Ranking: 49 (49th most expensive in the US and Washington, DC)

Annual cost of raising a child: $17,870

Annual day care costs: $8,771

Food costs: $1,897

In Alabama, parents spend an average of 17.1% of their income to raise a child, which is the seventh lowest percentage among all states.

The state also ranked third in the lowest day care expenses.

Ranking: 18

Annual cost of raising a child: $24,921

Annual day care costs: $11,760

Food costs: $2,342

Alaska parents face some of the highest added costs in the country when factoring a child into their expenses. The state ranks third for extra rent and food costs each year at $4,620 and $2,342, respectively, and second for transportation costs at $3,462.

However, health insurance premiums are lower than in other states; Alaska ranks the sixth-lowest in that category, with parents spending an additional $2,486 on average each year.

Ranking: 20

Annual cost of raising a child: $24,354

Annual day care costs: $14,040

Food costs: $1,807

Parents in Arizona might see smaller additional rent and food costs when factoring in a child, with the state ranking seventh lowest in both. Still, added costs for health insurance premiums are among the highest in the nation, ranking third, with parents spending an annual average of $4,929.

Ranking: 48

Annual cost of raising a child: $18,642

Annual day care costs: $8,869

Food costs: $1,735

Arkansas ranked lowest for the added cost of children's apparel to parents' expenses. The state also ranked among the lowest five for food and childcare costs.

Ranking: 5

Annual cost of raising a child: $30,059

Annual day care costs: $19,547

Food costs: $2,023

While parenting in California comes with a high price tag in some areas, parents also experience some areas of relief compared to other states. Per the LendingTree report, there are relatively low additional rent costs when raising a child compared to other states, and higher tax credits.

But parents in California face the highest apparel costs in the country, as well as the second-highest health insurance premiums.

The state also has the 10-highest average day care costs, according to the report.

Ranking: 10

Annual cost of raising a child: $28,922

Annual day care costs: $19,573

Food costs: $2,035

Colorado is ranked among the top 10 most expensive states to raise a child. Parents may face higher day care costs than in other states, with the state ranking ninth highest in the country.

However, added transportation costs are more affordable in the state, with Colorado ranking sixth-lowest.

Ranking: 11

Annual cost of raising a child: $28,899

Annual day care costs: $17,888

Food costs: $2,111

Connecticut parents face higher costs in several areas, with the state ranking 10th highest for additional rent when factoring in a child, and eighth highest for food.

However, parents also spend a lower portion of their income on raising a child each year: 17.6% on average, the eighth-lowest in the country.

Ranking: 23

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,804

Annual day care costs: $14,995

Food costs: $1,951

Delaware falls near the middle of the pack for the overall costs of raising a child in the US. Additional rent costs are among the lowest compared to other states, but additional expenses for food, transportation, and day care fall in the middle of all states.

Ranking: 9

Annual cost of raising a child: $29,186

Annual day care costs: $25,480

Food costs: $2,378

Parents in the District of Columbia saw the biggest decrease in child-rearing costs since the 2023 study.

DC has the lowest added rent cost, at a negative difference of $4,284, where parents on average pay less than their childless peers. DC parents also face the lowest added transportation costs in the country at $1,919, and spend the lowest portion of income on raising a child at 14%.

However, DC also has the highest day care and added health insurance premiums costs in the country, and faces the second-highest added food costs, per LendingTree.

Ranking: 26

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,241

Annual day care costs: $12,639

Food costs: $2,054

While Florida parents might save on transportation, as the state ranks third-lowest with parents spending an added $2,754, they also face higher health insurance premiums, ranking seventh highest in that category.

Ranking: 45

Annual cost of raising a child: $19,162

Annual day care costs: $11,066

Food costs: $1,921

The study found that Georgia parents spend the second-lowest portion of their income on raising a child. Some factors that contribute to this are the comparatively low added costs for rent and health insurance premiums — the state ranked within the 10 lowest in both categories.

Ranking: 1

Annual cost of raising a child: $36,472

Annual day care costs: $22,585

Food costs: $2,481

Hawaii is the most expensive state for raising a child in 2025, leading the list by over $3,000 in total annual costs.

Parents in the state face the highest added food costs in the country, the second-highest added rent costs, and the third-highest transportation and day care costs.

On average, parents in the state spend 25.4% of their income on the costs of raising a child, the highest share out of all states.

Ranking: 37

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,797

Annual day care costs: $10,108

Food costs: $2,040

Parents in Idaho might face some higher costs despite having the ninth-lowest childcare costs in the country. The state ranked seventh highest for both added rent and transportation costs each year, coming in at $2,364 and $3,260, respectively.

Ranking: 21

Annual cost of raising a child: $24,343

Annual day care costs: $16,373

Food costs: $1,965

Illinois' added rent costs for parents are relatively low; parents spend $276 more on average each year compared to their childless peers, which is the fifth lowest amount among all states.

Added transportation costs are also among the lowest in the country, ranking fourth lowest as parents spend an added $2,826 annually. Parents also spend a smaller portion of their income on raising a child than in other states, ranking ninth lowest at 17.9%.

Ranking: 24

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,786

Annual day care costs: $13,736

Food costs: $1,731

Although parents in Indiana spend less on food — the state ranks fourth lowest at an average added cost of $1,731 each year — they also spend a larger share of their income on raising a child, coming in at 21.4%, the fifth-highest rate in the country.

Ranking: 36

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,811

Annual day care costs: $12,168

Food costs: $1,873

Iowa parents have some of the lowest health insurance premium added costs, with the state ranking ninth lowest in the country at an average of $2,568 annually.

Ranking: 19

Annual cost of raising a child: $24,528

Annual day care costs: $15,071

Food costs: $1,900

Kansas parents spend a higher portion of their income on raising a child than peers in other states, with the state ranking ninth highest nationwide. Parents spend an average of 20.8% on the added costs of raising a child.

Ranking: 46

Annual cost of raising a child: $19,149

Annual day care costs: $9,685

Food costs: $1,704

Kentucky has the lowest added cost for a child's food when compared to every other state. Parents in Kentucky also have the sixth-lowest day care expenses in the country, per LendingTree's report.

Ranking: 39

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,206

Annual day care costs: $10,101

Food costs: $1,855

While Louisiana parents have some of the lowest day care costs in the country, coming in at eighth-lowest, they also spend some of the highest percentages of their income on costs associated with raising children. They spend 20.6% of their paychecks on added costs.

Ranking: 32

Annual cost of raising a child: $22,061

Annual day care costs: $11,960

Food costs: $2,043

Families in Maine might see one of the bigger boosts from tax credits. The credits help parents in the state save an average of $300 each year, ranking fifth-highest in the country.

Ranking: 4

Annual cost of raising a child: $31,601

Annual day care costs: $19,906

Food costs: $2,078

Ranked the fourth most expensive state to raise a child in, Maryland parents face higher costs across several categories, with the state ranking sixth highest for both day care costs and the added costs in rent, and 10th-highest for added food and health insurance premiums costs.

Ranking: 2

Annual cost of raising a child: $33,004

Annual day care costs: $24,005

Food costs: $2,193

Ranked the most expensive state for raising a child in the continental US, Massachusetts parents face some of the highest food and childcare costs, with the state ranking fourth-highest for added food costs and second-highest for day care costs.

Even with the high price tag, parents in the state don't see a big difference in their added rent prices compared to childless peers, only paying $84 more on average, according to the report.

Ranking: 34

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,881

Annual day care costs: $12,667

Food costs: $1,833

When compared to other states, Michigan has the eighth-lowest added food costs associated with raising a child.

Ranking: 6

Annual cost of raising a child: $29,891

Annual day care costs: $20,129

Food costs: $2,075

Minnesota parents face some of the highest day care costs, ranking fifth highest in the country.

They also spend a large portion of their income on raising children, spending an average of 21.3% of their income on the added costs of childrearing, the sixth highest share in the country.

However, they also benefit from tax credits, which on average save them $343 annually, the third-highest in the country.

Ranking: 51

Annual average cost of raising a child: $16,490

Annual average day care costs: $8,186

Average food costs: $1,783

Mississippi is the cheapest state to raise a child in 2025, having the second-lowest average day care costs and falling in the top 10 for cheapest health insurance premiums, rent, transportation, and food costs.

On average, Mississippi parents spend 17.9% of their income on raising a child each year.

Ranking: 27

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,201

Annual day care costs: $12,907

Food costs: $1,883

Parents in Missouri have lower added health insurance premiums than parents in other states. The state ranks 10th-lowest, with parents spending an annual average of $2,649.

Ranking: 35

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,864

Annual day care costs: $11,700

Food costs: $1,918

Lacking sufficient childcare options for the number of children, the state of Montana is considered a "childcare desert," according to a January 2024 report by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. On average, Montana parents spend $11,700 on childcare each year, according to the LendingTree study.

Ranking: 28

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,154

Annual day care costs: $13,000

Food costs: $1,883

Out of all metrics, rent can be the biggest expense for parents in Nebraska when compared to other states. Parents spend an extra $2,340, on average, annually on their rent when raising a child.

Ranking: 29

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,063

Annual day care costs: $13,024

Food costs: $1,894

Nevada, one of the most urban states in the country, is also considered a childcare desert, according to a 2023 report by the Nevada Governor's Office of Workforce Innovation, due to the lack of options and the high demand for available centers. Parents in the state pay an average of $13,024 on daycare annually, according to the LendingTree study.

Ranking: 12

Annual cost of raising a child: $28,338

Annual day care costs: $17,250

Food costs: $2,031

New Hampshire parents face higher housing and transportation costs than in other states, ranking fifth highest for both rent and transportation.

Still, the added costs of health insurance premiums are more affordable than in other states, ranking third lowest.

Ranking: 7

Annual cost of raising a child: $29,728

Annual day care costs: $19,634

Food costs: $2,068

Parents in New Jersey may also encounter higher childcare costs, with the state ranking seventh highest among all states, but transportation costs are also more affordable, ranking 10th lowest.

Ranking: 30

Annual cost of raising a child: $22,792

Annual day care costs: $13,521

Food costs: $1,834

While New Mexico offers some of the lowest average added costs for transportation and food, parents in the state still spend a large portion of their income on raising children, with 22.8% of their paychecks going toward the added costs of raising a child, the second highest in the country.

Ranking: 8

Annual cost of raising a child: $29,327

Annual day care costs: $19,584

Food costs: $2,141

While parents in New York face some of the highest child-rearing costs, ranking sixth and eighth highest for food and childcare, respectively, they also have the second-lowest transportation added costs, falling only behind Washington, DC.

Ranking: 42

Annual cost of raising a child: $20,818

Annual day care costs: $12,251

Food costs: $1,908

Parents in North Carolina have the most stable prices for their child-rearing expenses, the study found. Between the 2023 and 2025 studies, the cost of raising a child over the course of 18 years in the state changed the least, going from $217,182 in 2023 to $215,461 in 2025.

Ranking: 17

Annual cost of raising a child: $25,834

Annual day care costs: $10,758

Food costs: $1,875

North Dakota had the second-biggest jump in total added costs from the 2023 study, up 44%. The state also has the highest added rent costs, at $5,496, and ranks ninth for transportation, as parents spend an additional $3,237.

Ranking: 40

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,186

Annual day care costs: $12,351

Food costs: $1,867

Ohio's low total costs for raising a child each year are, in part, due to the low added costs of health insurance premiums, which rank eighth lowest in the country.

Ranking: 43

Annual cost of raising a child: $20,673

Annual day care costs: $10,065

Food costs: $1,836

Oklahoma parents enjoy the 10th and seventh lowest food and day care costs, respectively, but they also spend the 10th highest added costs on transportation, with children adding an average of $3,228 to their annual transportation expenses.

Ranking: 16

Annual cost of raising a child: $26,107

Annual day care costs: $17,680

Food costs: $2,048

Oregon saw one of the biggest total cost decreases since the 2023 study. Transportation added costs are also more affordable in Oregon than in other states, with the state ranking eighth lowest at $2,915. The state also has the lowest health insurance premiums out of all states in the country, with parents spending an additional $1,978.

Ranking: 25

Annual cost of raising a child: $23,270

Annual day care costs: $14,483

Food costs: $1,991

Parents in Pennsylvania might spend less on additional transportation costs than in other states — the state ranks ninth-lowest in the country, as parents spend an average of $2,918.

Ranking: 15

Annual cost of raising a child: $26,141

Annual day care costs: $16,899

Food costs: $2,127

Added food costs for parents in Rhode Island are higher than in other states — seventh highest in the country — while the added costs of transportation are more affordable than in other states, ranking fifth lowest.

Ranking: 50

Annual cost of raising a child: $17,699

Annual day care costs: $9,048

Food costs: $1,842

South Carolina parents spent the third-lowest portion of their income on child-rearing expenses, at 16.1%. They also benefit from some of the lowest childcare costs in the nation; the average cost is the fifth lowest among all the states.

Ranking: 47

Annual cost of raising a child: $18,918

Annual day care costs: $7,862

Food costs: $1,941

Average childcare costs in South Dakota are lower than in every other state, according to the study. This contributes to parents spending 16.3% of their income to raise a child, which is the fourth-lowest in the country.

Still, the added transportation costs of having a child in the state ranked as the sixth highest in the nation.

Ranking: 31

Annual cost of raising a child: $22,693

Annual day care costs: $11,985

Food costs: $1,920

While parents in Tennessee have relatively low costs for most factors contributing to the total cost of raising a child, they face higher health insurance premium added costs, spending an average of $4,478 each year, the fifth highest in the country.

Ranking: 41

Annual cost of raising a child: $20,889

Annual day care costs: $11,024

Food costs: $1,711

Texas parents spend some of the lowest added food costs in the nation — the second lowest among all states. They also spend the sixth-lowest portion of their income on raising a child, with 17% of their paychecks going towards child-rearing costs. However, the added costs for health insurance premiums are the eighth highest in the country.

Ranking: 38

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,784

Annual day care costs: $11,232

Food costs: $1,849

Parents in Utah spend an average of 17% of their income on the added costs of a child, one of the lower percentages in the country. Yet transportation is one area where parents in the state might see a significant increase, with the state having the fourth-highest added costs of transportation expenses, coming in at $3,289 a year.

Ranking: 13

Annual cost of raising a child: $27,690

Annual day care costs: $17,973

Food costs: $2,183

Parents in Vermont, which in 2022 was ranked the most rural state in the country according to census data, spend more on food, and also spend a greater share of their income on raising a child.

The state ranked fifth-highest for added food costs, and parents spend the third-highest percentage of their income on raising their children at an average of 21.8%.

However, Vermont parents also benefit from tax credits, which help them save an average of $320 annually, fourth-highest in the country.

Ranking: 14

Annual cost of raising a child: $26,666

Annual day care costs: $16,397

Food costs: $2,013

Parents in Virginia face higher added costs for health insurance premiums than parents in other states, with the state ranking ninth highest at an average of $4,088.

Ranking: 3

Annual cost of raising a child: $32,418

Annual day care costs: $20,370

Food costs: $2,109

Parents in Washington also face higher costs in multiple areas, with the state ranking ninth-highest for added food costs and fourth-highest for childcare costs.

On average, parents in the state spend 21.5% of their income on raising a child, the fourth-highest in the country.

