Everyone knows the best states for producing football talent are California, Florida and Texas. Or are they?
Sure, by sheer volume the three states always dominate the list of top recruits. But when you take population into account Texas and California actually rank toward the bottom when it comes to producing talent.
Washington, D.C., for example, has produced four Top 100 recruits in the past five years, despite having a population of just under 650,000. Right behind that is Alabama, which has produced 24 Top 100 recruits with a population of just over 4 million.
Compare that to California, which has 58 Top 100 recruits, but draws from nearly 39 million people.
Also, in the past five years, the state of Louisiana has produced more Top 10 recruits than Texas.
This isn't to say that California, Texas and Florida aren't monsters when it comes to producing talent, but on a level playing field the smaller states more than hold their own.
Sources: 247Sports Composite Rankings,
U.S. Census Population EstimatesTop 100 recruits by state (last five years)Florida - 85
Texas - 64
California - 58
Georgia - 43
Alabama - 24
Louisiana - 23
Ohio - 22
North Carolina - 17
Virginia - 17
New Jersey - 13
Illinois - 12
Arizona - 10
Michigan - 10
Mississippi - 10
Pennsylvania - 9
Maryland - 8
Tennessee - 8
Missouri - 7
Arkansas - 6
South Carolina - 6
Washington - 6
Oklahoma - 5
Indiana - 5
Utah - 4
Washington, D.C. - 4
Kentucky - 3
New York - 3
Oregon - 3
Colorado - 1
Connecticut - 2
Hawaii - 2
Iowa - 2
Kansas - 2
Minnesota - 2
Idaho - 1
New Mexico - 1
Nevada - 1
Ontario (Canada) - 1
Top 10 recruits by state (last five years)Florida - 11
California - 7
Louisiana - 6
Texas - 6
Georgia - 4
Maryland - 3
Virginia - 3
Arizona - 2
Alabama - 1
Indiana - 1
Missouri - 1
North Carolina - 1
New Jersey - 1
Pennsylvania - 1
South Carolina - 1
Washington, D.C. - 1
Most Top 100 Recruits per million residents (last five years)Washington, D.C. - 6.07
Alabama - 4.949
Louisiana - 4.946
Florida - 4.27
Georgia - 4.26
Arkansas - 3.37
Mississippi - 3.34
Texas - 2.37
Virginia - 2.04
Least Top 100 Recruits per million residents (last five years)New York - 0.15
Colorado - 0.19
Nevada - 0.35
Minnesota - 0.37
New Mexico - 0.48
Connecticut - 0.56
Idaho - 0.61
Iowa - 0.64
Kentucky 0.68
Kansas - 0.69
2015 Top 100 recruits by state
California - 17No. 4
Iman Marshall Long Beach Poly CB Uncommitted
No. 6
Kahlil McKenzie Clayton Valley Charter (Concord) DT Tennessee
No. 12
Josh Rosen St. John Bosco (Bellflower) QB UCLA
No. 17
Keisean Lucier-South Orange Lutheran WDE UCLA
No. 21
Blake Barnett Santiago (Corona) QB Alabama
No. 23
Rasheem Green Serra (Gardena) DT Uncommitted
No. 49
John Houston Serra (Gardena) OLB Uncommitted
No. 60
Marvell Tell Crespi (Encino) S USC
No. 67
Brady White Hart (Newhall) QB Arizona State
No. 68
DeChaun Holiday Mission Hills (San Marcos) CB Uncommitted
No. 69
Jacob Daniel Clovis North (Fresno) DT USC
No. 70
Trent Irwin Hart (Newhall) WR Stanford
No. 71
Jake Browning Folsom QB Washington
No. 79
Ricky Town St. Bonaventure (Ventura) QB USC
No. 84
Ykili Ross Poly (Riverside) CB USC
No. 87
Joseph Wicker Long Beach Poly SDE Uncommitted
No. 97
Isaiah Langley Foothill (Pleasanton) CB USC
Florida - 17No. 2
Martez Ivey Apopka OT Uncommitted
No. 3
Byron Cowart Armwood (Seffner) SDE Uncommitted
No. 5
Derwin James Haines City S Florida State
No. 7
Cece Jefferson Baker County (Glen St. Mary) SDE Uncommitted
No. 9
Kevin Toliver Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville) CB LSU
No. 11
Cavin Ridley Monarch (Coconut Creek) WR Alabama
No. 15
Tarvarus McFadden American Heritage (Plantation) CB Florida State
No. 18
George Campbell East Lake (Tarpon Springs) WR Florida State
No. 19
Deon Cain Tampa Bay Tech (Tampa) WR Clemson
No. 39
Jacques Patrick Timber Creek (Orlando) RB Florida State
No. 65
Deondre Francois IMG Academy (Bradenton) QB Florida State
No. 75
Torrance Gibson American Heritage (Plantation) ATH Ohio State
No. 81
Ray-Ray McCloud III Sickles (Tampa) ATH Clemson
