A third of all college track & field athletes compete for schools in California, New York, and Iowa federal data shows.
The analysis includes colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs report athletics data to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education. The latest data includes more than 2,000 schools reporting participation numbers for 2016.
In the U.S., District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, there are 20,436 college outdoor track & field players.
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Most popular states for college outdoor track & field
| State | Men | Women | Total Players | |
| 1 | California | 2,159 | 1,739 | 3,898 |
| 2 | New York | 1,030 | 876 | 1,906 |
| 3 | Iowa | 618 | 499 | 1,117 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 620 | 482 | 1,102 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 437 | 461 | 898 |
| 6 | Ohio | 436 | 385 | 821 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 455 | 353 | 808 |
| 8 | Illinois | 444 | 304 | 748 |
| 9 | Oregon | 380 | 318 | 698 |
| 10 | Texas | 326 | 271 | 597 |
| 11 | Minnesota | 232 | 311 | 543 |
| 12 | Indiana | 279 | 226 | 505 |
| 13 | Michigan | 242 | 257 | 499 |
| 14 | New Jersey | 263 | 217 | 480 |
| 15 | Georgia | 157 | 236 | 393 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 192 | 158 | 350 |
| 17 | Virginia | 177 | 147 | 324 |
| 18 | Maryland | 154 | 125 | 279 |
| 19 | Washington | 143 | 134 | 277 |
| 20 | Missouri | 118 | 130 | 248 |
| 21 | Kansas | 139 | 106 | 245 |
| 22 | Kentucky | 119 | 114 | 233 |
| 23 | Arizona | 156 | 76 | 232 |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 99 | 132 | 231 |
| 25 | Maine | 113 | 101 | 214 |
| 26 | Florida | 116 | 95 | 211 |
| 27 | Vermont | 110 | 101 | 211 |
| 28 | Puerto Rico | 123 | 83 | 206 |
| 29 | Mississippi | 120 | 80 | 200 |
| 30 | North Carolina | 91 | 105 | 196 |
| 31 | West Virginia | 113 | 74 | 187 |
| 32 | Nebraska | 103 | 83 | 186 |
| 33 | South Carolina | 98 | 85 | 183 |
| 34 | Alabama | 62 | 105 | 167 |
| 35 | Washington D.C. | 66 | 73 | 139 |
| 36 | Rhode Island | 50 | 78 | 128 |
| 37 | Louisiana | 57 | 62 | 119 |
| 38 | New Hampshire | 58 | 51 | 109 |
| 39 | Colorado | 23 | 54 | 77 |
| 40 | Utah | 0 | 67 | 67 |
| 41 | Connecticut | 27 | 39 | 66 |
| 42 | Montana | 28 | 29 | 57 |
| 43 | Idaho | 32 | 21 | 53 |
| 44 | South Dakota | 30 | 21 | 51 |
| 45 | Alaska | 28 | 20 | 48 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 26 | 20 | 46 |
| 47 | Arkansas | 28 | 17 | 45 |
| 48 | Nevada | 0 | 38 | 38 |
| 49 | Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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