Ranking: 44

Annual cost of raising a child: $19,957

Annual day care costs: $10,140

Food costs: $1,717

While parents in West Virginia enjoy some of the lowest added food, health insurance premium, and day care costs in the nation, they also have the eighth-highest added cost of rent and spend the eighth-highest portion of their income on raising a child, at 21%.

Ranking: 33

Annual cost of raising a child: $21,930

Annual day care costs: $13,572

Food costs: $1,904

Wisconsin parents benefit from having some of the lowest added health insurance premium costs when raising a child, ranking second-lowest in the category and spending an average of $2,231.

Ranking: 22

Annual cost of raising a child: $24,262

Annual day care costs: $11,075

Food costs: $1,917

Wyoming saw the biggest jump in childrearing costs since LendingTree's 2023 report, with an increase of 47.9%.

Parents in the state face the highest added transportation costs in the country, with an extra $3,502 on average. They also have the fourth-highest added rent costs at $3,660, and spend the seventh-highest share of their income on raising a child: 21%.

Between the early 1900s and the 1940s, Oatman and nearby Gold Road were Arizona's biggest gold producers, and the town used to be a bustling center with over 10,000 inhabitants.

During the 2023 census, it had a population of just 102 people.

Today, the "lively ghost town" is defined by its streets of historic buildings, burros on the streets, and people wearing old-timey clothing and gunfighter costumes, as reported by Legends of America.

The town was founded in 1881 and was named for O.H. Manning, a politician.

The town of 1,500 is about 2 miles long and 2 miles wide, and its Main Street was paved in 1915, as reported by a community website.

Eastman was established in 1855 and was named for Ben C. Eastman, a member of Congress from the district.

Today, the town has a population of 350, according to 2020 census data.

The town was annexed in 1919 to become a part of Lincoln.

In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge went on a "working vacation" to South Dakota's Black Hills, where he would get a break from the hectic politics of Washington, DC, and win over rural populations, as reported by The Rapid City Journal.

The president's visit was supported by the expansion of the air mail service, which helped communications from the small, remote town, as reported by Vermont Public.

The town of Boothbay Harbor was incorporated in 1889 and became a trading and shipbuilding center.

Today, the coastal town's main industries are boat manufacturing, fishing, and tourism, according to the Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

The town was established on land taken from the Cheyenne and Arapaho people. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, at the end of the 19th century, a general merchandise store with a post office was established nearby. The name of the town honors a postal employee, Wayne W. Cordell.

In 1905, a prospector found gold, and within a year, its population had reached 4,000, Travel Nevada reported.

Today, about 125 people reside in the town, and residents often refer to their community as a "living ghost town," per Nevada's state tourism agency.

Though the town enjoyed decades of prosperity for the resources provided by Grasshopper Creek, by the 1930s, few residents remained.

In the following decade, the local school had to close down due to a lack of students, effectively turning the once-prosperous town into a ghost town, per Legends of America.

The now-abandoned town where gold was first discovered in the state is now part of a state park where dilapidated buildings are preserved.

Gold was discovered nearby in the mid-1800s.

Today, the town of 2,500 features a revitalized downtown area for tourists to visit, according to the town's website.

In 1925, a Dayton high school science teacher, John T. Scopes, was tried and found guilty for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in what became known as the Scopes Trial.

Former students recently hosted a Hugo School reunion, according to Hugo School's Facebook page,

Farmers discovered they could make money from people leaving the city, and hotels and guest houses popped up throughout the town.

Today, the town houses around 205 people, according to 2023 census estimates.

In 1914, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum was founded by a group of prominent local artists. They worked with local businesses to create an art collection and educate the public in the arts. 

The town is known for being the 1620 landing site of the Mayflower.

The town was named after Edward S. Crossett, a lumber entrepreneur.

The town "had all the ingredients for a lumbering town," as reported by the Washington County Historical Society. The town features rivers connecting the small community to the pine forests of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and still waters that allowed for the raft assembly industry to flourish locally.

In 2011, Forbes named it as one of America's prettiest towns.

Holy City was created not as a religious oasis, as the name would indicate, but instead as "a commune and tourist trap created in the 1920s by a white-supremacist huckster," the San Francisco Chronicle wrote.

The Chronicle also reported that Holy City was reduced to "a few derelict buildings" after facing fire, neglect, and a new freeway that cut off the compound from major roads. 

Mercury News reported in 2016 that the town was purchased after a decade on the market by Robert and Trish Duggan, billionaire Scientologists. 

Historians estimate that the ancestors of Taos Pueblo people built their living structures, as well as pottery and ceremonial buildings, as far back as 1000 AD, according to Taos.org.

The Native Alaskan populations remained isolated until the early 1800s, per Wrangell's website. 

Lt. Dionysius Zarembo, a Russian-American ship commander, landed on present-day Wrangell in 1833. It is the only city in Alaska to be ruled by four nations and under three flags — Tlingit, Russia, England, and the United States — according to the town's website.

Today, the town is a historic site tourists can visit and see the over 20 original restored buildings, per Wyoming History.

While women in the higher classes often relied on dedicated midwives and wet nurses to help deliver and raise their children, low-income women faced the difficult realities that surrounded having children, including high infant mortality rates.

For the low-income women working as wet nurses — that is, a woman employed to breastfeed another woman's child — for the higher classes, providing their labor often meant leaving their own children behind, as they weren't allowed to bring them into the homes of the families they worked for.

Early milk mixtures were available as far back as 1865, however some of these early iterations — which used cow's milk and wheat flour — failed to provide children with all the nutrients they needed, JSTOR Daily reported.

The first commercially available baby formulas were available in the late 1800s, with baby formula entering households in the 1890s.

With the increased industrialization and boom of factory work in the 1880s and 1890s, families had to get better as managing their time, historian Jacqueline H. Wolf told Time in 2018. As a result, "infant care manuals" that outlined feeding schedules were published to help parents adapt children to their working schedules, Wolf said.

However, nursing less meant that women began facing challenges in producing the amount of breastmilk their children required, increasing the demand for additional infant nutrition. With growing urban centers lacking the availability of fresh milk that rural populations had due to the presence of dairy farms, powdered baby formula helped mothers provide their children with the nutrition they needed when breastmilk wasn't available.

Wet nursing remained a popular option among well-off women into the 1900s.

In 1913, one doctor asked colleagues throughout the US if they'd assisted any families in hiring a wet nurse, and out of 80 who replied, 72 said they had, a "Journal of Social History" paper reported, per JSTOR Daily.

Although more women joined the workforce during the late 19th century, mostly out of necessity, World War I saw the first major historical uptick of women in the workforce, with the trend continuing throughout the century. By 1920, women made up 20% of the workforce, according to US Department of Labor data.

Women leaving the house to work highlighted the need for help to facilitate balancing a workweek and childcare, prompting technological advances in the family and household domain.

As women continued to join the workforce, there was a greater need for household appliances that prioritized efficiency. Throughout the century, technological advancements helped alleviate some of the burden of household labor.

Although early hand-powered versions existed and were widely used by women, the modern electric washing machine began being mass-produced in 1906, and by 1910, it was already selling over 40,000 appliances a year, according to the University of Texas.

By the 1910s, advancements in science and medicine brought a new focus on raising children. In 1914, the US Department of Labor released a pamphlet outlining the best practices for infant care, from properly preparing a nursery to developing a feeding schedule.

This time also saw the rise in popularity of "scientific" parenting advice from the emerging field of psychology and pedagogy, with figures like psychologist G. Stanley Hall giving advice to parents on how to best interact with their children.

In a 1911 print of "A Handbook of Obstetric Nursing for Nurses, Students and Mothers," new mothers were advised to avoid "spoiling" their children into "little tyrants" by holding them for too long.

Parenting styles during this time underwent a shift from the nurturing, motherly approach of the 1900s to a more authoritarian parenting structure that emphasized discipline in hopes of creating better-behaved children.

In 1900, nearly all births in the US occurred outside hospitals, per the National Research Council.

While at the beginning of the century nearly half of the babies born in the United States were delivered by midwives, those numbers fell to about 15% by 1935, Margaret Marsh, a history professor at Rutgers University, told NPR's WHYY.

At the same time, hospital deliveries became more common as women sought out the best medical resources they could attain, and by 1935, over half of births took place in a hospital, according to a 2008 study published in the Explorations in Economic History journal.

Despite more mothers giving birth in hospitals, at first maternal mortality did not decrease, only dropping in the 1930s, the 2008 paper reported — medical intervention during birth might have even increased fatalities at a time when the science of childbirth was still beginning to be understood.

State efforts limited midwifery and pushed for hospital births during this time, and midwifery didn't become an organized field until the 1920s, as reported by the Oregon Health and Science University.

The US government subsidized universal childcare through facilities that charged parents 50 to 75 cents per day per child, which would be from $9.81 to $14.71 in today's money, as reported by History.com.

The initiative helped women join the workforce during the war when labor was most critical.

Despite the help it provided mothers, the program ended in 1946 after the war ended.

By the 1950s, baby formulas were heavily popularized through advertisement campaigns and doctors' offices, which provided new mothers with samples.

During this time, some doctors began recommending that mothers use formula over breastmilk due to concerns with the quality of the breastmilk infants were getting, such as when the mothers were too stressed or tired, Yahoo Life reported. As women began entering the workforce in higher numbers, these concerns, along with the perceived flexibility of bottle-feeding, meant that a growing number of mothers didn't breastfeed their infants.

By 1971, the breastfeeding rate in the US had reached an all-time low, with 24% of new mothers breastfeeding their newborns before being discharged from hospital, as reported in a 2003 paper by Professor Wolf.

During the 1950s and 1960s, more women worked outside the home, with over 40% of women participating in the workforce by 1966, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With the changing labor environment, new challenges to motherhood — and balancing home and work lives — also emerged, from feeding schedules with infants to a growing necessity for childcare options.

American family dynamics began to shift from having one parent (usually the mother) stay at home to having two working parents, as reported in a 2021 paper.

The US government expanded childcare funding throughout the decade in response to the growing need for childcare options. In 1965, the Office of Economic Opportunity launched Project Head Start, a summer program that provided low-income families with preschool instruction and support for children aged 3 to 5.

(Since then, the program has expanded beyond its initial time and age limitation, and in 2023 over 700,000 children enrolled in preschool programs through Head Start and Early Head Start, according to the most recent data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.)

A combination of more information about the effects of formula-feeding infants and a rising feminist movement that aimed to reclaim motherhood powered a resurgence of breastfeeding in the 1970s.

This rise also coincided with a boycott campaign against baby formula producer Nestlé, which the campaign accused of predatory marketing practices in countries in Latin America and Africa.

The company sued the publishers of the pamphlet promoting the boycott in 1974, with the publishers were found guilty of libel against the company, as reported by The New York Times.

Despite winning the case in the Swiss courts, the company was instructed to "reconsider its advertising policies if it wants to avoid being accused of immoral conduct," said Judge Jürg Sollberger, who presided over the case.

The controversy over baby formula marketing led the World Health Organization to officially release guidelines for formula marketing in 1981.

By 2001, the WHO had released a report lauding the nutritional value of breastmilk for infants and recommending that babies breastfeed for at least six months after birth.

During the 1970s and 1980s, increased female participation in the workforce, which remained over 50% after 1978, highlighted the need for childcare options for parents of infants.

The rates of enrollment in childcare have steadily gone up since they began being measured in 1980, and by 1995, over half of the children between ages 3 and 5 in the US attended day care, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

By 1984, discussions about paid maternity leave had begun entering the legislative government, but it took until 1993 for Congress to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provided some women and men with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, as reported by the Organization of American Historians.

Still, the measure limited the job protections to certain categories of workers meeting a set of guidelines, leaving about 40% of workers uncovered.

Since then, 13 states and the District of Columbia have enacted paid family leave laws, as reported by the Bipartisan Policy Center, but no national protections exist for paid leave.

Throughout the 1990s, debates between working and stay-at-home moms began dividing social spheres. These "mommy wars," as they were called in a 1995 opinion piece in the Washington Post, divided women as they navigated changes in the workforce and at home.

Working mothers could be shamed for dividing their time and dedication between their work and their families. But in 2000, Ellen Galinsky's "Ask the Children" — for which the author talked with over 1,000 children of working parents — found kids did not wish for their parents to spend more time with them, but for their parents to be less stressed and tired, as Galinsky said in an interview with PBS.

At the same time, a 2004 paper noted pediatric dentists had reported a change in parenting techniques, with younger parents refraining from disciplining children in the ways that previous generations had and were more overprotective of their children.

Along with many technological innovations aimed at helping parents, from smart monitors to iPads, the digital era saw the rise of online communities focused on helping moms connect with one another and bond over shared experiences.

The early internet days gave women the tools to engage with one another in discussions about the raw and difficult realities of motherhood through "mommy blogs," as reported by The New York Times.

Conversations on these blogs helped moms open up about topics that were previously seen as taboo, like postpartum depression and challenges with breastfeeding. Increased attention on these topics, along with the growing online network of mothers supporting one another, led to media coverage and research that has slowly brought motherhood, even the ugly parts, to the limelight of American life.

By the end of the 1960s, New York City had already been dealing with the effects of its unregulated pollution.

The city shorelines were seen as "municipal chamber pots," landfills and illegal dumping lined the city's surroundings, and the air quality had gotten so bad that it was affecting people's lungs, The New York Times reported.

In the first six months of 1973, more than 300 oil spills occurred in the New York City area, The New York Times reported.

According to a 1973 Coast Guard survey cited by the newspaper, more than 800 oil spills occurred in the mid-Atlantic region during the same time period.

The high air pollution levels meant residents often had their view of the cityscape obscured.

A historic smog event in 1966, when a mass of warm air trapped pollutants from vehicles, factories, and chimneys, prompted the city to update its local air quality laws in the late 1960s, the Times reported.

The Clean Air Act, passed in 1970, allowed the EPA to set regulations for industrial pollution and authorized the agency to create National Ambient Air Quality Standards to promote air quality regulation throughout the country.

Today, the EPA regulates landfills and auto salvage yards, protecting shores from becoming junkyards.

Over the years, the EPA has spearheaded mass trash removals that focus on toxic chemicals. According to the agency, some New York City residents worried about pollution and ecological damage from the Jamaica Bay landfill in the early 1970s.

In 2011, the city of New York and the US Interior Department reached an agreement for a collaborative effort to improve the bay's environmental conditions.

Efforts to continue improving the shore have continued into the 2020s.

In the 1970s, New Jersey began to crack down on illegal dumping after toxic waste began being detected on the marshes of Newark, as reported by The New York Times.

A landfill in Staten Island, called Fresh Kills, was the largest in the world. In 2023, the first phase of its restoration into a park was completed and North Park opened.

In 2013, The New York Daily News reported that a New York City Sanitation Department study found high concentrations of two toxins banned by the EPA on the Gravesend Bay landfill, where the children in the picture played.

By 1992, regulations to prevent waste from being dumped on the shores around the city and efforts to clean them up had begun, with The New York Times reporting the end of the era of "using the ocean as a municipal chamber pot."

The 1992 EPA mandate meant that processing plants for raw sewage began popping up around the city.

Today, the EPA sets standards on waste produced by oil and gas industries, with the goal of limiting public health hazards.