No. 83
Mark Walton Washington (Miami) RB Miami
No. 93
Abdul Bello Montverde Academy OT Florida State
No. 94
Dexter Williams West Orange (Winter Garden) RB Uncommitted
No. 99
Da'Vante Phillips Central (Miami) WR Florida State
Texas - 14No. 10
Malik Jefferson Poteet (Mesquite) OLB Texas
No. 14
Daylon Mack Gladewater DT Uncommitted
No. 20
Kendall Sheffield Fort Bend Marshall (Missouri City) CB Alabama
No. 32
Soso Jamabo Plano West RB Uncommitted
No. 33
Kyler Murray Allen QB Texas A&M
No. 37
Maea Teuhema Keller OT LSU
No. 38
Jarrett Stidham Stephenville QB Baylor
No. 40
Ronald Jones II McKinney North RB USC
No. 43
Damarkus Lodge Cedar Hill WR Uncommitted
No. 44
Deionte Thompson West Orange-Stark (Orange) S Alabama
No. 73
Anthony Wheeler Skyline (Dallas) OLB Texas
No. 77
Chris Warren Rockwall RB Uncommitted
No. 80
Holton Hill Lamar (Houston) CB Uncommitted
No. 98
Kris Boyd Gilmer CB Uncommitted
Georgia - 10No. 1
Trent Thompson Westover (Albany) DT Georgia
No. 22
Mitch Hyatt North Gwinnett (Suwanee) OT Clemson
No. 26
Chuma Edoga McEachern (Powder Springs) OT USC
No. 28
Terry Godwin Callaway (Hogansville) ATH Georgia
No. 47
Roquan Smith Macon County (Montezuma) OLB -
No. 48
Preston Williams Lovejoy WR Tennessee
No. 51
Taj Griffin McEachern (GA) APB Oregon
No. 66
Jonathan Ledbetter Tucker SDE Georgia
No. 82
Arden Key Hapeville Charter (Atlanta) WDE -
No. 88
Natrez Patrick Mays (Atlanta) WDE Georgia
Louisiana - 4No. 27
Tyron Johnson Easton (New Orleans) WR LSU
No. 46
Derrius Guice Catholic (Baton Rouge) RB LSU
No. 56
Donte Jackson Riverdale (Jefferson) ATH LSU
No. 90
Daylon Charlot Patterson WR -
North Carolina - 4No. 53
Shy Tuttle North Davidson (Lexington) DT Texas
No. 57
Jalen Dalton West Forsyth (Clemmons) WDE North Carolina
No. 76
Johnny Frasier Princeton RB North Carolina St.
No. 95
Mark Fields ii Hough (Cornelius) CB Clemson
Ohio - 4No. 34
Justin Hilliard St. Xavier (Cincinnati) OLB Ohio State
No. 59
Larry Scott Hubbard RB Michigan State
No. 61
Jerome Baker Benedictine (Cleveland) ATH Ohio State
No. 100
Eric Glover-williams McKinley (Canton) CB Ohio State
Alabama - 3No. 29
Daron Payne Shades Valley (Birmingham) DT -
No. 42
Kerryon Johnson Madison Academy ATH Auburn
No. 55
Lester Cotton Central (Tuscaloosa) OG Alabama
Mississippi - 3No. 52
Javon Patterson Petal OG Ole Miss
No. 58
Jamal Peters Bassfield S Mississippi State
No. 63
Leo Lewis Brookhaven ILB Ole Miss
Connecticut - 2No. 24
Christian Wilkins Suffield Academy DT Clemson
No. 85
Chris Clark Avon Old Farms TE -
Hawaii - 2No. 16
Canton Kaumatule Punahou (Honolulu) SDE Oregon
No. 50
Breiden Fehoko Farrington (Honolulu) DT Texas Tech
Michigan - 2No. 74
Brian Cole Heritage (Saginaw) ATH Michigan
No. 78
Mike Weber Cass Tech (Detroit) RB Ohio State
New Jersey - 2No. 30
Minkah Fitzpatrick St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City) CB/WR Alabama
No. 45
Brandon Wimbush St. Peter's Prep QB Notre Dame
Tennessee - 2No. 36
Kyle Phillips Hillsboro (Nashville) SDE Tennessee
No. 54
Drew Richmond Memphis University OT Ole Miss
Utah - 2No. 35
Osa Masina Brighton (Salt Lake City) OLB USC
No. 41
Porter Gustin Salem Hills OLB -
Virginia - 2No. 8
Josh Sweat Oscar Smith (Chesapeake) WDE Florida State
No. 86
Ricky Deberry Atlee (Mechanicsville) ILB Oklahoma
Arizona - 1No. 25
Christian Kirk Saguaro (Scottsdale) WR -
Idaho - 1No. 89
Tristen Hoge Highland (Pocatello) OC Notre Dame
Illinois - 1No. 13
Terry Beckner East St. Louis SDE -
Kentucky - 1No. 31
Damien Harris Madison Southern (Berea) RB -
Minnesota - 1No. 91
Jashon Cornell Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul) SDE Ohio State
Missouri - 1No. 96
Drew Lock Lee's Summit QB Missouri
Nevada - 1No. 62
Alize Jones Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) TE Notre Dame
Ontario, Canada - 1No. 72 Neville Gallimore Canada Prep Football Academy DT Oklahoma
South Carolina - 1No. 92
Albert Huggins Orangeburg-Wilkinson DT Clemson
Washington, D.C. - 1No. 64
Richie Petitbon Gonzaga OG Alabama
