	12	23
Maine	30	11	19
New Mexico	27	9	18
South Dakota	25	3	22
Delaware	23	10	13
West Virginia	21	4	17
Idaho	19	11	8
Vermont	18	5	13
Alaska	11	8	3
North Dakota	9	0	9
Wyoming	7	2	5

Hometown/Birthplace	Total Olympians	Women	Men
New York, New York	349	88	261
Chicago, Illinois	225	47	178
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	201	35	166
Los Angeles, California	197	54	143
St. Louis, Missouri	153	15	138
San Francisco, California	103	30	73
Boston, Massachusetts	98	23	75
Washington, District of Columbia	91	21	70
Brooklyn, New York	82	1	81
San Diego, California	81	39	42
Detroit, Michigan	81	13	68
Houston, Texas	80	29	51
Seattle, Washington	77	25	52
Honolulu, Hawaii	70	27	43
Cincinnati, Ohio	64	22	42
Portland, Oregon	53	19	34
Long Beach, California	53	20	33
Cleveland, Ohio	52	15	37
Baltimore, Maryland	52	13	39
Minneapolis, Minnesota	48	13	35
Newark, New Jersey	47	6	41
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	44	14	30
Oakland, California	41	8	33
Buffalo, New York	41	7	34
Atlanta, Georgia	41	8	33
Denver, Colorado	39	20	19
Dallas, Texas	39	15	24
Indianapolis, Indiana	38	16	22
New Orleans, Louisiana	34	7	27
Milwaukee, Wisconsin	33	7	26
Kansas city, Missouri	33	9	24
San Jose, California	31	17	14
Miami, Florida	29	13	16
Louisville, Kentucky	28	8	20
Berkeley, California	28	11	17
Sacramento, California	27	10	17
Santa Monica, California	24	6	18
Pasadena, California	23	9	14
Evanston, Illinois	23	6	17
Columbus, Ohio	23	8	15
Phoenix, Arizona	22	10	12
Salt Lake City, Utah	21	7	14
Anaheim, California	21	8	13
Tulsa, Oklahoma	19	2	17
Toledo, Ohio	19	3	16
Tucson, Arizona	18	9	9
Tacoma, Washington	18	4	14
Santa Barbara, California	18	3	15
San Antonio, Texas	18	8	10
Saint Paul, Minnesota	18	5	13
Providence, Rhode Island	18	5	13
Palo Alto, California	18	8	10
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	18	8	10
Bronx, New York	18	5	13
Yonkers, New York	17	1	16
Wilmington, Delaware	17	8	9
Fresno, California	17	4	13
Syracuse, New York	16	7	9
Rochester, New York	16	8	8
Omaha, Nebraska	16	0	16
Newport Beach, California	16	5	11
Madison, Wisconsin	16	9	7
Dayton, Ohio	16	4	12
Spokane, Washington	15	4	11
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	15	4	11
Las Vegas, Nevada	15	10	5
Akron, Ohio	15	3	12
Worcester, Massachusetts	14	4	10
Richmond, Virginia	14	6	8
New Haven, Connecticut	14	1	13
Modesto, California	14	5	9
Jersey City, New Jersey	14	2	12
Jacksonville, Florida	14	7	7
Topeka, Kansas	13	4	9
Paterson, New Jersey	13	2	11
Birmingham, Alabama	13	4	9
Ann Arbor, Michigan	13	6	7
Trenton, New Jersey	12	5	7
St. Petersburg, Florida	12	5	7
Springfield, Illinois	12	4	8
Santa Clara, California	12	9	3
Riverside, California	12	8	4
Reno, Nevada	12	4	8
Norfolk, Virginia	12	3	9
Fort Lauderdale, Florida	12	6	6
Colorado Springs, Colorado	12	1	11
Charlotte, North Carolina	12	4	8
Camden, New Jersey	12	4	8
Wichita, Kansas	11	3	8
Torrance, California	11	3	8
Saginaw, Michigan	11	4	7
Orlando, Florida	11	3	8
Orange, California	11	5	6
Nashville, Tennessee	11	6	5
Memphis, Tennessee	11	5	6
Manhattan, New York	11	0	11
Lancaster, Pennsylvania	11	7	4
Inglewood, California	11	7	4
Hartford, Connecticut	11	4	7
Fullerton, California	11	5	6
Fort Worth, Texas	11	2	9
Flint, Michigan	11	5	6
Cedar Rapids, Iowa	11	0	11
Albuquerque, New Mexico	11	5	6
Walnut Creek, California	10	6	4
Tampa, Florida	10	6	4
Staten Island, New York	10	0	10
Shreveport, Louisiana	10	3	7
Orange, New Jersey	10	2	8
Manhattan Beach, California	10	5	5
Knoxville, Tennessee	10	4	6