Building construction has long contributed to air pollution in NYC, though the EPA now regulates emissions from construction equipment.

In 2010, the EPA estimated that the Clean Air Act prevented over 160,000 early deaths, 130,000 heart attacks, and millions of cases of respiratory illness.

The Trump administration has announced plans to cut back on EPA funding and staffing, with The New York Times reporting in March that the administration planned to eliminate the agency's research branch.

As the current administration's EPA leadership launches the "Biggest Deregulatory Action in US History," as called by the agency, regulations for how industries emit waste into the air, water, and soil will begin to change.

Some reports suggest that if the Trump administration dismantles more of the EPA, Americans could return to the environmental and health conditions that predated the agency's regulations.

During the 2001 Open Championship, Tiger Woods was introduced to the Swedish model Elin Nordegren through fellow golfer Jesper Parnevik, who had hired her as an au pair for his children.

They dated for nearly three years until Woods proposed in 2003 at a tournament in South Africa. They married a year later.

They had two children together, Sam Alexis and Charlie Woods, born in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

In 2009, reports of serial infidelity came out against Woods, who was accused of cheating on his wife with multiple women during their marriage.

The following year, Woods delivered a 13-minute speech at a press conference in which he publicly apologized to his supporters and admitted his infidelity. He later sought therapy at a sex rehabilitation clinic, ESPN reported in 2010.

"I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated," Woods said during the speech. "It's now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made."

Nordegren filed for divorce in August 2010. In a joint statement, the couple emphasized their commitment to the well-being of their children, The New York Times reported in 2010.

From 2013 to 2015, Woods dated Olympic ski racer Lindsay Vonn.

Donald Trump introduced his son and Hayden at a 2003 fashion show. The two became engaged in November 2004 after a year of dating.

Donald Jr. proposed with a free ring valued at $100,000 at the time (equivalent to nearly $170,000 today) provided by a New Jersey jeweler in exchange for a publicity stunt where the now-president's eldest son asked the question in front of the jeweler's mall storefront, with paparazzi capturing the moment.

The couple married a year later at the now-president's Mar-a-Lago beach resort among friends and family.

Vanessa Trump and Donald Jr. welcomed their first child, Kai Madison, in May 2007. During their marriage, they had four other children: Donald John III, Tristan, Spencer, and Chloe.

Vanessa filed for a no-contest divorce in March 2018. Since then, the couple has remained amicable as co-parents to their children.

After the divorce, Donald Jr. began dating California governor Gavin Newsom's ex-wife, the Fox News anchor Kimberly Guilfoyle. The two started dating in 2018 and got engaged in 2020. But the couple separated in 2024, and Donald Jr. is now dating Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson.

In 2019, during his first presidency, Trump awarded Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an honor awarded by the president of the US to civilians.

The two have remained friendly since, with the Telegraph calling Woods "part of Trump's inner circle." The two often golf together.

On February 20, 2025, Woods appeared at the White House after being invited to a celebration of Black History Month by the president.

Trump is not the first president Woods has spent time with. During Barack Obama's presidency, Woods also golfed and met with the president on multiple occasions, including Woods' visit to the White House after the US team's Presidents Cup victory in 2013.

Woods and Trump appeared together at the Genesis Invitation in Palm Beach, Florida, when Woods arrived with Kai Trump at the tournament.

The president's granddaughter and Woods' two children, Sam Alexis and Charlie, attend the same private school in North Palm Beach. Sam, who graduates this year, plays on the school's girls' soccer team, and Kai and Charlie play on the girls' and boys' golf teams, respectively.

Woods and Vanessa Trump reportedly bonded over their children's shared passion for golfing. Kai and Charlie both aim to pursue the sport at the college and professional levels.

In August 2024, Kai Trump announced her commitment to play golf at the University of Miami after she graduates in 2026.

On March 13, People reported that the couple had been "quietly dating" for months, with sources adding that the president's son, Donald Jr., is "cool" with the relationship.

Over a week after the reports came out, Woods confirmed the relationship on social media.

"Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side!" Woods wrote on X. "We look forward to our journey through life together." He also asked for privacy.

On Instagram, both Ivanka Trump and Bettina Anderson, Donald Jr.'s current girlfriend, left supportive comments.

"Beautiful couple," Anderson wrote on the platform. "So happy for you both."

The couple also got President Trump's blessing. After the public announcement, the president told a reporter Woods had told him about the relationship months before.

"Tiger actually called me a few months ago," Trump said. "And he told me about it, and I said, 'Tiger, that's good, that's good.' I'm very happy for both. Let them both be happy. Let them both be happy. They're both great."

Since the announcement, Woods has made another appearance at the White House, where he met with the president once again, as reported by Golf Monthly. Sen. Jim Banks shared a picture with the golfer during the White House visit.

On Woods' previous visit to the White House, Trump had facilitated a meeting between the golfer, who serves as a player director on the PGA Tour board of directors alongside Adam Scott, who was also present, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, and LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan to discuss a possible unification of the two golf leagues that have split the field of professional golf, Golf Magazine reported.

Woods' most recent visit to the White House came just days before the president's trip to Saudi Arabia, which funds the LIV Golf league through the nation's Public Investment Fund.

Net worth: $1.5 billion

Age: 78

Source of wealth: As the founder and CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, Rane helped popularize the lumber business by appearing in commercials as a cowboy known as "the Yella Fella."

Residence: Abbeville

Net worth: $400 million, each

Age: Rubini is 70; Hyde is 68.

Source of wealth: Rubini serves as the CEO and chairman of commercial real-estate developer JL Properties, while Hyde serves as its president. Each of them owns 50% of the business, which also includes properties in Florida and Utah, Forbes reported.

Residence: Anchorage

Net worth: $17.3 billion

Age: 67

Source of wealth: Ernest Garcia II owns the used car retailer DriveTime Automotive, the fourth-largest used car retailer in the US. He is also the largest shareholder of Carvana, an online used car dealer founded by his son, Ernest Garcia III, in 2012.

Residence: Tempe

Net worth: $113 billion

Age: 80

Source of wealth: Rob Walton and his siblings inherited their wealth from their father, Sam Walton, who opened the first Walmart store in 1962 and founded the discount warehouse Sam's Club in 1983. Rob Walton, the eldest of the Walton siblings, is also one of the principal owners of the Denver Broncos.

Residence: Bentonville

Net worth: $189 billion

Age: 40

Source of wealth: As a student at Harvard, Zuckerberg cofounded a social network known as "The Facebook" in 2004. He went on to become CEO of Meta, the parent company for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

Residence: Palo Alto

Net worth: $16.9 billion

Age: 85

Source of wealth: Anschutz initially amassed his fortune through the discovery of an oil field on the Wyoming-Utah border in 1979 and subsequent investments in railroad companies. He founded Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in 1994, which owns major sports teams and performance venues such as the Crypto.com Arena. AEG is also the parent company of the Coachella music festival.

Residence: Denver

Net worth: $21.3 billion

Age: 68

Source of wealth: Cohen founded two hedge funds, SAC Capital and Point72. Until SAC Capital was shut down after pleading guilty to insider trading charges in 2013, it was one of the most successful hedge funds in the world (Cohen himself was never charged). Point72 currently manages over $35 billion, Forbes reported. He also holds a 95% ownership stake in the New York Mets.

A fun fact about Cohen: He loosely inspired Damien Lewis' "Billions" character, Bobby Axelrod.

Residence: Greenwich

Net worth: $800 million

Age: 77

Source of wealth: Snyder's parents founded WL Gore & Associates, a manufacturing company that holds over 7,000 patents, in 1958. Gore-Tex, a waterproof fabric used in outdoor apparel and shoes, remains its most profitable invention. Snyder owns around 5.5% of the company, Forbes reported.

Residence: Wilmington

Net worth: $206 billion

Age: 61

Source of wealth: Bezos founded e-commerce titan Amazon in 1994 and still owns around 9% of the company. As of May 2025, he was the third-richest person in the US behind Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. He's also the third-richest person in the world, just ahead of Larry Ellison.

Residence: Miami

Net worth: $10.7 billion

Age: 71 (Bubba), 72 (Dan), and 69 (Trudy)

Source of wealth: The Cathys are heirs to the Chick-fil-A family fortune. Founded by their father, S. Truett Cathy, in the 1960s, the fried-chicken fast-food chain now has over 3,200 restaurant locations worldwide. Dan Cathy's son, Andrew Cathy, took over as CEO in 2021. Dan Cathy's brother, Bubba Cathy, is still the executive vice president.

Residence: Atlanta (Bubba and Don), Hampton (Trudy)

Net worth: $10 billion

Age: 57

Source of wealth: Omidyar founded eBay in 1995 and became a billionaire when the e-commerce company went public during the dot-com bubble in 1998. eBay also acquired PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion.

Residence: Honolulu

Net worth: $3.2 billion

Age: 76

Source of wealth: VanderSloot is the founder and former chief executive of Melaleuca, Inc., which sells nutritional and wellness products online. Forbes reported that the company now has over one million customers each month.

Residence: Idaho Falls

Net worth: $39 billion

Age: 38

Source of wealth: Lukas Walton is the billionaire heir to the Walmart fortune and the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Lukas Walton inherited his vast wealth after his father, John T. Walton, died in a plane crash in 2005 at the age of 58.

He founded Builders Vision, an impact investing group, in 2021, and also chairs the Walton Family Foundation's environment program committee.

Residence: Chicago

Net worth: $9.9 billion

Age: 62

Source of wealth: Cook has served as CEO of Cook Group, a medical-device manufacturing company founded by his parents, since his father's death in 2011. Forbes reported the company made $2.4 billion in revenue in 2024.

Residence: Bloomington

Net worth: $10.2 billion

Age: 83

Source of wealth: Stine is an agricultural pioneer and the founder and owner of Stine Seed, a corn and soybean seed company based in Adel, Iowa.

According to the company's website, Stine Seed and its affiliates own around 800 patents related to soybean and corn genetic technology. Major licensing deals have helped it become one of the world's largest private seed companies.

Residence: Adel

Net worth: $67.5 billion

Age: 89

Source of wealth: Koch amassed his billions from serving as co-CEO of Koch, Inc., which produces around $125 billion in revenue each year, Forbes reported.

Founded in 1940 by his father, Fred Koch, Koch Industries — later shortened to Koch — is involved in various businesses, from oil pipelines to paper goods, and is the second-largest private company in the US.

Residence: Wichita

Net worth: $8.1 billion

Age: 63

Source of wealth: Gustavson made her billions as the heiress to the Public Storage empire and as a prize-winning horse breeder. Her father, B. Wayne Hughes, cofounded Public Storage, a self-storage company that now owns and operates thousands of locations across the US and Europe, in 1972.

Forbes reported that Gustavson owns about 10% of the company.

Residence: Lexington

Net worth: $17.2 billion

Age: 53

Source of wealth: Graves, the founder and CEO of the chicken-tender restaurant chain Raising Cane's, opened his first restaurant in 1996. The company now has nearly 900 restaurants in the US and made $5.1 billion in annual sales in 2024, Forbes reported.

Residence: Baton Rouge

Net worth: $3.7 billion

Age: 79

Source of wealth: Alfond's father, Harold Alfond, made a fortune as the founder of the Dexter Shoe Company, once one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the US. Forbes reported that he sold the company to Warren Buffett in 1993 for $420 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock.

Harold Alfond died in 2007, leaving his fortune to Susan Alfond and her three siblings.

Residence: Scarborough

Net worth: $5.5 billion

Age: 95

Source of wealth: Lerner's fortune grew after she loaned $250 to her husband, Ted Lerner, to establish a firm that sold homes to real-estate developers, Forbes reported.

Founded in 1952, it grew to become one of the most successful real-estate companies in the DC area. The Lerners also made their money as owners of the Washington Nationals baseball team.

Residence: Chevy Chase

Net worth: $31.5 billion

Age: 63

Source of wealth: Johnson is the chair and CEO of Fidelity Investments — which her grandfather founded — and holds an estimated 28.5% ownership in the company. The Financial Times called her the "quiet queen of American finance" for the way she grew her father's and grandfather's business while staying incredibly private.

Residence: Milton

Net worth: $23.7 billion

Age: 63

Source of wealth: Gilbert is the founder and chairman of Rocket Companies, formerly known as Quicken Loans. From 2013 to 2018, under Gilbert's leadership, the company closed nearly half a trillion in home loans, according to the Gilbert Family Foundation. He also owns the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Residence: Franklin

Net worth: $2.9 billion

Age: 84

Source of wealth: Taylor purchased Carlson Letter Service, a wedding stationery business that he worked for while attending college, in 1975, according to the company's website. It became the Taylor Corporation, a print services and communications company. A former state senator, he's also owned several sports teams.

Residence: Mankato

Net worth: $3 billion

Age: 68 and 64

Source of wealth: The Duff brothers' wealth originates from their family business: tires. Their father, Ernest, founded Southern Tire Mart in the '70s and sold it in 1998. James and Thomas bought it back in 2003 and then cofounded Duff Capital Investors, a holding company, in 2007. Forbes reported it now brings in $5 billion in revenue across over 20 businesses.

Residence: Hattiesburg

Net worth: $11.4 billion

Age: 73

Source of wealth: In 1990, David Steward cofounded IT provider World Wide Technology, which Forbes valued at $20 billion in sales. Citi, Verizon, and the federal government are a few of the company's clients. An avid fan of car racing, Steward has pushed for more diversity in NASCAR, according to his company bio. In 2018, WWT began sponsoring Bubba Wallace, one of the few Black drivers in the racing organization's history.

Residence: St. Louis

Net worth: $7.4 billion

Age: 90

Source of wealth: Washington owns a business group called Washington Companies, which is involved in mining, rail and marine transportation, and construction. He's also invested in his son Kyle's ship business, Seaspan ULC.

Residence: Missoula

Net worth: $165 billion

Age: 94

Source of wealth: Buffett is one of the best-known and most successful investors of all time. He's made his fortune via Berkshire Hathaway, which owns brands such as Geico, Dairy Queen, and Duracell. Despite his immense wealth, he's also known for his modest spending habits. Recently, he announced he'll retire at the end of 2025.

Residence: Omaha

Net worth: $28.6 billion

Age: 79

Source of wealth: Miriam Adelson is on the list after the 2021 death of her husband, casino magnate and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson. Now, she and her family own over 50% of Las Vegas Sands, a casino company worth over $39 billion. In 2023, she became a majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, a title formerly held by Mark Cuban. She's also been a major donor to Donald Trump.

Residence: Las Vegas

Net worth: $11.5 billion

Age: 72

Source of wealth: Most of Cohen's familial wealth comes from Symbotic, a warehouse automation company that has partnered with Walmart. Cohen is the chairman and CEO. In addition, Cohen also owns the US' largest grocery wholesaler, C&S Wholesale Grocers, which brings in $33 billion annually, Forbes reported. In 2024, his net worth plunged by $9 billion due to his family's stake in Symbotic, when the company's stocks tanked.

Residence: Keene

Net worth: $7.4 billion

Age: 55

Source of wealth: Two Sigma, a $60 billion hedge fund, which Overdeck cofounded, is the source of his wealth. He and David Siegel stepped down as co-CEOs last year, amid a long-term dispute over managing the firm. In high school, he won a silver medal in the International Mathematics Olympiad, and now he serves as chair for the National Museum of Mathematics.

