Have you ever wondered which U.S. states resemble countries more closely than others? The Country – US State Comparisons are designed to quantify just that — measuring how similar each U.S. state is to different countries around the world relative to the United States. This index provides a data-driven way to make those comparisons. It equally weights five major factors: demographics, culture, politics, technology, and geography. Over 1,000 different data points are used to generate the results.
Top 10 Countries More Similar to Idaho than the US
The countries that resemble Idaho much more than the United States are all landlocked. Idaho is more conservative than most areas of the United States, so the countries on this list tend to be more religious as well. They tend to start families earlier and have many children.
- Afghanistan and Idaho are mountainous, landlocked, and sparsely populated, with many people living in rural areas. Both have a tradition of large families and early marriages. In addition, Afghanistan and Idaho are deeply religious as well and their governments have extremely conservative laws. The vast majority of their people are Caucasian as well.
- Mali is located in Africa. Religion plays a strong role in public and private life, similar to the religious influence in Idaho’s political and social fabric. Both have a relatively high percentage of farmers compared to the United States overall. In addition, Mali and Idaho tend to have low taxes on their citizens but few rights for their workers.
- Central African Republic is another landlocked country in Africa, located between the Sahara Desert and the African savanna. Both are quite rural places, with agriculture being a large part of their economy. They also rely primarily on hydropower to create electricity. Furthermore, both criminalize marijuana and highly restrict abortion.
- Bhutan is located in between China and India. Idaho and Bhutan have similar landscapes. Both are mountainous and sparsely populated. They also have low rates of homicide and do not allow gambling. Moreover, a high percentage of their people are married and the average age of marriage is relatively low.
- Niger and Idaho have similar rural lifestyles. A large part of their economies are based on farming and raising livestock. While more extreme in Niger, both places are less urban and less tech-saturated compared to average. However, one big difference is that Niger’s climate is much hotter than Idaho’s.
- Turkmenistan, 7. Iraq, 8. Sudan, 9. Moldova, 10. Mauritania
Top 10 Countries Less Similar to Idaho than the US
Interestingly enough, the five countries with significantly fewer similarities to Idaho than the United States overall have populations with primarily European ancestry, although this is a trait of Idaho as well. These countries are a lot less conservative politically than Idaho.
- Spain has a lot of coastline and its climate is significantly warmer than Idaho’s. Furthermore, Idaho has relatively few Latinos, so a low percentage of its people speak Spanish, compared to the rest of the United States.
- Netherlands is relatively flat and much more densely populated than Idaho. Furthermore, their political and cultural differences are substantial. Idaho still criminalizes marijuana and allows capital punishment, unlike the Netherlands.
- Chile is another Spanish-speaking country on this list. It has a massive amount of coastline, in contrast to Idaho. But politically, Chile is less conservative than Idaho overall. It has legalized divorce and same-sex marriage, abolished the death penalty.
- Canada and Idaho both have relatively cold climates and are sparsely populated. However, they have some massive differences in culture and politics as well. Canada tends to have less conservative laws. It has a much older population than Idaho as well.
- Denmark, like the Netherlands, is another densely populated and relatively flat country in Europe on this list. Denmark is far more politically liberal and secular than Idaho. It provides universal healthcare and generous parental leave, unlike Idaho.
- France, 7. Italy, 8. Taiwan, 9. Germany, 10. Singapore
Full Ranking of Countries and Territories More Similar to Idaho than the US
All data accurate as of 2025.