Birthplaces and Dates of U.S. Vice Presidents
U.S. presidents rely heavily on their second-in-command, the vice president. Oftentimes, vice-presidential candidates are selected to balance the ticket. Diversity in race, gender (as with the 2020 election), age, and geography can increase an administration’s chances of winning the election. As such, let’s take a look at the birthplaces of past U.S. vice presidents to see which state most V.P.s have been from and which states are without ties to a vice president. Additionally, birth dates and age ranges at inauguration are included on the map below.
View Birthdates and birthplaces of U.S. vice presidents in a full screen map
The data displayed on the map is from the List of vice presidents of the United States by place of primary affiliation on Wikipedia, though we used some Excel skills to note the age of each vice president when they first took office. You can sort the map by that information or if you’re more interested in where each V.P. started Biden their time, note the geographic facts about the vice presidency below.
Most Vice Presidents Were Born in This State
As we learned from the map of US president births and burials, eight presidents were born in Virginia, which is also incidentally nicknamed the Mother of Presidents. Additionally, seven presidents are buried in Virginia, so the state tops in both births and burials. Let’s see if the same state that produced the most U.S. presidents also resulted in the most V.P.s.
| Home state | Number of VPs |
|---|---|
| New York | 8 |
| Virginia | 3 |
| Vermont | 3 |
| Ohio | 3 |
| Massachusetts | 3 |
| Kentucky | 3 |
| Indiana | 3 |
| Texas | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 |
| North Carolina | 2 |
| New Jersey | 2 |
| Nebraska | 2 |
| Maine | 2 |
| California | 2 |
| South Dakota | 1 |
| South Carolina | 1 |
| New Hampshire | 1 |
| Missouri | 1 |
| Minnesota | 1 |
| Maryland | 1 |
| Kansas | 1 |
| Iowa | 1 |
| District of Columbia | 1 |
| Grand Total | 49 |
New York has been the home state of eight past Vice Presidents. These are George Clinton (the 4th V.P.), Daniel D. Tompkins (6th), Martin Van Buren (8th), Millard Fillmore (12th), William A. Wheeler (19th), Schuyler Colfax (17th), Theodore Roosevelt (25th), and James S. Sherman (27th). Additionally, New York City is the only city where more than one vice president was born. Both the 17th and 25th V.P.s were born in the Big Apple: Schuyler Colfax and Theodore Roosevelt, respectively.
The other 49 states have each borne three or fewer V.P.s. Explore them via the map—you may note the only Western state that can claim vice presidents is California. Let’s see which other states lack V.P. representation.
States With Zero Vice Presidential Ties
Twenty-two states have been the early home of past vice presidents, leaving 28 without a tie to a V.P. This includes 10 of the 11 Western states (and Alaska and Hawaii), with California being the only exception.
Three Southwestern states lack a connection to a vice president: Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. The same can be said for four states in the Midwest including North Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Eight Southeastern states of West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida are also sans a V.P. birth. Additionally, three states in the Northeast are in the same boat: Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware. Now let’s switch gears from birthplace to birth month.
Birth Months and Ages of the V.P.s
A heartbeat away from the presidency means that V.P.s must meet the requirements, including the minimum age of 35. There are political reasons for candidates to choose either youthful or elder statesman running mates. But astrologists might also consider their Zodiac sign. We’ve included both age and birth month in this section.
Vice Presidential Age Ranges
John Adams and Kamala Harris may both be V.P.s with October birthdays, but there’s also a 229-year age gap between the two. Let’s take a look at some more notable age differences between the V.P.s.
The youngest U.S. vice president to take office was just 36 years old. That youngster was John C. Breckinridge, who held the position for one term between 1857 and 1861. On the other hand, Alben W. Barkley was the oldest V.P. to ever hold office. He first took the oath at the ripe age of 72 in 1949. As for the average age of all the vice presidents, it’s about 55 (55.163 to be exact).
Popular Veep Birth Months
Unlike with the 50 U.S. states, all 12 months of the year are represented, though one month only has a single V.P. October is the birth month of eight vice presidents. These include John Adams (the 1st V.P.), Richard M. Johnson (9th), Chester A. Arthur (20th), Adlai E. Stevenson (23rd), Theodore Roosevelt (25th), James S. Sherman (27th), Henry A. Wallace (33rd), and Kamala Harris (49th).
Six V.P.s each were born in January and July. For January, it’s Millard Fillmore (12th), John C. Breckinridge (14th), Charles Curtis (31st), Richard Nixon (36th), Walter Mondale (42nd), and Dick Cheney (46th). Then, George Clinton (4th), Elbridge Gerry (5th), George M. Dallas (11th), Calvin Coolidge (29th), Gerald Ford (40th), and Nelson Rockefeller (41st) were all born in July.
March and June bore five Vice Presidents. The March births were John C. Calhoun (7th), John Tyler (10th), Schuyler Colfax (17th), Thomas R. Marshall (28th), and Al Gore (45th). June saw Daniel D. Tompkins (6th), William A. Wheeler (19th), Garret Hobart (24th), George H. W. Bush (43rd), and Mike Pence (48th) born.
The remaining months have under five V.P. births, the lowest of which is September with the birth of just one vice president: Thomas A. Hendricks.
More Political Maps Made With BatchGeo
Below is a list of related maps you can create online for free with BatchGeo.
- Births and Burials of US Presidents
- The President Abroad: International Travels Of U.S. Presidents
- Presidential Assassination Attempts Mapped
- 2020 Presidential Primary Dates & Locations on a Map
Take a look, or make a map of your own so that you too can get visual insights into any dataset.