Residence: Millburn

Net worth: $1.7 billion

Age: 63

Source of wealth: Corio's billionaire status — the first in New Mexico — stems from Array Technologies, a solar tracking systems business. He is the founder and former CEO, resigning in 2020 before its IPO.

Residence: Albuquerque

Net worth: $105 billion

Age: 83

Source of wealth: What hasn't Bloomberg done? Besides his 12-year stint as the mayor of New York City and an unsuccessful presidential campaign, Bloomberg cofounded Bloomberg LP in 1981. Bloomberg is a media company and a financial firm with revenues of $13.3 billion, as reported by Forbes.

Residence: New York

Net worth: $9.8 billion

Age: 82

Source of wealth: Goodnight and his colleague John Sall (also a billionaire) cofounded a private school, Cary Academy, and also co-own a hotel and country club. But their biggest business venture together is the software company SAS, founded in 1976. It made over $3 billion in sales in 2024, according to the company's 2024 annual report.

Residence: Cary

Net worth: $1.2 billion

Age: 79

Source of wealth: Tharaldson, the only billionaire in North Dakota, got his start in 1982 when Tharaldson Hospitality purchased a Super 8 Motel. It then became a huge hospitality group and one of America's largest developers of new hotels.

Residence: Fargo

Net worth: $7.8 billion

Age: 87

Source of wealth: Wexner opened The Limited in Ohio in the 1960s. He then founded a retail empire that, at one point, owned brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, The Limited Too, Express, and Victoria's Secret. Now Wexner's company has been renamed Bath & Body Works Inc., and solely owns the chain of the same name.

Residence: New Albany

Net worth: $18.5 billion

Age: 79

Source of wealth: Hamm founded the Shelly Dean Oil Company, now known as Continental Resources, in 1967 when he was only 21. It's now one of the largest oil companies in the US, thanks in part to Hamm's decision to use horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Bakken region of North Dakota in the '90s. The company went public in 2007, but in 2022, Hamm and his five children took the company private again in a deal worth $27 billion.

Residence: Oklahoma City

Net worth: $29 billion

Age: 87

Source of wealth: One word: Nike. Knight cofounded the iconic brand in 1964 alongside Bill Bowerman. Although Knight retired in 2016, he and his family still own 20% of the company, which, in 2024, earned $51 billion in fiscal revenue, per Forbes.

Residence: Hillsboro

Net worth: $59 billion

Age: 66

Source of wealth: After spending time as a pro gambler and trader on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Yass cofounded Susquehanna International Group in 1987. The successful Wall Street trading firm has a 15% stake in ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. NBC reported in 2024 that Yass also has a personal share (7%) of ByteDance.

Residence: Haverford

Net worth: $3.4 billion

Age: 68

Source of wealth: In 1989, Nelson founded and led the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners. He was CEO until January 2021 and is now its executive chairman. The firm has invested in over 180 companies, including Hulu, Warner Media Group, and Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES).

Residence: Providence

Net worth: $5 billion

Age: 61

Source of wealth: Robert "Bob" Faith founded Greystar, a global real estate firm, in 1993 and continues to serve as chairman and CEO. Throughout his career, Faith grew Greystar from 9,000 units in the US to more than a million units across five continents, worth more than $315 billion, the company reported in a March press release. The company also has an investment management platform with $36 billion in assets under development.

Residence: Charleston

Net worth: $2.1 billion

Age: 89

Source of wealth: The University of Minnesota alum made his fortune as the owner of First Premier Bank. Despite having just 17 branches across South Dakota, the bank is one of the largest issuers of Mastercards, in part because it specializes in offering credit cards to those with low credit scores. Often, the cards have low limits and high interest rates.

Residence: Sioux Falls

Net worth: $26.8 billion

Age: 86

Source of wealth: Frist Jr. cofounded Hospital Corp. of America with his father in 1968. According to its website, the for-profit healthcare company is responsible for 186 hospitals and over 2,400 care sites (like urgent care centers, surgery clinics, and physician clinics) across the US and UK. He and his family own over 20% of the company, and his sons, Thomas Frist III and William Frist, are board members.

Residence: Nashville

Net worth: $388 billion

Age: 53

Source of wealth: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are in a continuous battle for the title of richest person in the US. Musk is CEO of Tesla, CEO and founder of SpaceX, and the founder of neurotechnology startup Neuralink and tunneling company The Boring Company. He also helped found OpenAI, but he left in 2018 and announced his own AI endeavor, xAI, in 2023, which he owns an estimated 54% of, according to Forbes. He also owns an estimated 74% of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Residence: Austin

Net worth: $4.4 billion

Age: 81

Source of wealth: Miller owns the Larry H. Miller Company, which she founded with her husband, Larry H. Miller, in 1979 after purchasing their first Toyota dealership. The LHM Company's car dealership business became the eighth-largest in the US, and she sold it for $3.2 billion in 2021, Forbes reported. (Larry H. Miller died in 2009.) LHM's portfolio also includes companies in real estate, entertainment, sports, and insurance, among others. In 2020, after more than 30 years of owning the Utah Jazz, Miller sold the team and their home arena for $1.66 billion.

Residence: Salt Lake City

Net worth: $2 billion

Age: 88

Source of wealth: In 1979, Abele cofounded Boston Scientific, a medical device manufacturer, alongside Peter Nicholas. Boston Scientific focuses on developing more accessible medical technologies, and its products include pacemakers, defibrillators, and stents.

Residence: Shelburne

Net worth: $39 billion

Age: 85

Source of wealth: As the granddaughter of Mars Incorporated founder Frank C. Mars, Jacqueline owns an estimated one-third of the legendary candy, food, and pet-care company responsible for treats like Snickers, Juicy Fruit, and Milky Way. (Her brother owns another third and is the richest person in Wyoming, per Forbes.) She served on the board of directors until 2016, having spent nearly 20 years with the company.

Residence: The Plains

Net worth: $118 billion

Age: 69

Source of wealth: Bill Gates hired Ballmer as Microsoft's 30th employee in 1980. Ballmer went on to serve as the CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. After retiring, he bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion and donated millions to the University of Oregon.

Residence: Hunts Point

Net worth: $900 million

Age: 61

Source of wealth: During Smith's time as CEO and then executive chairman of the finance and business software company Intuit, the company's revenue almost doubled, Forbes reported. The success came after Intuit revamped its desktop software into a digital cloud-based platform. Now the president of Marshall University, he also chairs Nordstrom's board of directors and sits on the boards of Amazon and JPMorgan Chase.

Residence: Huntington

Net worth: $21.9 billion

Age: 78

Source of wealth: Hendricks earned her billionaire status as the cofounder of ABC Supply, the largest roofing wholesaler in the US, with her late husband Ken Hendricks. Founded in 1982, ABC Supply acquired the building materials distributors Bradco in 2010 and L&W Supply in 2016 with Hendricks at the helm.

Residence: Afton

Net worth: $39 billion

Age: 89

Source of wealth: Mars — whose sister is Jacqueline Mars, Virginia's richest person — is another heir of the Mars family fortune amassed from candy products such as Snickers, Mars Bars, and M&M's, as well as Pedigree pet food and Uncle Ben's rice. He owns a third of the $45 billion business.

Residence: Jackson

The 1920s were a decade of great economic growth. Industries boomed, and economic optimism led many everyday Americans to invest in the stock market, which had become more accessible thanks to loans offered by banks.

From 1922 to 1929, the value of stocks as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 218.7%, according to the Economic History Association.

At the time, people could buy stocks by paying as little as 10% of the purchase price and financing the rest from brokerage firms through what became known as margin buying, according to Federal Reserve History. This meant that many people who could not afford the up-front expense of investing in the stock market had access to buy and trade stocks.

By 1929, two-fifths of loans issued by banks went toward the purchase of stocks, Time reported.

The crash began on Thursday, October 24. On the day that later became known as Black Thursday, the market opened 11% lower than the previous day, as reported by Barron. Despite moderately picking back up by that afternoon, the drastic drop began sounding the alarms for stockholders.

With many Americans investing in the stock market through margin purchases of stocks, the speculation for high prices, which would provide a profit on their loan, reached a historic high. This led to the Federal Reserve making an effort to limit banks' lending to speculative stock purchases, according to Federal Reserve History.

On September 3, 1929, less than two months before the market crash, stock prices had reached a historic peak, with the Dow Jones averaging 381.17, over 27% higher than the previous year.

With many owning stocks through margin loans, fears spread that stock prices had become overvalued, a concern that slowly led to doubts about the stability of the market, the Economic History Association wrote.

When markets opened on Monday, October 28, 1929, stock prices immediately began to plummet as stockholders rushed to sell based on the panic that had begun the previous week.

By the end of the day on Black Monday, the Dow Jones had dropped nearly 13% and showed no signs of slowing down, as reported by Time.

In New York, people rushed to the Stock Exchange building in an effort to get updates on the stocks to ensure their investments remained safe.

"For so many months so many people had saved money and borrowed money and borrowed on their borrowings to possess themselves of the little pieces of paper by virtue of which they became partners with the US industry," Time reported in November 1929. "Now they were trying to get rid of them even more frantically than they had tried to get them."

As the crowds tried to get an image of what was going on inside Wall Street, newspapers became a hot commodity, with many flocking to buy the most updated information as it came out.

As prices plummeted on Black Monday and Black Tuesday, stock brokers witnessed sell orders coming in at rates they knew wouldn't be replicated in their lifetime.

"Wall Street was a street of vanished hopes, of curiously silent apprehension and of a sort of paralyzed hypnosis yesterday. Men and women crowded the brokerage offices, even those who have been long since wiped out, and followed the figures on the tape," The New York Times reported on October 30, 1929. "It was the consensus of bankers and brokers alike that no such scenes ever again will be witnessed by this generation."

As chaos unfolded on Wall Street, communication to outlets across the country relied on telegrams and ticker tape, which could not keep up with the sheer volume of transactions being made as prices continued to plummet. As Time reported, "although people knew they were losing money, they didn't know how much."

To keep up with the mass volume of transactions, stock traders worked through the night, catching up on sleep in the area near Wall Street, turning offices or school gyms into sleeping quarters in preparation for the chaos that was all but certain to come on Tuesday, October 29, 1929.

The crash spread to international markets as US consumers rushed to withdraw their capital from investments abroad, according to the International Monetary Fund. In the following months and years, the financial depression that shook American markets spread to other countries, leading to a worldwide financial downturn in which each country's domestic markets aimed to regulate themselves.

By 1932, when the Great Depression ended, stocks had lost nearly 90% of their pre-crash value, per the Economic History Association.

On Black Tuesday, as the news spread, people rushed to their banks to withdraw their savings, as panic and financial uncertainty influenced mass decisions.

The crash showed the fragility of economic systems, as banks, which used deposited money to issue loans, started failing. As people in the midst of the panic rushed the banks to withdraw their savings, banks ran out of money to cover the transactions.

The Social Security Administration reported that 9,000 banks failed after the crash, virtually disappearing $7 billion in assets for those who had stored their capital in them.

As the market crash led to banks failing, a distrust in financial institutions began to rise, leading to the popularity of practices like stashing cash under mattresses or buying gold as an investment.

In response to the market crash and the droves of people rushing to the banks to withdraw their capital, many banks stopped or decreased their lending, which greatly affected businesses.

The effects of the Great Depression were felt soon after the crash. Americans faced the sudden loss of savings and investments. Banks failed and lending stopped, so businesses had to cut costs by lowering production and laying off employees, which led to a drastic rise in unemployment, reaching a high of 24.9% in 1933, according to the National Archives.

While the market crash didn't singlehandedly cause the recession, it was a sign of the crumbling economy that would greatly impact people for the decade after.

Los Angeles has a history of smog. The problem is exacerbated by its natural geography — the sprawling city is shaped like a bowl, which traps fumes blown by Southern California's sea breeze, and causes them to linger over the city, according to Smithsonian Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.

During the 1940s people began to notice the smog, but many thought it was clouds. They weren't.

"It was just the poor quality of the air that was a hazy, acrid, smelly, burning presence," the Los Angeles Times wrote.

In July 1943, a particularly bad bout of smog caused red eyes and running noses. People thought the city was under a chemical attack from the Japanese.

The term "smog" eventually entered the popular vernacular, mixing the words smoke and fog.

At times, the air pollution would be so concentrated in certain areas that it looked as if the city disappeared entirely.

Here, women in 1949 dabbed their eyes and noses.

On bad days, cars would appear from out of the smog. Visibility was so bad that people had car accidents, per LAist.

Accidents like this one in 1948 were common occurrences in the highly polluted Los Angeles roads.

In 1949, smoke from a trash dump covered the city. Later, fearing the effects of smog on the city's inhabitants, Gov. Goodwin Knight restricted the open burning of garbage. It was made illegal in 1958, per the Los Angeles Times.

The city had more than one million cars by 1940, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

But it wasn't until the early 1950s that car exhaust was established as one of the primary causes of smog, Wired reported.

Cars contribute to ozone, which was the main cause of the smog. The ozone layer up in the atmosphere protects life on Earth from harmful UV rays. But when it's near the ground, ozone is a harmful gas that can trigger health issues like asthma.

Smog continued to blanket the city in the 1950s. This is the view from the Los Angeles City Hall in 1954, after eight days of heavy smog.

Lee Begovich, who moved to the city in 1953, told the Washington Post she was stunned when wind blew the smog away one day and she finally, for the first time, saw the San Gabriel Mountains to the northeast.

Peering at the city, the Washington Post wrote, was "like peering into the smoke-filled backrooms of the era's bars."

In 1954, Getty wrote that there were so many red eyes, one person said "you couldn't tell the people with hangovers from those who went to bed the night before."

People wore masks to counter what the Washington Post described as "eye-burning, lung-stinging, headache-inducing smog."

At least one woman wore a plastic helmet while relaxing at Santa Monica beach. At the time there were also bush fires, so while the helmet protected her from ash, it didn't stop smog from seeping in.

In 1958, the city even set up a smog relief team to provide residents with "fresh air" brought from outside of Los Angeles. Whether it was effective is unclear.

Continuing into the 1960s, parts of Los Angeles were getting 200 smoggy days each year.

Smog continued to cover the city as Los Angeles expanded, which meant more factories and highways. The city did have Air Pollution Control, an early pollution monitoring group.

Here's Grand Avenue in 1967, after efforts to limit pollution began being implemented by the city.

When the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, Congress approved an amendment that allowed California to incorporate harsher pollution controls than the rest of the country, the Washington Post reported.

Air pollution officers actively monitored the highways for emissions.

The start of regulation didn't mean the pollution just went away immediately. This is hazy Los Angeles in 1972.

Here, that same year, smog was trapped against the mountains.

Smog still covered the San Gabriel Mountains at times in 1972.

In 1973, Los Angeles skyscrapers were blanketed in smog.

At least the shape of the buildings could be made out.

Over the years, the air quality in Los Angeles had improved thanks to the Clean Air Act, which helped lower emissions from cars and industry, the Washington Post reported.

The city's air quality future is still far from clear. Per IQAir, Los Angeles is the US city with the second-worst air quality (behind only Minneapolis) and the 72nd worst city for air quality in the world.

In fact, multiple cities in California continue to rank among the worst for air quality.

