Does California have more beautiful women compared to other states in America?

Answer by Alex Lightman:

California has more beautiful women not only because it is the largest US state, but also on a per capita basis, for several reasons.

1. California has, since 1849, been, "The dream" of people not only in the US but world-wide. It was called the Golden State long before gold was found, and the clue to the reason for this moniker is in the original Latin for California, "Cali Fornix", which means "hot oven". This is not a kitchen oven reference, but, rather, the reference to an alchemical crucible to turn lead to gold, but the wider meaning was to transform one's self. So California has had a self-fulfilling prophecy that you could transform yourself from ordinary to golden soul. And this exerts a magnetic attraction to people.

2. California has Hollywood, where most of the world's movie budget spending has occurred over the past century (commercial films are about 100 years old, starting with The Great Train Robbery) and some of the most beautiful women have been told, "You could be a movie star!" and jumped on a bus, train, or plane to come to LA. Whether they made it or not, many stayed, got married, and had children who are also good looking.

3. Better looking people find it easier to get jobs, and some of the best jobs in the US are those at venture backed companies, and 2/3rds of the venture capital in the US is spent in California.

4. Related to but entirely separate from 2 is the growth of the television, gaming/multimedia, and Internet content industries, all of which employee vast numbers (in the hundreds of thousands) in California, also drawing attractive women.

5. California has a very strong health and fitness culture. A friend once pulled up in front of my building in Santa Monica for a road trip to San Francisco at 5am a little early. When I came to the car, he was in shock, and said that he had counted over 50 runners in the last five minutes in Palisades Park across the street.

There are over 30 yoga studios in just my zip code (Google "Yoga 90401" for yourself and see), and the streets are filled with fit healthy women in yoga pants in downtown Santa Monica and other California cities. Meanwhile, in Montana, a legislator was so shocked to see a woman in yoga pants that he wants to have women who wear yoga pants arrested and jailed.

While it's easy to just post that every state has people who work out, there are a few statistics that I am confident do not apply to people in California:
* Only about 10% of Americans exercise. Of those Americans who exercise, the average calories burned is 100 a day…about as much as I burn in 6 or 7 minutes of running.
* Two-thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third are obese.

So Californians might look better because we walk, bike, run, swim, and lift weights more, and are less likely to allow ourselves to gain weight to the point of unhealthiness.