Top States, Hometowns and High Schools Producing the Most NFL Players

As summer winds down, 32 training camps across the National Football League (NFL) are underway preparing for another rigorous season in search of a Super Bowl victory.

But from where do all these players hail? BeenVerified analyzed the hometowns and high schools that have produced more than 26,000 NFL players since 1920. We examined specific information based on cities, states, high schools and key positions to determine our findings.

The top states producing professional football players are Texas, California and Florida. However, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama send more athletes to the NFL when factored by population.

Historically, the hometown that has produced the most players is the largest city in the Midwest: Chicago. Unless they are quarterbacks or wide receivers, then Los Angeles reigns supreme. Meanwhile, no high school has produced more NFL players than Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia.

For this study, we examined the hometowns and graduating high schools of nearly 27,000 players since 1920, as well as the current summer roster of more than 2,800 active players before the August roster cuts (see methodology for more details).

Here are the top hometowns and high schools that have produced NFL players, as well as the top NFL hometowns and high schools in each state.

Top NFL hometowns map

Top hometowns for 2022 NFL players: key takeaways

• There are 98 hometowns that produced at least five current NFL players. Houston and Miami are the top hometowns, producing 38 athletes apiece, followed by Atlanta (34 players). Fort Lauderdale—the smallest city in the top five with a population of 185,000—has 29 native sons playing this year, followed by Detroit and Philadephia (28 each).

  Nationwide, Texas has the most hometowns (13) of the 98 that have produced at least five current NFL players, followed by California and Florida (11 each). Georgia has nine hometowns with five or more current players despite a population of only 10.5 million—half the size of Florida and about a quarter the size of California.

  It’s worth noting the only city outside the United States that has produced more than five players is Lagos, Nigeria, which has six current players in the NFL.

• Texas, California and Florida hometowns produced the most current NFL players. With 298 current players, Texas ranks ahead of both California (288) and Florida (271). Ranking fourth is Georgia with 213 players, followed by Ohio (117) and Louisiana (110). All other states gave birth to fewer than 100 players.

• The New England region scores low for NFL players’ birthplace. The region may be home to the New England Patriots—who, with six Super Bowl titles, are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most from any team—but produced relatively few current players. Four states ranking bottom are Maine (2), New Hampshire (2), Rhode Island and Vermont (1 each). Massachusetts, where the Patriots are based, ranks 26th with 23 current NFL players, and Connecticut ranks 28th with 17 players.

Top hometowns for NFL players since 1920: key takeaways

• Chicago and Los Angeles are the top historic hometowns for NFL players. Since 1920, there have been 491 future NFL players born in Chicago, followed by Los Angeles with 461. Houston is a distant third with 341 players, followed by Miami (310) and Detroit (271). All told, 28 US cities are hometowns to at least 100 NFL players apiece.
• Top states for NFL hometowns are Texas and California. Historically, far more NFL players are from Texas (2,614) and California (2,602) than any other state. The next highest states have significantly fewer players: Florida (1,690), Ohio (1,559), Pennsylvania (1,502), Illinois (1,162) and Georgia (1,020). No other state has more than 1,000. The state that ranks last is Vermont, with 10 NFL players all-time.
• Per capita, Washington, D.C., and southern states produce the most NFL players. In terms of the ratio of players by population, the District of Columbia ranked highest with 31.5 NFL athletes per 100,000 people. Ranking second is Mississippi (28.06 players), followed by Louisiana (27.61), Alabama (21.54), Florida (19), Texas (18.95) and Georgia (18.26).

The bottom three states per capita are located in the New England region: Vermont has produced 2.1 NFL players per 100,000 population, followed by Maine (2.65) and New Hampshire (2.86).