The 2018 National Climate Assessment warned that "climate change will worsen existing air pollution levels," according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment and NASA.

While LA doesn't look as bad as it did before the Clean Air Act, it still gets smoggy days.

This story was originally published in January 2020 and was updated in May 2025.

Net worth: $16.2 billion

Source of wealth: Kohler Company

The Kohler family's legacy traces back to 1873, when John Michael Kohler founded the Kohler Company as a farm tools manufacturer. Since 1883, the company has focused on manufacturing bathroom fixtures and plumbing. Leadership of the company has been passed down from its founder to his son, former Wisconsin governor Walter J. Kohler Sr., and most recently to longtime CEO Herbert Kohler Jr.'s son, David Kohler. In 2024, the company made $9 billion in revenue, Forbes reported.

Net worth: $16.5 billion

Source of wealth: Brown-Forman Corp.

The Brown family is behind Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, and Old Forester, among other alcohol brands. Forbes estimated 25 family members own more than half of Brown-Forman Corp., which began with pharmaceuticals salesman George Garvin Brown in 1870.

Net worth: $17 billion

Source of wealth: Campbell Soup Company

An estimated 11 members of the Dorrance family own more than 50% of Campbell's Soup. John T. Dorrance invented the process for condensing soup in the late 1800s. Today, the company owns more than soup, including the brands V8, Pepperidge Farm, and Snyder's, generating more than $9 billion in annual revenue, per the company's latest earnings report. At least three of Dorrance's descendants are board members. 

Net worth: $18.1 billion

Source of wealth: DuPont

The du Pont fortune is one of the oldest and most widely shared fortunes on this list. Chemicals giant DuPont was founded in 1802 as a gunpowder manufacturer. Over time, it evolved into producing everything from dynamite to plastics and invented nylon and Teflon. Forbes estimates about 3,500 family members control the majority of shares in the company, although none take part in running the company.

Net worth: $18.5 billion

Source of wealth: Ziff Davis Inc.

William Ziff Jr. sold the magazine publisher his father created, Ziff Davis Inc., which published PC Magazine, for $1.4 billion in 1994. Forbes report his sons, Daniel, Robert, and Dirk, grew their inheritance through Ziff Brothers Investments and reportedly invested some of their billions with managers who used to work at their hedge funds.

The brothers own several homes in Aspen and have put their money toward philanthropic efforts.

Net worth: $18.8 billion

Source of wealth: H.E. Butt

Florence Butt founded H-E-B grocery store in Texas in 1905, which her son, Howard, expanded throughout the state when he took over the company in the 1920s. His son Charles is the majority shareholder and currently runs the company, which has over 400 stores in Texas and Mexico and generated over $46 billion in revenue in 2024, Forbes reported. Charles' siblings and two nephews also have stakes in the business.

Net worth: $19 billion

Source of wealth: Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent a Car

The Taylor family controls Enterprise Mobility, the parent company of National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which was founded by Jack C. Taylor in 1957. Since then, the Taylor family has acquired competitors National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car and grown into a powerhouse, with Enterprise Mobility reporting $35 billion in revenue in the 2023 fiscal year, Forbes reported.

Net worth: $19.2 billion

Source of wealth: Standard Industries

Currently led by David Millstone and David Winter, the Standard Industries conglomerate dates its family ties back to a 1938 proxy battle in which businessman Sam Heyman acquired GAF Corporation, which is the country's largest roofing manufacturer, per Forbes.

Net worth: $19.8 billion

Source of wealth: Illinois Tool Works

Dating back to Byron Smith's 1889 founding of the financial services company Northern Trust Corporation and his 1912 co-founding of the manufacturing firm Illinois Tool Works, the Smith family has ties to both the tools manufacturing and finance industries. The family now holds at least 9% of Illinois Tool Works and 1% of Northern Trust's shares, according to Forbes.

Net worth: $19.9 billion

Source of wealth: Reyes Holdings

Led by chairmen Chris and Jude Reyes and CEO Duke Reyes, Reyes Holdings is a leading food-and-beverage distributor, according to Forbes. It owns Martin-Brower, McDonald's's main global food distributor, Reyes Beverage Group, the largest beer distributor in the US, and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, which serves the Midwest and the West Coast.

Net worth: $20 billion

Source of wealth: Anheuser-Busch

The Busch family roots in the beer industry date back to 1876, when Adolphus Busch created what is now known as Budweiser. While the company passed through each family generation, an estimated 25% of the business was sold between 1989 and 2008, and it was fully bought out for $52 billion in 2008, as reported by The New York Times. Roughly 30 members of the family split the fortune.

Part of the family got back into the beer business with William K. Busch Brewing, but the company shut down in 2019.

Net worth: $22.4 billion

Source of wealth: Hearst Corporation

About 67 family members share the fortune that William Randolph Hearst created when he took over the San Francisco Examiner in the late 1800s, Forbes reported. Soon after, Hearst acquired other newspapers and expanded into radio and TV, creating the foundation for the media giant, Hearst Corporation, which owns 76 newspapers, nearly 260 magazines, television stations, and stakes in cable TV channels that include A&E and ESPN. 

Hearst used to own what is now one of the most expensive homes in America. His grandson, William R. Hearst III, is currently the chairman of the company's board.

Net worth: $24.1 billion

Source of wealth: Advance Publications

The Newhouse family's wealth derives from the publishing giant Sam Newhouse created. Advance Publications owns Condé Nast Publications, whose media properties include Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ. As of 2021, the company owned a 30% to 35% stake in Reddit. 

In April 2016, Sam's sons sold the cable-TV company Bright House Networks for roughly $11.4 billion in cash and stock, per reports.

Net worth: $24.8 billion

Source of wealth: Hunt Oil Company

H.L. Hunt laid the foundation for his family's fortune with Hunt Oil Company. His many heirs (he had 14 children) command several fortunes, from Hunt Oil and Petro-Hunt to Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. His children spend their billions on real estate, like the 6 million-square-foot underground business park SubTropolis, and sports teams. The Hunt family owns the Kansas City Chiefs, which won its fourth Super Bowl in 2024, and they have a minority stake in the Chicago Bulls. 

Net worth: $25.9 billion

Source of wealth: Estée Lauder

In 1947, Estée Lauder received her first major order for $800 of skincare products from Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomberg reported. The company, which sells cosmetics and fragrances through over 20 brands that include MAC and Clinique, brought in over $15 billion of revenue in fiscal year 2024, the company reported.

The Lauders are active philanthropists, and Estée Lauder's sons, Leonard and Ronald, are major art collectors. Leonard donated $1 billion worth of paintings and sculptures to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The family also owns a significant amount of real estate.

Net worth: $26.8 billion

Source of wealth: Cox Enterprises

Since its founding in 1898, Cox Enterprises has a hand in a number of industries — cable and broadband (Cox Communications), newspapers and radio stations (Cox Media Group), and the automotive industry. It generates about $20 billion in revenue per year, per Forbes.

The company's CEO is Alex Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder, James Cox.

Net worth: $30 billion

Source of wealth: Enterprise Products Partners

Dan L. Duncan founded the gas and oil company Enterprise Products Partners in 1968 with just $10,000, per Forbes. After he died in 2010, the company remained under family control, and his four children inherited a nearly $10 billion estate. The family fortune has since more than doubled.

Randa Duncan Williams is the only one of the children actively involved with the company, serving as a non-executive chairwoman.

Net worth: $33.6 billion

Source of wealth: Chick-fil-A

Samuel Truett Cathy founded the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A in 1967. Since then, the business has remained in the hands of second- and third-generation family members. In 2021, Andrew Truett Cathy, the founder's grandson, took over as CEO from his father, Dan. 

As of May 2025, Samuel Truett Cathy's sons, Dan and Bubba, each have a net worth of more than $10 billion, per Forbes.

Members of the Cathy family have previously generated controversy for donating to causes considered to have anti-LGBTQ+ stances.

Net worth: $38.5 billion

Source of wealth: SC Johnson

The Johnson family is behind SC Johnson, which produces cleaning products such as Pledge, Glade, and Windex. The company was founded by its namesake, S.C. Johnson, in 1882 and was eventually taken over by his son Herbert Fisk Johnson. Herbert died in 1928 without a will, and the family feuded over the inheritance until it was eventually divided between his two children, Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr. and Henrietta Johnson Louis.

Herbert Fisk Johnson III, a fifth-generation member of the family, is the current CEO and chairman of the company.

Net worth: $41.6 billion

Source of wealth: Hyatt hotels

A.N. Pritzker and his sons Jay, Donald, and Robert created the family's wealth by founding the Hyatt Hotel chain and investing in holdings such as Marmon Group. Today, the fortune is split among 13 family members, 11 of whom are billionaires, per Forbes. They reportedly spent much of the 2000s arguing over trusts, ultimately dividing up the fortune at the end.

Members of the Pritzker family have also been involved in politics. Penny Pritzker, Donald's daughter, is the former US Secretary of Commerce. Her brother, J.B. Pritzker, has served as the governor of Illinois since 2019. 

Hyatt Hotels reported over $6.65 billion in annual revenue in 2024. 

Net worth: $44.8 billion

Source of wealth: Fidelity 

Edward C. Johnson founded one of the world's largest mutual-fund companies, Fidelity, in 1946, which has been run by three Johnson generations since. It's currently helmed by his granddaughter Abigail Johnson.

As of 2020, the family owns 49% of the company, which is shared among six family members, according to Forbes. In 2024, the company generated over $32 billion in revenue, it reported.

Net worth: $60.6 billion

Source of wealth: Cargill Inc.

William W. Cargill founded agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. in 1865. As of 2020, roughly 23 members of the Cargill-MacMillan family owned 88% of the company, Forbes reported, which generated over $160 billion in revenue in 2024.

Bloomberg reported in 2022 that the family keeps 80% of Cargill Inc.'s net income inside the company for reinvestment annually.

Net worth: $116 billion

Source of wealth: Koch

Brothers Charles and David Koch expanded their father's oil-refinery firm into the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc. — later shortened to Koch, Inc. — after their other brothers, Frederick and William, left the business following a failed takeover. Today, Koch generates roughly $125 billion in revenue annually.

David Koch stepped down from a leadership position in the company in 2018 and died the following year. Charles Koch became the company's chairman and CEO in 1967, and he has been the chairman and co-CEO since 2023.

David Koch's foundation has pledged to contribute more than $1.2 billion to cancer research, hospitals, education, and cultural institutions, Koch's external relations team told Barron's in 2019.

The Koch brothers have also used their wealth to reshape conservative politics in a substantial way over the past few decades. Since the 1970s, they donated at least $100 million to fund the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement and fortify the Republican Party, The New York Times reported in 2019.

Net worth: $117 billion

Source of wealth: Mars Inc.

Jacqueline and John Mars inherited a stake in the candy empire Mars Inc., which invented M&Ms, Milky Way, and Mars Bars, when their father died in 1999.

The company also owns other food brands, such Ben's Original and Dolmio, and petcare brands. In 2024, the company brought in over $50 billion in revenue, per Forbes.

The siblings run the Mars Foundation, which donates to educational, environmental, cultural, and health-related causes.

Net worth: $267 billion

Source of wealth: Walmart

Sam and Bud Walton founded Walmart in 1962. Following its success, they founded Sam's Club in 1983. In 2024, Walmart brought in $648.1 billion in revenue, the company reported, making it the largest retailer by revenue in the world.

The Walton family fortune is dispersed among seven family members, including cofounder Sam Walton's three children, Rob, Jim, and Alice, who is the richest woman in the world.

Correction — May 6, 2025: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of Koch, Inc. and Charles Koch's role. As of August 2024, the conglomerate is called Koch, not Koch Industries, and as of March 2023, Charles Koch is its chairman and co-CEO.

Following a few years of economic strength, stock prices climbed up 44% in the first half of 1987, creating an asset bubble that began imploding on October 16, when reports of a growing trade deficit started spreading.

By the time the markets closed on Friday, October 16, 1987, economic uncertainty signaled what would come at the beginning of the week as the Dow Jones began to decline, seeing a 4.6% downturn by the end of the day.

That Saturday, Treasury Secretary James Baker's proposal to devalue the US dollar to minimize the growing trade deficit escalated anxieties, heightening financial panic.

By 1987, investors had begun using computerized trading programs designed to send sell or buy orders whenever stock prices behaved a certain way.

The Black Monday crash showed how these early technologies affected the market during a drastic downturn.

New automated portfolio insurance tools used software to automatically sell stocks whenever they dropped below a certain price. These programs automatically sold a large number of stocks, overwhelming the market and further contributing to the accelerated financial downturn.

As news of the crash spread through Wall Street and beyond, investors rushed to sell in frantic efforts to save their funds. The panic only made more and more traders sell their stocks, pushing the markets further down.

Hours before Wall Street even opened, stock markets in Asia felt the shockwaves of the financial downturn, which quickly became a global concern.

London saw a significant downturn, with the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 index dropping over 10%, as reported by The Guardian. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the panic caused the stock exchange to close for days.

In response to the market panic, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by half a percentage point. Chairman Alan Greenspan also released a public statement declaring the institution's commitment to providing liquidity.

These actions helped slow the market downturn and prevent the panic from accelerating further.

The sudden market crash put people's retirement and savings funds at risk.

As the global markets plunged, newscasts turned their focus to the economy. However, the technologies mass media relied on at the time — mostly newspapers and TV news — failed to update consumers quickly enough about the market movements as they progressed by the minute, adding to the existing panic and heightening the misinformation experienced in and outside Wall Street.

Following the crash, the US Securities and Exchange Commission began asking stock exchanges to employ circuit breakers to halt market activity during extreme volatility. This aimed to both prevent panic from spreading and incentivize traders to think through their decisions.

The circuit breakers have only been used a handful of times since their inception, including during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and, most recently, following Trump's tariff announcements.

On Black Monday, the New York Stock Exchange lost over $500 billion in market value, according to Goldman Sachs.

However, the markets were able to begin recovering in the following weeks, and by 1988, the markets had surpassed their pre-crash record high.

Although short-lived, the financial crash helped reform the stock exchanges and put mechanisms in place to prevent a drastic downturn and widespread panic from impacting US and global markets.

The 24-year-old former competitive cheerleader celebrated her "meetiversary" with Belichick in an Instagram post on February 11.

In the post, Hudson shared a video showing Belichick's autograph on the book she was reading on the plane when they met: Warren Goldfarb's "Deductive Logic."

"Thanks for giving me a course on logic!" he wrote inside the book on February 11, 2021, adding his signature and the years in which the Patriots won the Super Bowl.

Hudson added in her post, "Cheers to the fact that you still let me give you lengthy philosophical lectures four years later."

According to Hudson's LinkedIn profile, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts in May 2022.

Belichick began dating Linda Holliday in 2007, a year after finalizing his divorce from Debby Clarke Belichick, with whom he had three children: Amanda, Stephen, and Brian. Clarke and Belichick had been married since 1977.

Over the course of their 16-year relationship, Holliday served as president of the Bill Belichick Foundation.

In September 2023, People reported that the couple had split, citing sources close to the couple.

A few months later, in January 2024, the New England Patriots announced that the team and Belichick — its head coach of 24 years — had "mutually agreed" to part ways. Belichick had led the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories.

