Not sure what you mean by the is. Indiana, Illinois both have higher population densities than Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. (Although I bet Chicago distor

Not sure what you mean by the is. Indiana, Illinois both have higher population densities than Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. (Although I bet Chicago distorts Illinois' population). Only Iowa's is lower and not by much. There are tons of small towns in these states with a few hundred in population that used to support some industrial center that has since been sent overseas or a farming economy that required more people. They also often have crippling poverty, high drug use rates, and low standards of living. Indiana literally had an HIV outbreak a few years ago. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27468059/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27468059/ I don't want to compare levels of misery, but these states aren't much better off.