The U.S. ranks 14th in education

According to Pearson, the United States has a “cognitive skills and educational attainment” score of 0.39, which makes the United States rank fourteenth out of forty countries ranked in that category. The top ten countries (and their scores) are:

1. South Korea (1.30)
2. Japan (1.03)
3. Singapore (0.99)
4. Hong Kong (0.96)
5. Finland (0.92)
6. United Kingdom (0.67)
7. Canada (0.60)
8. Netherlands (0.58)
9. Ireland (0.51)
10. Poland (0.50)

The U.S. ranks 167th in rural population

According to the World Bank, 18% of the population of the United States lives in rural areas. This is enough to make the United States tied for one hundred sixty-seventh with Luxembourg and South Korea, out of two hundred one countries ranked in that category. Burundi ranks first, with 89% of its population living in rural areas.

The U.S. ranks 4th in spending time with friends

According to the OECD, Americans spend use 16% of their total leisure time visiting or entertaining friends, which makes the United States tied for fourth with South Korea out of eighteen ranked OECD countries in that category. Turkey ranks first, at 34%.

The U.S. ranks 27th in food security

According to Gallup, 16% of Americans stated that they did not have enough money to buy needed food at some point within the past twelve months. That is enough to make the United States tied for twenty-seventh with Syria, Lithuania, and South Korea, out of one hundred thirteen countries ranked in that category. Singapore ranked first, with 2% of residents reporting not having enough money to buy needed food.

The U.S. ranks 3rd in armed forces personnel

According to the World Bank, in 2008 there were 1,540,000 military members in the United States, or 5.6% of the world’s 27,469,342 armed forces personnel. That was enough to make the United States rank third out of one hundred sixty seven countries with armed forces. China ranks first, with 2,885,000 military members, or 10.5% of the world’s total.

Ten countries–China, India, the United States, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, Egypt, Brazil, South Korea, and Turkey–account for almost one half (49.5%) of the world’s total armed forces personnel.

The U.S. ranks 85th in boys going to grade school

According to the World Health Organization, between 2000 and 2009, the United States had a net enrollment rate for males in primary school of 91%, which makes the United States tied for eighty-fifth in that category with several other countries–Albania, Croatia, Czech Republic, India, Samoa, Slovakia, Suriname, and Uzbekistan. Several other countries–Burundi, Georgia, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania–tied for first, with 100% of boys going to primary school.

The country with the lowest reported enrollment rate for boys in primary school is Sudan, at 43%.

The U.S. ranks 7th in per capita pornography revenues

According to the website, toptenreviews.com, in 2006 the pornography industry in the United States had per capita revenues of $44.67, which makes the United States rank seventh in that category. South Korea ranked first, with per capita pornography revenues of $526.76.

The U.S. ranks 26th in employment growth for women

According to the OECD, the United States had an employment growth rate of 3.2% between 1998 and 2007  for female college graduates, which makes the United States rank twenty-sixth out of the 30 member nations of the OECD. South Korea ranks first, at 9.8%.

The U.S. ranks 20th in urban population

According to the World Bank, 81% of Americans live in urban populations, which makes the United States tied for twentieth in that category with South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Singapore and Hong Kong are tied for first, at 100%.

The U.S. ranks 3rd in patents

According to the United Nations Development Programme, between 2000 and 2005 there were 244 patents granted in the United States for every 1,000,000 people. That makes the United States rank third in that category. South Korea ranks first, with 1113 patents per million people.