In December 2024, Belichick was hired as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's head football coach. He signed a five-year contract with the school, marking the first time he had worked with collegiate sports in his career.

In June 2024, People reported that Belichick was dating Hudson, citing sources who said the two had been dating for over a year at that point.

After the relationship became public, their nearly 50-year age gap swiftly caught the public's and media's interest. Publications like the Daily Mail and the New York Post reported on the age gap, while personalities like Dave Portnoy reacted to the couple's relationship on his podcast.

In September 2024, the couple made their Instagram debut, with Hudson posting a picture of the two together and welcoming Belichick to the social media platform.

Since then, the Maine beauty pageant queen has shared pictures of the two on hikes and trips, and attending events together. She also shared some behind-the-scenes snaps of their Halloween costumes, in which they dressed up as a fisherman and a mermaid.

On her account, Hudson has also shared about her life as a former competitive cheerleader, beauty pageant queen, and advocate for local Maine fisheries, describing herself as the daughter of a fisherman.

Belichick and Hudson made their red-carpet debut in December 2024, when they attended the American Museum of Natural History gala in New York City.

Later that month, Hudson was present at the press conference where Belichick's new role at UNC was announced, The New York Times reported.

The couple attended the NFL Honors awards show together in 2025.

At the event, Snoop Dogg took a swipe at Hudson's age.

"I've been a football fan for a long, long time. I remember back when the Cowboys was good. I remember back when the Chiefs was bad," Snoop Dogg said in his monologue at the event. "And I remember ... what was it? Bill Belichick's girlfriend wasn't even born yet."

Hudson made her Super Bowl commercial debut alongside Belichick when the two appeared in a Dunkin' commercial that aired during the big game.

Dunkin' fans and Boston natives Ben and Casey Affleck starred in the ad, which also featured appearances by actor Jeremy Strong and comedian Druski.

While promoting his new memoir, "The Art of Winning: Lessons from a Life in Football," Belichick was interviewed by Tony Dokoupil for "CBS Sunday Morning," where he talked about his career and the book.

According to Dokoupil, Hudson was a "constant presence" during the interview, where she sat off-camera.

Towards the end of the interview, Dokoupil asked Belichick about his relationship with Hudson and how he handled the intense attention that had come with it.

"Never been too worried about what everybody else thinks," Belichick said. "Just try to do what I feel like is best for me and what's right."

When Dokoupil asked how the two met, Hudson interjected: "We're not talking about this."

The interruption, captured in a clip shared by CBS, went viral, with viewers speculating over Hudson's apparent role in Belichick's career. Publications like The Washington Post and The Boston Globe published opinion pieces about the couple's relationship, and sports figures like Charles Barkley expressed concern following the viral clip.

In response, on April 30, Belichick released a statement through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and accused CBS of portraying a "false narrative" of his relationship with Hudson.

"Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion," he wrote in the statement.

Also that day, Hudson shared an email Belichick sent to his team before the interview aired. In his email, he expressed frustration at what outlets were focusing on during his book tour, saying, "This is about what I expected from the media."

CBS responded to their remarks, saying that their interview with Belichick had no "preconditions or limitations."

On May 11, Hudson competed in the Miss Maine pageant, where she earned third place. She lost the crown to Shelby Howell, who will go on to compete in the Miss USA pageant.

The New York Times reported that Belichick attended the pageant in Hudson's support, sitting next to her father, 49, in the audience.

In a May 16 appearance on "Good Morning America," Belichick told anchor Michael Strahan about Hudson's role in his professional career.

"She's been terrific through the whole process, and she's been very helpful to me," Belichick said. "She does the business things that don't relate to North Carolina that come up in my life so I can concentrate on football, and that's really what I want to do."

"You know, sometimes I get a little football technical," Belichick added. "So she did a good job of keeping me on balance [writing the memoir]."

Hudson wasn't present during the interview.

While Belichick didn't expand on their relationship — telling Strahan, "You know I'm not talking about personal relationships, Michael" — he did tell the anchor that he was happy and that the two had a "good personal relationship."

On May 20, The New York Times reported on the couple's relationship and Hudson's role in Belichick's professional endeavors.

"Ms. Hudson has told at least one person that she and Mr. Belichick are engaged to be married," reporter Katherine Rosman wrote in the piece.

It came three weeks after Page Six reported Hudson was spotted wearing a possible engagement ring at an event hosted by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in April.

The New York Times also noted that Hudson was wearing a pink-and-white diamond ring in the post she shared on Instagram in February to commemorate the couple's "meetiversary." She can be seen wearing the same ring in some of her other posts as well.

Belichick, Hudson, and UNC did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment about the reports.

Jennifer Lawrence reached out to touch Sarah Jessica Parker's unique, feathery headpiece while the "Sex and the City" star was being photographed on the red carpet.

Luckily, Parker didn't seem bothered by the bit, People reported, even though she was certainly caught off-guard. The two actors shared a laugh following the photobomb, and Lawrence even got Parker's permission to pet the feathers.

After the 2014 Met Gala, Delevingne posted a video of Reese Witherspoon repeatedly mispronouncing her name in an elevator and the moment went viral. Although Delevingne later took the video down, ABC News shared the clip in a segment on "Good Morning America," which can still be watched on YouTube.

"I love it. I love it when you do it, say it," says British drummer Tennessee Thomas, who was in the elevator with them.

"Dee-luh-vig-nee," Witherspoon responds.

Witherspoon also appeared to struggle pronouncing Delevingne's first name, Cara, switching between "Care-ah" and "Car-ah."

The group was accompanied by Zooey Deschanel and Kate Upton, who also laughed along.

Although police caught the man before he could fully execute his plan, E! News posted a photo of the prankster, who bravely wore a hot-pink mankini and oversized gold chain.

Hayden Panettiere might have jinxed herself.

US Weekly reported that the actress shouted, "Hallelujah! I made it up the stairs!" when she reached the top. Little did she know she'd tumble on her way down.

Panettiere laughed off the mistake and made sure to hold up her dress to prevent a future fall.

After the 2017 Met Gala, audiences reached the general consensus that Rihanna had taken the theme, "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between," more seriously than other celebrities.

Apparently, Rihanna herself agreed. After making a lasting impression in an elaborate gown from Comme des Garçons' fall 2016 collection, Rihanna liked an Instagram post mocking stars who showed up in attire that seemingly had no connection to the theme, Cosmopolitan reported.

The meme read, "What the #MetGala theme was VS how everyone showed up," and showed side-by-side images of over-the-top outfits similar to Rihanna's and a plain, neutral-colored gown.

There are plenty of celebrity couples who love to show some PDA on the red carpet (see: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker), but something about this kiss just screamed awkward. Maybe it was bad timing or a strange camera angle, but the photo serves as an unfortunate reminder of the duo's short-lived relationship.

The couple dated for 10 months in 2017, making high-profile appearances at Coachella, the Met Gala, and the Harper's Bazaar Icons party before calling it quits that October.

The theme of the 2019 Met Gala, "Camp: Notes on Fashion," confused stars and fans alike.

"Up until today, I had no idea what 'camp' was," Nicki Minaj told an interviewer from "Entertainment Tonight." "So, I don't even know if this is camp, to be honest," she added while gesturing to her pink Prabal Gurung gown.

The New York Times reported that writer Susan Sontag defined "camp" as "an intentional over-the-top-ness, a slightly (or extremely) 'off' quality, bad taste as a vehicle for good art."

"I think I broke the internet, but not in a good way," Kloss told Vogue's "Life in Looks" series in 2023.

Prior to her arrival at the Met, Kloss posted a photo on Instagram of the reflection of her eye in a small handheld mirror with the caption, "Looking camp right in the eye #metgala."

Unfortunately, with competition for best-dressed including Zendaya as a real-life Cinderella and Katy Perry as a literal chandelier, fans were not impressed with Kloss' gold patterned mini dress with exaggerated black puffed sleeves designed by Dapper Dan for Gucci.

"I still get — rightfully get — trolled. I'll accept it. Honestly, I deserved that one," Kloss added.

When reporting on the carpet, Palmer asked Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz Beckham — who were then engaged — what the theme, "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," meant to them.

"Well, I'm trying to make him an American right now," said Nicola with a laugh, prompting Palmer to ask where Beckham is from.

As the son of famous English soccer player David Beckham and former Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham, that's likely not a question Brooklyn is used to answering.

He took the question in stride and said he's from London.

But the awkwardness didn't stop there; the couple explained they live in Los Angeles and Nicola made a joke that she'd kidnapped her fiancé to which Palmer replied, "Well, I'm always here for a good kidnapping, OK. A fair trade ain't never been a robbery," before wishing them a wonderful time.

At the 2022 Met Gala, YouTube star and influencer Emma Chamberlain and rapper Jack Harlow exchanged spontaneous expressions of affection upon their first time meeting.

When Chamberlain's interview for Vogue came to a close, Harlow let an "I love you" slip out as he walked away from the microphone. Chamberlain responded with "Love ya" before facing the camera wearing a confused expression while (unsuccessfully) trying to hold in a burst of laughter. She seemed to be processing the sentimental exchange.

Jimmy Fallon later had both Harlow and Chamberlain respond to the event live on "The Tonight Show."

"That's like a piece of art because there's so many ways to interpret that," Harlow said on the show in 2022. "Everyone has a different take on what was going through her head, so I'll leave it up to interpretation."

Chamberlain commented on the awkward interaction as well, telling Fallon, "When I'm doing these interviews, it's blank up here. Like, I have no thoughts. And when I go home, and I watch the interviews again, I'm like, watching a completely different person. I have no idea. I'm not thinking about anything. And then I'm like reacting to myself."

In celebration of the 2023 Met Gala theme, "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty," Doja Cat dressed as the late designer's beloved cat, Choupette.

The rapper and singer was committed to her character, replying to every question asked by Vogue red-carpet correspondent Emma Chamberlain with meows.

Chamberlain laughed and continued playing along with the bit, resulting in an awkward, yet funny exchange.

No one wants to show up at an event wearing the same outfit as someone else, especially not when the "event" in question is the Met Gala.

Luckily, the actress and then-Vogue China editor in chief were quick to laugh about their twinning moment.

"Great minds," Wilde wrote on her Instagram story, per People. "If you're gonna twin with anyone, make it @margaretzhang."

Zhang also poked fun at their outfits, reposting Wilde's story on Instagram and adding, "CUE THE STRINGS," in reference to the violin design at the center of their dresses.

While posing with Stella McCartney, Cara Delevingne, and FKA Twigs, Ed Sheeran got his feet stuck in FKA Twigs' gown. The custom Stella McCartney look featured loops of strings in a long train that dragged on the white-and-green carpet.

The moment was captured in a Vogue interview as McCartney walked Vogue's hosts, actress Gwendoline Christie and model Ashley Graham, through the celebrities' looks. As Sheeran twirled around to show off his suit, his feet got tangled in the dress.

"You just wrapped your feet in Miss Twigs here, uh oh, oh God," said Graham as Sheeran unsuccessfully attempted to free his feet.

While brief, the incident did require Delevingne's help to untangle the British singer.

"Luckily there is a designer here," Christie said.

Others commented that Sheeran's look reminded them of one worn by Troy Bolton, the iconic character from "High School Musical."

There once was a time when even Kim Kardashian couldn't get an invite to the Met Gala.

Amy Odell, the author of "Anna: The Biography," told Time in 2024 that an invitation was a "really huge signifier that you are 'in.'"

Eaddy Kiernan, Vogue's contributing editor and Met Gala organizer, told Vogue in 2024 that the seating chart started getting prepped in December but ultimately came together a month before the event.

"We really try to think very carefully about who's sitting next to each other," Kiernan said. "Our ideal pairing would maybe be two people who we think will just get on like a house on fire, but who may not even realize that they have a lot in common. So with each person, we really do take time to think, 'What will they talk about?'"

Such access and quality seating have the potential to yield incredible business outcomes.

Here's Blake Lively at the 2018 Met Gala, which was themed "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."

Guests of the 2019 Met Gala could enjoy "crispy sea bass hors d'oeuvres, bits of foie gras, or mini-BLT towers," The Associated Press reported.

Here's a tray of one of the signature cocktails served at the 2023 gala.

The 2021 exhibit was "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion."

The Metropolitan Museum of Art said this exhibit included about 100 men's and women's ensembles from the 1940s to the present, each displayed in cases representing 3D quilt patches. The exhibit was organized into 12 sections, exploring emotions such as joy, wonder, desire, and nostalgia.

In accordance with 2024's theme, "Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion," the tablescape was inspired by children's storybooks that "felt a bit romantic and ethereal," according to caterer Olivier Cheng.

"Drawing on inspiration from the lush gardens and palaces of Sleeping Beauty's fantasy world, we really aimed to build our own bite-sized fairytale," he told Vogue.

Drawing on the night's magical theme, the menu featured a "spring vegetable salad with elderflower foam, raspberry vinaigrette, and olive crumble that resembles soil, complete with butterfly-shaped croutons," inspired by Sleeping Beauty's reawakening.

The night's main course was a "filet of beef topped with a tortellini rose" designed to resemble fantastical castles.

The tables at the event were decorated with "English ivy, candelabras, and lettuce plates," and dark burgundy roses in floral centerpieces.

For the dessert, Cheng said he drew inspiration from Snow White's emblematic apple, which he turned into an "almond cremeux molded into the shape of a miniature apple, blanketed with a bright red mirror glaze."

Dessert was gold-dusted truffles, chocolate-dipped cape gooseberries, and an amaretto Semifreddo cone topped with a gold pearl, Vogue reported.

Bieber's denim-on-denim outfit was more Canadian tuxedo than "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," but we'd still love to know how the room reacted to his performance.

The tradition of Met Gala performances started in 2010, when Lady Gaga sang "Bad Romance" as part of the year's "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" exhibit.

Other notable performances include Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids" in 2014 and Madonna's "Like a Prayer" in 2018, per The Cut.

Vogue reported that she performed some of her hits, such as "Into You," "Seven Rings," and "We Can't Be Friends." She also performed a rendition of the Disney song "Once Upon a Dream" from "Sleeping Beauty," paying homage to the gala's theme.

Her performance ended with a guest appearance from her "Wicked" costar, Cynthia Erivo.

Here are the rappers Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and Doja Cat striking a pose in 2023.

The Met Gala started hosting its annual after-party in 2010.

Celebrities often change into different looks before hitting another round of red carpets and events.

Richie Akiva hosted the 2024 after-party.

"It wasn't really appropriate that we wore those shirts. Officially, we weren't following the honors of the dress code," Tyler told Vogue in 2020.

Still, as the daughters of famous rock stars Steven Tyler and Paul McCartney, the pair's "Rock Royalty" tank tops unintentionally created an iconic moment in pop culture.

"It was an amazing thing, in a way. We were just being ourselves," Tyler added.

She even had her hair styled to fit the theme.

The theme was "The House of Chanel," and Kurkova's gown featured the words "I love you" across the bottom.

She took John Galliano, the creative director at the time, as her date.

She's always one to take a risk in the name of fashion.

McQueen died in February 2010, and the 2011 Met Gala theme, "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty," was chosen to honor his legacy.

Guinness wore a dramatic feathery frock from the designer's Spring 2011 collection.

The gown featured feather-like tassels on the skirt and bodice.

She paired it with a dramatic silver headpiece.

