We crunched the numbers from Forbes’ latest list of the 100 highest paid athletes. And we worked out the combined earnings of all athletes born in each U.S. state.
Spoiler alert: if you want to make the big bucks, being born in California seems to be an advantage…
Here’s the full list of athletes born in each state…
1. California
Athletes born in California
Tiger Woods ($62.3M), Russell Westbrook ($56M), Jared Goff ($49M), James Harden ($47.8M), Tom Brady ($45M), Phil Mickelson ($40.8M), Klay Thompson ($38.8M), Damian Lillard ($37M), Paul George ($32.8M), Michael Thomas ($32.4M), Kawhi Leonard ($30.5M), Aaron Rodgers ($30.1M), Arik Armstead ($26.8M), Kevin Love ($25.7M), Bobby Wagner ($25M), DeMar DeRozan ($24.8M), Shaq Thompson ($23.7M), Derek Carr ($22M)
Combined earnings: $650.5M
2. Ohio
Athletes born in Ohio
LeBron James ($88.2M), Stephen Curry ($74.4M), C.J. McCollum ($23.8M), Ben Roethlinberger ($23M)
Combined earnings: $209.4M
3. North Carolina
Athletes born in North Carolina
Carson Wentz ($59.1M), Chris Paul ($35M), John Wall ($31.2M), Zion Williamson ($27.3M), D.J. Reader ($22.4M)
Combined earnings: $175M
4. Texas
Athletes born in Texas
Drew Brees ($44.8M), Jimmy Butler ($27.6M), Jordan Spieth (27.6M), Clayton Kershaw ($27.3M), Ryan Tannehill ($25.5M)
Combined earnings: $152.8M
5. Alabama
5. AlabamaAthletes born in Alabama
Deontay Wilder ($46.5M), Julio Jones ($40.5M), Philip Rivers ($23.4M), Quinnen Williams ($22.4M)
Combined earnings: $132.8M
6. Illinois
6. IllinoisAthletes born in Illinois
Kirk Cousins ($60.5M), Anthony Davis ($30.4M), Ezekiel Elliott ($23.3M)
Combined earnings: $114.2M
7. Georgia
7. GeorgiaAthletes born in Georgia
Grady Jarrett ($33.1M), Darius Slay ($26.1M), Cam Newton ($22.2M)
Combined earnings: $81.4M
8. New York
8. New YorkAthletes born in New York
Kemba Walker ($27.6M), Tobias Harris ($25.4M), Andre Drummond ($22.6M)
Combined earnings: $75.6M
9. Florida
9. FloridaAthletes born in Florida
Amari Cooper ($24.9M), Dante Fowler Jr. ($24.2M), Nick Bosa ($23.7M)
Combined earnings: $72.8M
10. Maryland
10. MarylandAthletes born in Maryland
Kevin Durrant ($63.9M)
11. Michigan
11. MichiganAthletes born in Michigan
Serena Williams ($36M), Devin Booker ($26.6M)
Combined earnings: $62.6M
12. Pennsylvania
12. PennsylvaniaAthletes born in Pennsylvania
Matt Ryan ($29.5M), Kyle Lowry ($28.5M)
Combined earnings: $58M
13. South Carolina
13. South CarolinaAthletes born in South Carolina
Robert Quinn ($24.7M), Khris Middleton ($24.1M)
Combined earnings: $48.8M
14. Colorado
14. ColoradoAthletes born in Colorado
Christian McCaffrey ($26.5M), Calais Campbell ($22.1M)
Combined earnings: $48.6M
15. Arizona
15. ArizonaAthletes born in Arizona
Mike Conley Jr. ($25.4M), Andrus Peat ($22.7M)
Combined earnings: $48.1M
16. Oklahoma
16. OklahomaAthletes born in Oklahoma
Blake Griffin ($31.9M)
17. Indiana
Athletes born in Indiana
Gordon Hayward ($27.6M)
18. Kentucky
18. KentuckyAthletes born in Kentucky
D’Angelo Russell ($26.5M)
19. Wisconsin
19. WisconsinAthletes born in Wisconsin
Trae Waynes ($24.3M)
20. New Jersey
20. New JerseyAthletes born in New Jersey
Karl-Anthony Towns ($23.5M)
21. Louisiana
21. LouisianaAthletes born in Louisiana
Paul Millsap ($23.3M)
22. Missouri
22. MissouriAthletes born in Missouri
Bradley Beal ($22.3M)
No Athletes In Top 100
Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
Want More Stats?
With earnings of $88.2M, Ohio born LeBron James was the biggest banking American on Forbes’ latest list. But that still wasn’t enough to top the list globally. Check out our live graphic, which shows Forbes top earners from 1990-2020 below.