Top NFL hometowns for 2022 players*

*Hometowns with five or more current players

Rank	Hometown	No. of players
1	Houston, TX	38
1	Miami, FL	38
2	Atlanta, GA	34
3	Fort Lauderdale, FL	29
4	Detroit, MI	28
4	Philadelphia, PA	28
5	New Orleans, LA	26
6	Dallas, TX	23
7	Tampa, FL	22
8	Chicago, IL	20
9	Baton Rouge, LA	17
9	Jacksonville, FL	17
9	San Diego, CA	17
10	Cincinnati, OH	16
10	Los Angeles, CA	16
10	Memphis, TN	16
10	Nashville, TN	16
11	Baltimore, MD	15
11	Pittsburgh, PA	15
11	St. Louis, MO	15
12	Long Beach, CA	14
13	Charlotte, NC	13
13	Las Vegas, NV	13
13	Raleigh, NC	13
14	Indianapolis, IN	12
14	Orlando, FL	12
14	Tulsa, OK	12
14	Washington, DC	12
15	Cleveland, OH	11
16	Austin, TX	10
16	Fort Worth, TX	10
16	Mobile, AL	10
16	San Antonio, TX	10
17	Arlington, TX	9
17	Louisville, KY	9
17	Montgomery, AL	9
17	Pasadena, CA	9
17	Phoenix, AZ	9
17	Richmond, VA	9
17	Shreveport, LA	9
17	St. Petersburg, FL	9
18	Birmingham, AL	8
18	Columbus, OH	8
18	Kansas City, MO	8
18	Oakland, CA	8
18	Sacramento, CA	8
18	Salt Lake City, UT	8
19	Allen, TX	7
19	Buffalo, NY	7
19	Fort Myers, FL	7
19	Knoxville, TN	7
19	Marietta, GA	7
19	Rock Hill, SC	7
19	Toledo, OH	7
20	Brooklyn, NY	6
20	DeSoto, TX	6
20	Fresno, CA	6
20	Greensboro, NC	6
20	Honolulu, HI	6
20	Inglewood, CA	6
20	Lawrenceville, GA	6
20	Little Rock, AR	6
20	Newark, NJ	6
20	Omaha, NE	6
20	Plano, TX	6
20	Portland, OR	6
20	San Jose, CA	6
20	Scottsdale, AZ	6
21	Alexandria, VA	5
21	Bakersfield, CA	5
21	Beaumont, TX	5
21	Belleville, IL	5
21	Brunswick, GA	5
21	Chandler, AZ	5
21	Columbia, SC	5
21	Corona, CA	5
21	Covington, GA	5
21	Dayton, OH	5
21	Decatur, GA	5
21	Fayetteville, NC	5
21	Frisco, TX	5
21	Garland, TX	5
21	Green Bay, WI	5
21	Humble, TX	5
21	Milwaukee, WI	5
21	Minneapolis, MN	5
21	Monroe, LA	5
21	Naperville, IL	5
21	Norcross, GA	5
21	Ocala, FL	5
21	Pembroke Pines, FL	5
21	Pensacola, FL	5
21	Plantation, FL	5
21	Powder Springs, GA	5
21	Roswell, GA	5
21	Tucson, AZ	5
21	West Palm Beach, FL	5
21	Youngstown, OH	5

Top hometown states for 2022 NFL players

Rank	Hometown state/district	No. of players
1	Texas	298
2	California	288
3	Florida	271
4	Georgia	213
5	Ohio	117
6	Louisiana	110
7	North Carolina	95
8	Illinois	94
9	Pennsylvania	91
10	Alabama	84
11	New Jersey	80
12	Michigan	76
13	Mississippi	66
13	Maryland	66
13	Tennessee	66
14	Virginia	61
15	South Carolina	56
16	New York	54
17	Missouri	44
18	Minnesota	39
19	Wisconsin	38
20	Arizona	36
21	Indiana	34
22	Iowa	31
23	Utah	29
24	Colorado	25
24	Washington	25
25	Kentucky	24
26	Massachusetts	23
26	Oklahoma	23
26	Oregon	23
27	Kansas	19
28	Connecticut	17
29	Arkansas	16
29	Nevada	16
30	Nebraska	15
31	Hawaii	14
32	District of Columbia	12
33	Delaware	7
34	Idaho	5
34	West Virginia	5
35	Montana	4
35	New Mexico	4
36	North Dakota	3
36	South Dakota	3
36	Wyoming	3
37	Maine	2
37	New Hampshire	2
38	Rhode Island	1
38	Vermont	1
39	Alaska	0

