Regional Supply and Demand

When a region of the country has a lot of applicants and proportionally fewer seats, demand is higher than supply, and it's harder to get in. When a region has relatively more seats, supply is higher than demand, and the cost of a seat (measured by the gpa and LSAT score you need to get that seat) drops.

• Schools in high-supply regions (where the blue bar is higher than the red one) tend to be easier to gain admission, and are thus artificially lowered in the US News ranking.
• Schools in high-demand regions (where the red bar overshadows the blue one) tend to be more competitive in admissions, and are thus artificially raised in the US News ranking.

Region 1 — New England: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and half of Connecticut.

• The Boston schools are mainly responsible for the surplus of seats over applications in this region.

Region 2 — Mid-Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and half of Connecticut.

• New York has enough seats to meet the needs of its own residents, but there's an enormous overflow from the other states, especially New Jersey.

Region 3 — D.C. Area: Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., and half of Virginia.

• DC itself has a tiny population and a vast surplus of seats.  The surrounding states use up most of that surplus, but there's still room left over for politicos from the rest of the country.

Region 4 — Border States: Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia.

• There are no noticeable differences for the region as a whole or for any state within it.

Region 5 — Southeast: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and half of Virginia.

• Florida has a surplus of seats, while every other state has a noticeable shortage.

Region 6 — Deep South: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and half of Texas.

• Louisiana has extra seats, while Alabama and Texas have a shortage.

Region 7 — Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and half of Texas.

• Oklahoma has a surplus of seats, while all the other states have a shortage.

Region 8 — West Coast: California, Hawaii, and Nevada.

• California has enough seats to meet the needs of its own residents but not enough for the other states in the region, not to mention the enormous overflow from the rest of the country.

Region 9 — Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Oregon, Washington, and half of Idaho.

• Oregon has a surplus, all the other states have a shortage.

Region 10 — Rocky Mountains: Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and half of Idaho.

• The Rocky Mountain Region shows a cumulative shortage; every state has more applicants than seats.

Region 11 — Great Plains: Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

• There are no noticeable differences for the region as a whole or for any state within it.

Region 12 — Great Lakes: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

• This region shows a large excess of seats, but it should be noted that Thomas Cooley (in Michigan) has over 1,000 seats - 2% of all seats in the entire country!  Even without Cooley, there would still be a surplus in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.

Why don't the bars total 100%?

No answer is published, but the most likely answer is that applicants from outside the U.S. are not included, nor are the three law schools on Puerto Rico.