She went for a gothic romantic look by Zac Posen.

Her pink pumps added a nice pop of color.

Topshop designed her white floral dress.

Kardashian hit the red carpet in a floral gown with a thigh-high slit while eight months pregnant with her first child, North.

She also rocked a spiky 'do to complement the theme.

The dress had a flapper-inspired design.

The look helped establish her status as the undisputed queen of the Met Gala.

It was definitely a daring choice that instantly became iconic.

The gown featured red jeweled accents applied to look like a fiery dragon.

Giles designed the stunning dress.

West even wore silver contacts to match his jacket, while Kardashian completed her look by lightening her eyebrows.

The star had released her sixth album, "Lemonade," just a week before the Met that year.

She completed the look with yellow latex leggings.

Here she is in a sheer black Givenchy dress.

She paired it with a gravity-defying natural hairstyle.

She finished her 2016 look with a pair of sky-high platform boots.

She seemed to be channeling her inner "Black Swan."

The light-blue dress appeared to be inspired by Cinderella.

She paired it with a lace mask for dramatic effect.

She paired the look with matching dark makeup and hair.

She paired the wings with a gold minidress and thigh-high gold boots.

She wore a high-low skirt, plenty of jewelry, and an attention-commanding headpiece.

She paired the look with black latex thigh-highs and shoes.

The headpiece was a daring choice, but her Valentino ensemble ultimately became one of the most memorable looks of the evening.

She was one of a few celebrities to take a literal approach to the theme.

His outfit sparked a lot of conversation on Twitter.

She always nails the theme of the Met Gala, and that year was no exception.

She later revealed three other ensembles underneath through a 16-minute entrance routine that perfectly embodied the theme, "Camp: Notes on Fashion."

She was surrounded by working light bulbs around the skirt and on the headpiece.

He was first carried down the pink carpet with six men in matching ensembles. Porter then stepped down to reveal an eye-catching pair of wings attached to his arms.

Her puffy gown featured feathered detailing at the edge of its dramatic train.

Her head-turning dress featured a blinking eye mechanism at the bodice, which she paired with several top hats. 

Her gown flowed out thanks to multicolored feathers.

She paired her swimsuit-style bodysuit with embellished tights and a feathered black coat.

Her dress featured an abundance of strategically placed silver stars.

Her platform heels were embellished with Swarovski crystals.

Her headpiece was shaped like wings that framed each side of her face.

The singer wore an Oscar de la Renta dress to the Met Gala that year. 

Alessandro Michele, Gucci's creative director at the time, dressed the actor in a Victorian-esque scarlet gown covered in jewels.

The outfit was a nod to Gucci's Autumn/Winter 2018 runway show, which featured models carrying their own heads. 

The comedian and actor was photographed in a Michael Kors flared-leg pantsuit and matching hat designed by Stephen Jones. W Magazine reported that the look comprised 57,000 sequins — 17,000 on the jacket and 40,000 on the pants. 

The actor wore a half-tux, half-gown outfit designed by Christian Siriano.

"Christian Siriano is a genius," he told Page Six then. "And his staff and he made it so impeccably that it was comfortable. I had a high heel that was the same height as a Doc boot, it was brilliant. And I could pee!"

The custom outfit featured a map that was formed in the shape of two men kissing.

Levy told Vanity Fair that his look was a celebration of queer love inspired by the late artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz.

The look featured oversize sleeves, pants with a map pattern, and black boots with gold details and flowers. He completed the look with Cartier jewelry. 

Lil Nas X arrived at his first-ever Met Gala in a gold Atelier Versace velvet cape. It had oversize shoulder pads and a collar.

He then removed the cape to reveal golden body armor underneath. It had spikes on the shoulders, the Versace crest on the neckline, and sculpted abs.

Finally, before he went inside, Lil Nas X took off the armor to reveal a brown bodysuit covered in crystals. He paired it with a Versace choker. 

Kardashian said on Instagram that her inspiration for the "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion"-themed gala was a T-shirt. 

She arrived in a Balenciaga bodysuit that completely covered her. Two trains flowed out of the back of her dress, as did her 75-inch ponytail.

The singer kept it simple in a black suede, three-piece Prada suit with a white T-shirt.

Ocean's robotic baby was dressed in a onesie from Homer, the jewelry brand Ocean founded. It could move, making it seem almost lifelike. 

Rihanna was among the last stars to arrive at the gala, but she brought the drama with this look. 

Balenciaga's creative director, Demna Gvasalia, designed her all-black coatdress. She paired it with a beanie, a crystal headpiece, and custom-made Maria Tash earrings. 

The rapper wore a look from the designer's spring 2022 collection. Underneath the quilt, A$AP Rocky had a black suit that matched Rihanna's Balenciaga ensemble. 

The actor wore the custom design with satin platform sandals and a long train.

Fox told Vogue that her look was inspired by Bram Stoker's "Dracula."

"I think the inspiration, like the color — I wanted a dress that I had seen in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,'" she said. "I'm very into gothic things and vampires and such."

The Canadian musician told Vogue that her look was inspired by Frank Herbert's novel "Dune." The chrome mask she's wearing is actually an original prop from David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of the book. 

Monroe famously wore the dress to perform "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in 1962, and the internet had plenty to say when Kardashian arrived in the iconic look.

Leto's look was inspired by the late designer's cat, Choupette.

The rapper and singer remained committed to her character, causing an awkward moment with Vogue red-carpet correspondent Emma Chamberlain when she replied to questions with meows instead of words.

The Puerto Rican popstar, who served as cochair of the event in 2024, wore a custom Maison Margiela Artisanal ensemble inspired by fairytale princes and their horses.

Also wearing a custom Maison Margiela look, Zendaya arrived in a blue and emerald dress inspired by fictitious villains. That year, the Met Gala theme was "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion."

The singer arrived at the event wearing a custom Alexander McQueen gown completed by a dramatic veil inspired by the Sleeping Beauty tale.

At her first Met Gala, Tyla wore a form-fitting, sculpted Balmain piece made of sand. It adhered to the year's theme and its connection to time. A sand-filled hourglass accessorized the piece.

The sculpted piece was solid and immovable, so the singer had to be carried up the stairs at the event.

The actor and screenwriter wore a piece by Indian designer Gaurav Gupta. The caped gown, called "The Melting Flower of Time," was inspired by the passage of time through the death of a flower, which is referenced by the gown's delicate layers.

A few extra ingredients can turn pantry basics, like pasta or instant ramen, into an interesting, exciting meal.

For example, Natalia Rudin, a former private chef, dresses up instant ramen using ingredients like chili crisp, lime, fried eggs, scallions, or cheddar cheese.

"Throw some sesame seeds on top, and it'll look like a gourmet meal," Rudin told Business Insider.

Overall, her upgrades vary based on what she has on hand and what sounds good that night.

For elevating a basic pasta dish, she recommends using fresh ingredients, like asparagus, garlic, or peas, and simple proteins, like chickpeas, lentils, ground beef, turkey, or chicken.

Even "a little bit of white wine" can elevate and balance a sauce, she added.

A kitchen full of flavorful ingredients that can be added to just about any recipe is key to making weeknight dinners that stand out.

Rudin suggested trying miso, gochujang, and harissa paste because they can add umami and spice to a wide variety of meals. Capers, olives, or peanut butter can also add a punch of flavor to a dish.

Brooke Baevsky, a celebrity private chef, said she uses hot sauces to punch up a meal or tahini to add a creaminess and umami flavor to just about anything.

"Don't go shy on using your seasonings," Baevsky told BI. "You should be able to really see your seasoning on your food before you prep it."

Emily Ruybal, a professional private chef who works on charter yachts, said planning meals at the start of your week can help you save time later.

Think about what you're craving and plan to use some of the same ingredients in more than one meal so they don't go to waste.

For example, chicken is one of Rudin's favorite ingredients to use on repeat — it can easily be worked into three or four meals.

"You could roast it on a Monday and have just roast chicken with potatoes," she said. "The next day, you can take all the chicken off the bone and shred it and have it either in salads or put it in a wrap, in a sandwich, or in a pasta. Then, you can cook the bones with loads of vegetables and make the bone broth, and use that as a base for a chicken noodle soup or just a veggie soup."

If roasting a whole chicken sounds like too much effort, getting a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store works just as well, she said.

Setting aside time on the weekends to meal prep for the days ahead can also help make busy weeknights smoother, Baevsky said.

Plus, you may feel less tempted to order takeout or eat unhealthy snacks if you have precut veggies or balanced meals waiting for you in the fridge.

Baevsky told BI she meal preps about once every five weeks, dedicating a full day to cooking enough food for herself. Her prep days include at least three breakfast options, four to five dinners, and a couple of lunches she can eat throughout the month.

You can make your prepared meals last longer by freezing them.

"My fridge, weirdly enough, is always empty," Baevsky said. "I will make something for meal prep for myself and put it directly into the freezer."

That way, she said, she doesn't have to worry as much about her food going bad before she has time to eat it.

Some of her go-to meals to keep in the freezer include turkey meatballs, chicken burgers, egg bites, chia puddings, smoked salmon, and cooked grains.

When freezing meals and ingredients, she recommends dividing them into individual portion-sized containers with labels.

To save time in the kitchen, use mise en place, which is French for "everything in its place." It's a popular process chefs use for organizing, measuring, and preparing ingredients before they begin cooking.

Rudin said you'll want to keep all of your ingredients "lined up and ready" so you can stay on task and potentially make less of a mess.

If you're worried this technique will require too many dishes, try using a big chopping board to divide and organize your ingredients instead of individual bowls.

Although it's not always cost-effective, buying pre-chopped vegetables or pre-cooked grains can significantly reduce the time you spend in the kitchen without compromising the quality of a meal.

"Time savers like that are really helpful," Rudin said.

That said, not all premade and homemade ingredients are created equal.

When it comes to elevating your weeknight meals, knowing when to spend extra time making something from scratch and when to opt for a store-bought item is key. It might take some trial and error.

"One thing that I will say I never skip on for myself is always making my sauces and dressings from scratch," Ruybal said. "I just think they always taste better."

Finally, one of the best ways to make your weeknight dinner feel more elevated and meaningful is to turn the cooking process into a nice experience for yourself.

Ruybal said this can be as simple as giving yourself an hour to plan and cook a meal. For some, cooking can even be a form of self-care.

"It's kind of an escape from your 9-to-5, too," she said. "You put your phone down and just start cooking in the kitchen, and you might make mistakes along the way, but that's kind of how you learn when you cook."

One item you probably won't find in a young professional's closet is a loose, floral-printed blouse, Anna Cornelius, a content creator and full-time analyst working for a software development firm told Business Insider.

Gen Z's aversion to loud or colorful patterns, combined with their preference for structured materials and silhouettes, contrasts with loose and pattern-heavy blouses.

"I think older generations may opt for a little bit more flowy pieces," said Cornelius, who shares fashion and work advice with her nearly 50,000 followers on TikTok. "Not that it doesn't look good, but I think it's a generational tell from older generations."

In the formula of pairing something loose with something tighter, Gen Z will instead typically opt to pair a wide-legged trouser with a tighter top, like a bodysuit, Cornelius said.

While a popular option for office bottoms, pencil skirts aren't as welcome by young professionals as they once were.

"Pencil skirts, in the more traditional sense, are really, really millennial," said Anastasia Gerrans, a content creator focusing on work-friendly outfits.

Instead, members of Gen Z might opt for a more structured version, such as skirts that have an "almost pantsuit-inspired silhouette," including a closure and split, Gerrans said.

That "feels very current and very elevated, but still work appropriate," she said.

It's no secret that Gen Z hates skinny jeans, but other sorts of fitted pants, such as capris, also draw their ire.

Instead, Gen Z office-goers opt for looser, wide-leg trousers that allow them to be a bit more comfortable while remaining in style.

"Millennial dressing can sometimes be more like a tailored pant that's more tapered towards the ankle and then a blouse and a blazer, but a Gen Z might go for a wider leg pant and then a more oversized blazer or a more relaxed fitting top," Gerrans said.

Denim can be a fun way to make your office look more casual, but implemented in the wrong way, it can age you more up than down, according to Cornelius.

"Sometimes in business casual, you'll see a denim jacket," she said. "I don't see that as much with Gen Z."

If you're wearing denim to the office on Friday — or Monday, we don't judge — try sticking to a tried-and-true dark wash, structured jeans, or an oversized denim jacket, style experts told Vogue.

A fitted light-wash denim jacket or a 2010s-inspired denim vest might not be the fashion statement it once was.

Patterns were once a way to make a statement in your wardrobe, but Cornelius said Gen Z's preference for floral patterns is "the lack thereof," with younger generations opting for color blocking rather than patterned pieces.

A way to modernize your outfits is to choose solid, neutral colors or more minimal patterns instead of loud, colorful patterns.

While Gen Z has fallen back in love with ballet flats, other flat-shoe styles, such as mules and clogs, have not fared the same fate.

"I like to wear heels, but many of my colleagues who are Gen Z wear a fashion sneaker, whereas older generations might wear a flat or a clog," Cornelius said.

Gen Z may love a fashion sneaker for the office, but the key is in the details, and how you wear it.

Wearing a sneaker with slim-leg trousers might come across as more outdated than hip, Cornelius said.

"I feel like sneakers paired with trousers or something aren't as common or aren't as Gen Z, unless you're wearing wide leg pants and then you have a sneaker underneath that's kind of covered, then it feels more our generation," Gerrans said.

With Gen Z's affinity for structure in their workwear, it's no surprise that flowy pieces like loose dresses or blouses haven't made the generational jump.

Although these loose items are comfortable, they don't align with the style values of Gen Z, where looking sleek and structured is always a priority in the workplace, according to Cornelius.

Garments that don't accentuate shape combined with floral patterns are an immediate tell of what generation someone's a part of, Cornelius said.

Part of this might also be the access and rewear value of these more unique and visually striking pieces, which, for young professionals, is still out of reach.

"Every book that I've read on starting off in your career says you don't need to draw attention to yourself in superficial ways — you need to focus on your work, you need to present yourself in a certain way and present yourself professionally," Cornelius said. "Dressing in neutrals and building a capsule wardrobe helps [with that]."

The era of wearing thin, fitted blazers to the club is long over. Blazers are now more oversized and structured, with Gen Z even prompting a return of the shoulder pad in fashion.

"A lot of Gen Z loves to layer a blazer, but if then you wear a blazer after work to drinks, that might sometimes feel millennial, unless the blazer is more oversized," Gerrans said.

If you're trying to blend in with your younger colleagues, try wearing a structured, oversized blazer combined with a matching trouser.

When I was at the pinnacle of my private-chef career — working full-time and doing content creation for TikTok and Instagram — my days were packed. They always started at the grocery store since, unlike restaurant chefs who have purveyors deliver everything, private chefs do their own shopping.

But even before the store, I'd plan menus, prep lists, and shopping lists. Once I arrived at the kitchen, I'd unload, organize, set up mise en place, and start cooking. In between, I'd set up lighting and cameras to film what I was doing, then clean up, go home, edit video, and upload content.

I get asked a lot if I eat the food I cook. The truth is, not really. Chefs always have to be tasting while they work. I wouldn't recommend that kind of snacking — it's not the most nutritious way to eat.