Top NFL player hometowns since 1920

Rank	Hometown	No. of players
1	Chicago, IL	491
2	Los Angeles, CA	461
3	Houston, TX	341
4	Miami, FL	310
5	Detroit, MI	271
6	Dallas, TX	258
7	New Orleans, LA	235
8	Cleveland, OH	221
9	Philadelphia, PA	215
10	Pittsburgh, PA	210
11	Washington, DC	200
12	St. Louis, MO	186
13	Atlanta, GA	174
13	Cincinnati, OH	174
14	New York, NY	169
15	San Diego, CA	150
16	Birmingham, AL	147
17	Memphis, TN	143
18	Columbus, OH	134
19	Jacksonville, FL	133
20	San Francisco, CA	125
21	Baltimore, MD	122
22	Baton Rouge, LA	104
23	Brooklyn, NY	103
23	San Antonio, TX	103
24	Fort Worth, TX	101
24	Minneapolis, MN	101
25	Tampa, FL	100

Top NFL hometown states by population since 1920

Here we rank the top NFL hometown states per 100,000 population.

Rank	Hometown state or region	No. of players	Players Per 100K Population
1	District of Columbia	201	31.50
2	Mississippi	674	28.06
3	Louisiana	952	27.61
4	Alabama	779	21.54
5	Florida	1,690	19.00
6	Texas	2,614	18.95
7	Georgia	1,020	18.26
8	Oklahoma	494	17.41
9	Nebraska	255	16.64
10	Ohio	1,559	16.50
11	South Carolina	459	15.4
12	Arkansas	318	14.33
13	Hawaii	117	14.22
14	Pennsylvania	1,502	13.37
15	California	2,602	12.64
16	Iowa	340	12.27
17	Wyoming	44	11.58
18	Kansas	261	11.44
19	Illinois	1,162	11.33
20	North Carolina	645	11.17
21	Minnesota	425	11.05
22	Tennessee	469	10.96
23	New Jersey	703	10.89
24	Wisconsin	462	10.8
25	Utah	150	10.58
26	Virginia	512	10.32
27	Michigan	779	10.05
28	West Virginia	180	9.95
29	Montana	71	9.56
30	Indiana	448	9.16
31	Missouri	426	9.09
32	Washington	330	8.52
33	South Dakota	59	8.31
34	Oregon	188	8.22
35	Maryland	293	7.96
36	Idaho	72	7.9
36	Connecticut	210	7.90
36	Massachusetts	428	7.90
37	North Dakota	51	7.76
38	Kentucky	263	7.75
39	Arizona	208	7.59
40	Delaware	41	7.55
41	Nevada	72	7.19
42	Colorado	191	7.08
43	New York	894	5.45
44	Rhode Island	40	4.51
45	New Mexico	43	3.7
45	Alaska	13	3.70
46	New Hampshire	24	2.86
47	Maine	28	2.65
48	Vermont	10	2.10

Top NFL hometown in each state*

*Ranked by % of state NFL players who came from top hometown

Each state within the United States has a city that has born more NFL athletes than any other city within its state borders. We delved in to see which cities had the highest concentration of NFL athletes within their respective states.