Grand Rapids, Michigan	10	0	10
Glendale, California	10	4	6
Bridgeport, Connecticut	10	2	8
Boulder, Colorado	10	6	4
Bakersfield, California	10	0	10
Whittier, California	9	4	5
Peoria, Illinois	9	3	6
Oceanside, California	9	4	5
Montclair, New Jersey	9	2	7
Marietta, Georgia	9	4	5
Des Moines, Iowa	9	5	4
Davenport, Iowa	9	3	6
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	9	3	6
Albany, New York	9	2	7
Virginia Beach, Virginia	8	5	3
Upland, California	8	3	5
Tallahassee, Florida	8	5	3
Summit, New Jersey	8	3	5
Stamford, Connecticut	8	2	6
Santa Ana, California	8	1	7
Salem, Massachusetts	8	1	7
Redondo Beach, California	8	4	4
Queens, New York	8	0	8
Princeton, New Jersey	8	1	7
Oak Park, Illinois	8	2	6
Norristown, Pennsylvania	8	4	4
Mesa, Arizona	8	6	2
Little Rock, Arkansas	8	2	6
Jackson, Mississippi	8	4	4
Huntington Beach, California	8	2	6
Fall River, Massachusetts	8	0	8
Eugene, Oregon	8	2	6
Charleston, South Carolina	8	4	4
Canton, Ohio	8	0	8
Bloomington, Indiana	8	3	5
Arlington, Virginia	8	2	6
Van Nuys, California	7	0	7
Stockton, California	7	2	5
Schenectady, New York	7	1	6
San Mateo, California	7	5	2
Rockville Centre, New York	7	2	5
Newport News, Virginia	7	3	4
Muncie, Indiana	7	1	6
Montgomery, Alabama	7	1	6
Long Branch, New Jersey	7	1	6
Livingston, New Jersey	7	3	4
Lexington, Kentucky	7	2	5
Lafayette, Louisiana	7	3	4
Gary, Indiana	7	4	3
Gainesville, Florida	7	6	1
Fountain Valley, California	7	3	4
Fontana, California	7	4	3
Elizabeth, New Jersey	7	2	5
Durango, Colorado	7	1	6
Duluth, Minnesota	7	0	7
Culver City, California	7	3	4
Columbus, Georgia	7	4	3
Columbia, South Carolina	7	5	2
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania	7	5	2
Austin, Texas	7	4	3
Amarillo, Texas	7	0	7
Allentown, Pennsylvania	7	4	3
Alexandria, Virginia	7	2	5
Abington, Pennsylvania	7	2	5
Waukesha, Wisconsin	6	5	1
Springfield, Massachusetts	6	0	6
South Boston, Massachusetts	6	0	6
Santa Cruz, California	6	4	2
San Gabriel, California	6	0	6
Rockford, Illinois	6	2	4
Reading, Pennsylvania	6	6	0
Portsmouth, Virginia	6	3	3
Plainfield, New Jersey	6	1	5
Olympia, Washington	6	1	5
Newton, Massachusetts	6	3	3
Missoula, Montana	6	2	4
Lynn, Massachusetts	6	3	3
Lincoln County, Tennessee	6	0	6
Kansas City, Kansas	6	1	5
Ithaca, New York	6	2	4
Huntington, New York	6	4	2
Hanover, New Hampshire	6	3	3
Hackensack, New Jersey	6	0	6
Greensboro, North Carolina	6	1	5
Glen Cove, New York	6	0	6
Fremont, California	6	4	2
Erie, Pennsylvania	6	1	5
Dorchester, Massachusetts	6	0	6
Darby, Pennsylvania	6	3	3
Cambridge, Massachusetts	6	1	5
Brookline, Massachusetts	6	1	5
Bethesda, Maryland	6	2	4
Bellflower, California	6	2	4
Bangor, Maine	6	2	4
Aurora, Illinois	6	2	4
Augusta, Georgia	6	1	5
Anchorage, Alaska	6	4	2

Methodology

BeenVerified examined the birthplaces of all US-born Summer Olympics athletes who have competed since 1896. Totals for medalists include both individual winners and individuals participating on teams that won gold, silver or bronze medals in previous games.

Birthplace cities are based on geographical boundaries and incorporations at the time of the athlete’s birth; some cities and towns no longer exist.

For this study, we have limited our research to all athletes who were selected or participated in past games, and those participating in the Paris Summer Games according to the Team USA website.

For more information, contact Kerry Sherin, kerry@beenverified.com, or Erin Kemp, erin@beenverified.com.

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