Most of the time, I have a proper meal before work and then again after. That's why breakfast is really important to me. I always make sure I'm getting all the food groups: fat, carbs, protein, and fiber.

Sometimes that means avocado toast with an egg and berries. Other times, it's cottage cheese with berries and nuts.

Even I can struggle with sitting down on a Sunday and being like, "What's the menu for this week?" We're all busy. Life can be just chaotic. So that doesn't always make sense.

I think it's better to just always make sure you have things in your fridge and pantry that are always going to be great building blocks to meals.

I call them flavor MVPs: ingredients that instantly elevate whatever you're making. Things like miso paste, anchovies, preserved lemon, and panko breadcrumbs are always in my kitchen. Toasted panko with butter and garlic can make roasted veggies or pasta feel really special.

Lemon zest is a secret weapon. It adds a burst of freshness to almost anything. I also lean on equipment that makes everything easier; a sharp chef's knife is No. 1, but also a serrated knife, a great cutting board, a Dutch oven, and a cast-iron skillet, and you can do just about anything.

Tools don’t need to be fancy; they just need to work well and feel good in your hands.

Roasting is absolutely something you should be leaning on during the week. It's quick, easy, and most veggies do really well in the oven.

We always have certain vegetables in our produce store because they last a long time. So things like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and artichokes will hang out in your fridge for a long time.

I wouldn't make vegetables like zucchini, green beans, or asparagus impulse buys unless I have a plan for them. It's all about reducing waste and making weeknight dinners feel effortless.

We eat a lot of shrimp and tofu. I always have a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer since it thaws quickly and cooks even faster.

My shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta is a favorite in our house, even though my husband is Italian, and it's not easy getting him to agree to angel hair pasta. I also make a crispy tofu dish that my family goes crazy for. Vacuum-packed tofu lasts weeks in the fridge, so I grab it when I'm shopping.

I usually start rice in the cooker, prep the tofu, and then either whip up a homemade sauce or use one we have in the fridge.

Quick, healthy, and everyone's happy.

One of my favorite go-to meals is my warm-spice honey chicken recipe, which I’ve been making for over 20 years. It's simple and fast, and my family never gets tired of it. Even when I ask what they want for a birthday or when guests are coming over, that's the request.

It's made with pantry staples: a spice mix, lemon, onion, boneless skinless chicken thighs, honey, and almonds — maybe you have to grab the chicken, but that's it.

I serve it with couscous and roasted broccoli and call it a night. I even gave out little baskets with the ingredients and recipe to friends and family for Christmas one year. It's that good.

Meal prep works for some people, but not for everyone. I know a lot of folks who don't like eating food that's been sitting around for a few days, even if it's fine to do so.

For my family, I don't prep full meals, but I do batch cook certain things that I know hold up well, like soups, stews, chili, or casseroles. One of my favorites is our Sunday sauce, an Italian meat sauce with five types of meat that simmers all day. The sauce freezes well and actually gets better as it sits. I make a big batch because it takes time, and we always love it.

We don’t cook every night. If we did, we’d definitely waste food. Most people get tired of leftovers after two or three times, so we keep things realistic.

We plan to cook about four nights a week. The rest of the time is for leftovers, going out, or what we call "scrounge nights," where we just try to use up whatever is in the fridge. That balance helps us avoid burnout and food waste.

I try not to lock myself into one specific recipe. That's where the stress comes in. Instead, I focus on keeping staple ingredients on hand and knowing what works for our family.

You can make a great dinner with a sharp knife, some basic equipment, and a few flavor MVPs. Understand what proteins, vegetables, and starches cook quickly.

Learn a few key techniques like roasting or broiling. You don’t need a perfect dinner. just a good one. That's the mindset I bring to my own kitchen after a long day.

Gen Z's dislike of millennials' skinny jeans has been one of the most documented generational feuds on the internet, so it doesn't come as a surprise that when it comes to workwear, they're opting for wide-leg trousers.

"Comfort is such a huge trend right now," Sommyyah Awan, a content creator who shares advice on luxury and corporate fashion with her 365,000 TikTok followers, told Business Insider.

A big part of that may be a lasting impact of the work-from-home days, when Gen Zers logged in to their computers, for school or work, wearing athleisure or pajama-like loungewear, Awan said.

With the new office generation not having a "before" to compare to, this is what they're most used to.

"So comfort — whether it was wide-leg jeans or loose tops or dresses that flow a bit more, or flat shoes — translated well into everyday wear," Anwan said.

As young people define their personal style and brand through mood boards or social-media inspiration, some are finding it most accessible to incorporate elements of those aesthetics into work through functional accessories.

"I love funky blue light glasses, staple earrings, or statement necklaces that you can just pair with a button down or something," Cornelius, who shares fashion and work advice with her nearly 50,000 followers on TikTok, said. "Don't be afraid to show your personal style again through those accessories. I think it adds to your brand at work."

Accessorizing more traditional work outfits can be an affordable and safe way to signal personal style and craft a curated brand for yourself.

"What you wear and how you present yourself at work is part of your personal brand alongside the work that you do," Cornelius said. "I think that the way I dress has influenced the way that my co-workers view me in, I think, a positive way."

While past generations might have favored statement florals or contrasting colors, Cornelius said Gen Z leans heavily towards monochromatic hues.

Sticking to a color palette can also make it easier to curate a capsule wardrobe, which can be more cost-efficient for those entering the workforce.

"If you have a capsule wardrobe, you have a few things you cycle through," Anastasia Gerrans, a content creator with over 1.2 million followers on TikTok and a former marketing consultant, told Business Insider. "I think really playing with colors and thinking about different fabrics and different silhouettes is super helpful because not only can you think about how it displays your personal style, but you can also think about what's comfortable."

Additionally, Gen Z is embracing neutral tones: light, dark, beiges, and grays.

Dark blacks and greys or whites and beiges paired together are classic color combinations that can easily find their way into professional wardrobes.

"Longer hemlines have really become more and more popular and just ubiquitous in more casual clothing wear and the non-work context," Gerrans said.

Part of this could be an economic signal, Gerrans said.

One theory, known as "the hemline index," posits that the popularity of longer hemlines can be seen as a recession indicator in the United States for the past few decades, calling back to the popularity of mini-skirt styles in the booming 1960s economy. The theory has long been researched and, in part, debunked.

Still, long skirts can be an avenue to showcase different textures and fabrics in an office outfit. Long satin skirts can be a comfortable, stylish, and appropriate way to spice up an office outfit.

A classic styling technique has long suggested pairing loose-fitting items with tighter-fitting ones, and Gen Z's affinity for wide-leg trousers can only mean one thing: tighter-fitting tops.

Enter the bodysuits.

Long gone are the days of pairing flowy blouses with skinny jeans or tapered pants, Cornelius said.

"Older generations may opt for a little bit more flowy pieces," she told BI. "You hear in fashion, you wear something tighter and then something looser top versus bottom, and switch it out, and I think Gen Z does carry that theme with them."

Instead of following outdated style guides that mandate wearing heels or pumps to the office, Gen Z is choosing comfort while still finding ways to make it stylish.

"It's about making it realistic and not having to change your whole outfit once you get to the office, which I feel was more a focus in the early 2000s and the stereotype of you wear sneakers on the subway and then you put on your heels when you get to the office," Gerrans said. "Gen Z is more about figuring out maybe a ballet flat or a kitten heel that can be worn for both of those experiences."

A clean, stylish, and casual leather sneaker is another popular office footwear option for Gen Z.

Anwan said that while it was more common for people to wear heels to the office a decade ago.

"You wore heels or a pair of pumps if you were a woman, or a pair of leather shoes if you were a man. And now people are wearing sneakers," she said.

While breaking with tradition, fashion sneakers can help members of Gen Z embrace their casual style and prioritize comfort in the office.

Sleek and modern sneaker styles from Adidas, Everlane, Cole Haan, and other brands have found their way into professional settings.

When incorporating colors into their workwear outfits, members of Gen Z opt for color blocking, a styling technique where solid-color pieces are paired together to create visual blocks.

"What I love about Gen Z is how they bring so much color and patterns into what's comfortable," Awan said.

Color-blocking can help make single-color items statement pieces.

Most recently, butter yellow seems to be the trendy color of the season, Gerrans said.

"I think the cool thing is, if you like that color on yourself, you could wear it for years on end," Gerrans said. "It's just like a nice little pop of color you can incorporate into your wardrobe. It feels similar to burgundy in the last season."

Gen Z's love for oversized blazers is well known.

While the trend has been ongoing for years now, it shows no sign of slowing down and is instead becoming a Gen-Z staple that sets the generation apart from others when it comes to workwear trends.

Just like we remember the 1980s for its dramatic shoulder pads, the 2020s are shaping up to be the decade of the oversized blazer.

"It's often about the version of a certain item [people] can kind of associate with your generation or a different generation," Gerrans said.

While Gen Z hasn't fallen in love with blouses yet, looser sweaters and poncho-style tops have slowly been creeping into fashion, especially in office settings.

"Going for a sweater that's that poncho silhouette where you can have your arms through or drape it over your entire body can be a fun way to add a new silhouette for the workplace without having any sort of compromise on the dress code or the appropriateness of what you're wearing," Gerrans said.

Of the top 10 airlines, American Airlines received the lowest score on mishandled baggage claims and the second-lowest for delays.

However, the airline scored well for leg room, entertainment options, and complimentary refreshments.

WalletHub ranked the budget carrier Frontier Airlines as the second-safest airline of 2025. WalletHub's safety scores were determined by the number of injuries and fatal injuries in airline accidents between 2019 and 2024, the number of incidents per an airline's total number of flight operations in that same time period, and the age of the airline's fleet.

Among these metrics, Frontier received the top score for fleet age. In December, Forbes reported the average age of an aircraft was around 4.6 years. Frontier also received high scores for mishandled baggage reports and price.

While United Airlines received low scores for mishandled baggage reports and flight cancellations, it tied with the regional carrier SkyWest and Envoy Air for best treatment of pets.

Coming in seventh, Hawaiian Airlines tied with JetBlue Airlines for the most comfortable airline of 2025. Both carriers provide amenities like free WiFi, complimentary refreshments, entertainment options, and extra legroom, per WalletHub.

Alaska Airlines ranked high in both the safety and comfort categories, receiving the top scores for legroom, entertainment options, complimentary refreshments, fleet age, and safety markers.

Southwest Airlines also scored the top score on flight cancellations, legroom, in-flight entertainment, and complimentary refreshments.

However, WalletHub ranked the airline low for price, delays, and mishandled baggage reports.

Ranking fourth overall, JetBlue tied with Hawaiian Airlines for the most comfortable airline of 2025.

The carrier, which does not transport animals, received the top score for WiFi, complimentary refreshments, entertainment options, and legroom.

It also scored high on reliability, receiving high scores in the categories for mishandled baggage reports and canceled flights.

Delta Air Lines was ranked the most reliable airline in 2025, with the lowest rate of cancellations, delays, mishandled luggage, and denied boardings.

It also received the top score on legroom, in-flight refreshments, and entertainment options.

However, the airline received low scores on price and fleet age, which contribute to safety. As of December 2024, the average age of its aircraft was 14.9 years, the airline reported.

SkyWest Airlines, a regional carrier serving American, Delta, Alaska, and United Airlines, tied with United for the most pet-friendly.

While the airline doesn't offer in-flight entertainment options, it received the top score on legroom and complimentary refreshments.

WalletHub ranked budget carrier Spirit Airlines as the best airline overall, as well as the most affordable and safest airline.

Spirit also received the second-highest score on delays and mishandled baggage reports, showing a high rate of reliability. It also received the top score for fleet age, which contributes to safety.

Still, the budget airline, which ranked highest for price, received low scores on legroom, entertainment options, and in-flight refreshments, which it offers at a price.

Sitting on the Ohio River, Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky with over 600,000 residents.

The city is in Jefferson County where, in 2023, nearly 72% of workers drove alone to work, according to the US Census' American Community Survey data.

Although the city has a bus system, public transportation isn't a particularly popular option for commuters, with only 1.8% of the county's population opting for it, per the ACS data. The percentage of those walking to work is higher, at 2%.

In Louisville, commuting costs an average of $3,615 per year, representing 5.5% of the average income in the city, Mercury Insurance's report said.

In Wichita, commuting times averaged 19.9 minutes in 2023. Commuting costs averaged $3,670, or 6.08% of the average income in the city, Mercury Insurance reported.

Nearly 90% of the county's residents commute by car to work, with some 80.4% of residents driving alone to work, according to census data.

The mountain city of Flagstaff, Arizona, and its fewer than 100,000 residents also experience some of the highest costs of commuting in the country, per the report.

Although at 18.4 minutes, the average commute time is shorter than in other US cities, the average cost of commuting in Flagstaff is $3,688 annually, or 5.95% of the average income, per Mercury Insurance.

However, its county also has a relatively high rate of work-from-home employees, averaging 11.6% in 2023, according to census data. That year, 64.2% of the population drove alone to work.

Another mountain city, Colorado Springs also ranks among the costliest commutes in the country — the annual average is $3,909. Nearly 70% of residents in the county, El Paso County, drive alone to work, according to census data.

The costs equal to 5.94% of the average income for city residents, according to the insurance company's report.

A famously car-dependent city, Orlando ranks high on the list, reportedly averaging a yearly $3,916 in commuting costs. The commute costs relative to income is the highest on the list, with residents spending 6.78% of their incomes on commuting, on average.

In Orange County, which includes Orlando, 67.9% of residents drove alone to work in 2023, according to census data. It has a high rate of work-from-home employees, with 17.5% of residents working remotely.

Tampa residents spend an average of $3,957 driving to and from work. It's another car-dependent city, with 60% of residents driving to get around, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the City of Tampa.

Census data for Hillsborough County estimated that 65.6% of residents drive alone to get to work. The county, however, also has a high share of remote employees, with 20.1% of residents working from home.

The tech hub has some of the highest costs of commuting, contributing to its expensive cost of living. The average cost of driving to and from work in the California city totals $4,465 annually, although Mercury Insurance reported the figure represents 3.42% of the average resident income, which is lower than in other cities.

While the cost of driving to work is high, commuting by car is also not as predominant as in other cities on the list, with 29.7% of San Francisco County residents driving alone to work in 2023, according to census data.

Nearly a quarter of workers in the county work from home, while 22% rely on public transportation.

The Texas metropolis, known for its extensive highways, has the third-highest cost of driving to and from work, with the annual average in Houston coming in at $4,864, or 6.71% of the average income, per the report.

Just over 70% of residents in Harris County, which includes Houston, drive to work alone, according to census data. Another 11.9% worked from home.

Costing residents 6.42% of their average income, driving to and from work in San Diego averages $5,081, the highest of the car-dependent cities on this list.

According to 2023 census data, two-thirds of San Diego County residents drove alone to work, while 16% worked from home.

The average commute time in the city is 25.7 minutes, clocking in higher than some other places on this list.

Topping the list is New York City, which in recent months has implemented policies like congestion pricing in a bid to discourage solo drivers from entering the busiest parts of the city.

For those who drive to work in the city, the costs average $5,907 annually, accounting for 6.46% of average incomes.

However, 2023 census data for the five boroughs indicates over half of residents commute through public transportation, making the commuting cost only applicable to the 24% who decide to drive alone to work.