State	Top hometown	No. of players born in top city	No. of players born in state	% of state’s players born in top hometown
District of Columbia	Washington	200	201	99.50%
Nevada	Las Vegas	50	72	69.44%
Hawaii	Honolulu	73	117	62.39%
Delaware	Wilmington	23	41	56.10%
Alaska	Anchorage	7	13	53.85%
Rhode Island	Providence	21	40	52.50%
Colorado	Denver	88	191	46.07%
Missouri	St. Louis	186	426	43.66%
Illinois	Chicago	491	1162	42.25%
Maryland	Baltimore	122	293	41.64%
Oregon	Portland	71	188	37.77%
Utah	Salt Lake City	55	150	36.67%
Kentucky	Louisville	95	263	36.12%
Arizona	Phoenix	73	208	35.10%
Michigan	Detroit	271	779	34.79%
New Hampshire	Nashua	8	24	33.33%
New Mexico	Albuquerque	14	43	32.56%
Tennessee	Memphis	143	469	30.49%
North Dakota	Fargo	14	51	27.45%
Nebraska	Omaha	65	255	25.49%
Louisiana	New Orleans	235	952	24.68%
Minnesota	Minneapolis	101	425	23.76%
Washington	Seattle	72	330	21.82%
Maine	Portland	6	28	21.43%
Indiana	Indianapolis	94	448	20.98%
Vermont	Burlington	2	10	20.00%
Vermont	Montpelier	2	10	20.00%
Vermont	Rutland	2	10	20.00%
Massachusetts	Boston	85	428	19.86%
Wisconsin	Milwaukee	89	462	19.26%
New York	New York	169	894	18.90%
Alabama	Birmingham	147	779	18.87%
Florida	Miami	310	1690	18.34%
Arkansas	Little Rock	58	318	18.24%
Wyoming	Cheyenne	8	44	18.18%
California	Los Angeles	461	2602	17.72%
Georgia	Atlanta	174	1020	17.06%
Kansas	Wichita	42	261	16.09%
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	76	494	15.38%
Idaho	Boise	11	72	15.28%
Connecticut	Hartford	32	210	15.24%
Virginia	Richmond	74	512	14.45%
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	215	1502	14.31%
Ohio	Cleveland	221	1559	14.18%
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	8	59	13.56%
Texas	Houston	341	2614	13.05%
West Virginia	Charleston	22	180	12.22%
Montana	Bozeman	8	71	11.27%
Montana	Butte	8	71	11.27%
New Jersey	Newark	67	703	9.53%
South Carolina	Columbia	43	459	9.37%
Mississippi	Jackson	61	674	9.05%
North Carolina	Charlotte	57	645	8.84%
Iowa	Des Moines	24	340	7.06%

Top NFL high schools map

While a significant percentage of all-time NFL talent tends to hail from Texas, Florida and California, the high schools that have seen the most alumni matriculate to the NFL are based all over the United States. States like Ohio, Maryland, Louisiana, Kentucky and Virginia represent schools that rank in the top 10 of players who made the NFL.

“Our analysis shows that Midwest schools were top producers of future NFLers in the 1920s through 1950s, but by the 1960s the center of gravity moved to high schools in the Sunbelt states,” said Julianne Ohlander, a data analyst with BeenVerified.

“We also observe a recent trend toward private schools producing more NFL players,” she added. “While only seven of the top 36 all-time NFL high schools were private schools, the top schools for the 2022 NFL roster has 14 private schools.”

Top high schools for 2022 NFL players

• IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, graduated the most current NFL players. IMG Academy has 19 alumni among current NFL players, followed by two other Florida schools: St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale has 16 alumni and American Heritage-Plantation in Plantation has 12 players.

  Of the 24 high schools that have five or more players among the current NFL roster, 14 are private schools.

• Texas, Florida and California high schools dominate. Of the 24 schools that produced at least five current NFL players, five schools are located in Texas, while four are based in both Florida and California. Of the NFL players listed as active in July, 336 came from Texas high schools followed by Florida (293), California (285), Georgia (232), Ohio (117) and Louisiana (103).

Top high schools since 1920

For top all-time high schools, we only included players who have played one regular season game. While many players attended more than one high school, we counted only the high school where the player graduated.

• The top all-time NFL high school is Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. The school tops this leaderboard, having graduated 63 NFL players. Long Beach Polytechnic in Long Beach, California, is second (59), followed by St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale (42), Miami Northwestern (36) and Susan Miller Dorsey in Los Angeles (35).

Of the top 36 high schools to produce the most NFL players all time, 29 are public schools while seven are private institutions.

• High schools in California have graduated the most NFL players. Californian high schools sent 3,116 players to the NFL, which is over 15% more than second place Texas (2,709). Florida high schools ranked third with 1,833 NFL players, followed by Ohio (1,563), Pennsylvania (1,446), Illinois (1,064) and Georgia (1,052).
• Texas has the most alma maters of future NFL players. There are 822 different high schools in Texas that have produced NFL players, followed by California (771 high schools), Pennsylvania (502) and Ohio (462).

