The wonderful density blog Per Square Mile gives us a graphic rendering of how much space the world’s population of 6.9 billion would need if it were as dense as certain cities. If everyone on earth were packed together like Parisians (above, click to enlarge), we’d only need about 128,000 square miles — an area roughly the size of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. To live like Singapore we keep Louisiana but swap the others for Texas and Oklahoma. Like San Francisco, keep the Singapore lineup and bring back Arkansas. Like London, keep San Francisco’s states and add New Mexico. Houston requires most of the Midwest, Great Plains, Southwest, and Rocky Mountains.

To live like New York all we need is Texas:

Empire State: 250,404 square miles