Top high schools for 2022 NFL players*

*High schools that graduated five or more current players

Rank	Graduating high school	City and state	No. of players
1	IMG Academy	Bradenton, Fla.	19
2	St. Thomas Aquinas	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	16
3	American Heritage-Plantation	Plantation, Fla.	12
4	Allen	Allen, Texas	11
5	Junipero Serra	San Mateo, Calif.	8
5	Mater Dei	Santa Ana, Calif.	8
5	Miami Northwestern Senior	Miami	8
6	Bishop Gorman	Las Vegas	7
6	Chandler	Chandler, Ariz.	7
6	Long Beach Polytechnic	Long Beach, Calif.	7
7	DeMatha Catholic	Hyattsville, Md.	6
7	DeSoto	DeSoto, Texas	6
7	Greater Atlanta Christian School	Norcross, Ga.	6
7	Servite	Anaheim, Calif.	6
7	Westlake Academy	Westlake, Texas	6
8	Archbishop Wood	Warminster, Pa.	5
8	Atascocita	Humble, Texas	5
8	Central Catholic	Portland, Ore.	5
8	Fork Union Military Academy	Fork Union, Va.	5
8	Lake Travis	Travis County, Texas	5
8	Norcross	Norcross, Ga.	5
8	Our Lady of Good Counsel	Olney, Md.	5
8	St. Augustine	New Orleans	5
8	Stephenson	Stone Mountain, Ga.	5

Top states by high schools for 2022 NFL players

Rank	High school state	No. of players
1	Texas	336
2	Florida	295
3	California	285
4	Georgia	231
5	Ohio	116
6	Louisiana	102
7	North Carolina	94
8	Pennsylvania	88
9	Alabama	86
10	Illinois	83
11	New Jersey	80
12	Michigan	76
13	Virginia	75
14	Maryland	69
15	Tennessee	64
16	Mississippi	62
17	South Carolina	55
18	Missouri	48
19	Indiana	38
19	Minnesota	38
20	Arizona	37
21	New York	36
22	Utah	34
23	Wisconsin	32
24	Iowa	31
25	Massachusetts	27
25	Washington	27
26	Oregon	25
27	Colorado	24
27	Oklahoma	24
28	Connecticut	23
29	Kentucky	19
30	Kansas	18
30	Nevada	18
31	Arkansas	17
32	Hawaii	14
33	District of Columbia	12
33	Nebraska	12
34	Delaware	9
35	North Dakota	5
35	West Virginia	5
36	Idaho	4
36	Montana	4
37	South Dakota	3
37	Wyoming	3
38	New Mexico	2
38	Rhode Island	2
39	Alaska	1
39	Maine	1
39	New Hampshire	1
40	Vermont	0

Top all-time NFL high schools*

*Schools that have graduated 20 or more NFL players

Rank	High school	City and state	No. of players
1	Fork Union Military Academy	Fork Union, Va.	63
2	Long Beach Polytechnic	Long Beach, Calif.	59
3	St. Thomas Aquinas	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	42
4	Miami Northwestern Senior	Miami	36
5	Susan Miller Dorsey Senior	Los Angeles	35
6	St. Augustine	New Orleans, LA	33
7	DeMatha Catholic	Hyattsville, Md.	31
7	McKinley	Canton, Ohio	31
8	Hargrave Military Academy	Chatham, Va.	30
9	Louisville Male	Louisville, Ky.	28
10	Glenville	Cleveland, Ohio	26
10	Miami Central	Miami	26
11	Lincoln	San Diego	25
11	Ball	Galveston, Texas	25
11	Crenshaw	Los Angeles	25
11	Evanston Township	Evanston, Ill.	25
11	Longview	Longview, Texas	25
12	Tyler	Tyler, Texas	24
12	Junipero Serra	Gardena, Calif.	24
12	William M. Raines	Jacksonville, Fla.	24
13	Miami Carol City Senior	Miami Gardens, Fla.	23
13	Compton	Compton, Calif.	23
13	Jack Yates	Houston	23
14	Dillard	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	22
14	Glades Central	Belle Glade, Fla.	22
14	South Oak Cliff	Dallas	22
14	Washington	Massillon, Ohio	22
15	The Kiski School	Saltsburg, Pa.	21
15	Waco	Waco, Texas	21
15	Warren G. Harding	Warren, Ohio	21
16	Bakersfield	Bakersfield, Calif.	20
16	Booker T. Washington	Tulsa, Okla.	20
16	DeSoto	DeSoto, Texas	20
16	Griffin	Griffin, Ga.	20
16	Miami Southridge Senior	Miami	20
16	Santa Monica	Santa Monica, Calif.	20

Top NFL-producing states by high schools

Ranked by number of players

Rank	State	No. of high schools (unique)	No. of players
1	California	771	3,116
2	Texas	822	2,709
3	Florida	425	1,833
4	Ohio	462	1,563
5	Pennsylvania	502	1,446
6	Illinois	370	1,064
7	Georgia	362	1,052
8	Louisiana	261	887
9	Michigan	291	751
10	New York	360	747
11	New Jersey	278	734
12	Alabama	259	708
13	Virginia	235	630
14	North Carolina	265	627
15	Mississippi	228	602
16	Oklahoma	171	448
17	Wisconsin	196	436
18	Tennessee	183	434
19	Massachusetts	182	420
20	Indiana	169	418
21	Minnesota	184	417
21	South Carolina	175	417
22	Washington	168	398
23	Missouri	168	385
24	Maryland	125	346
25	Arkansas	109	273
26	Iowa	151	271
27	Arizona	91	267
28	Colorado	111	253
29	Kansas	126	241
30	Kentucky	98	233
31	Nebraska	111	220
32	Connecticut	88	216
33	Oregon	91	211
34	Utah	59	174
35	West Virginia	89	170
36	Hawaii	30	125
37	District of Columbia	27	123
38	Nevada	32	83
39	Idaho	45	75
40	Montana	36	69
41	South Dakota	39	51
42	Delaware	27	49
43	New Hampshire	20	45
44	New Mexico	25	43
45	Rhode Island	22	38
46	Wyoming	20	29
47	North Dakota	18	26
48	Maine	16	23
49	Arkansas	9	11
50	Vermont	5	6

Top high school in each state*

*Ranked by % of NFL players each state has produced since 1920.

Here are the top high schools in each state that have alumni who joined the NFL, ranked by the total percentage of players from the state who turned pro.

State	Top high school, City	No. of players	Percent of NFL players from top high school
Vermont	Vermont Academy, Saxtons River	2	33.3%
New Hampshire	Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter	11	24.4%
North Dakota	Central, Fargo	5	19.2%
Alaska	Lathrop, Fairbanks Service, Anchorage	2 each	18.2%
Delaware	Salesianum, Wilmington	8	16.3%
New Mexico	Carlsbad, Carlsbad	7	16.3%
Hawaii	Saint Louis, Honolulu	18	14.4%
Maine	Hebron Academy, Hebron	3	13.0%
Kentucky	Male, Louisville	28	12.0%
District of Columbia	H.D. Woodson, Washington, DC	14	11.4%
Rhode Island	Bishop Hendricken, Warwick Central, Providence	4 each	10.5%
Wyoming	Central, Cheyenne, WY East, Cheyenne Greybull, Greybull	3 each	10.3%
Montana	Bozeman, Bozeman Butte, Butte Great Falls, Great Falls	7 each	10.1%
Virginia	Fork Union Military Academy, Fork Union	63	10.0%
Nevada	Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas	8	9.6%
Idaho	Boise, Boise	7	9.3%
Maryland	DeMatha Catholic, Hyattsville	31	9.0%
South Dakota	Central, Aberdeen Washington, Sioux Falls	4 each	7.8%
Arkansas	Little Rock Central, Little Rock	18	6.6%
West Virginia	Charleston, Charleston	11	6.5%
Nebraska	Central, Omaha	12	5.5%
Oregon	Jefferson, Portland Jesuit, Beaverton	11 each	5.2%
Utah	Bingham, South Jordan Highland, Salt Lake City Logan, Logan	9 each	5.2%
Arizona	South Mountain, Phoenix	13	4.9%
Iowa	Central, Davenport	13	4.8%
Connecticut	Milford Academy, Milford Stamford, Stamford	10 each	4.6%
Oklahoma	Booker T. Washington, Tulsa	20	4.5%
Kansas	Lawrence, Lawrence	10	4.1%
Massachusetts	Everett, Everett	17	4.0%
Wisconsin	Green Bay West, Green Bay	17	3.9%
Missouri	Hazelwood East, St. Louis	15	3.9%
Indiana	Central, Evansville	16	3.8%
Louisiana	St. Augustine, New Orleans	33	3.7%
Colorado	South, Denver	9	3.6%
Minnesota	Central, Duluth	14	3.4%
Tennessee	Melrose, Memphis	14	3.2%
South Carolina	Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Orangeburg	13	3.1%
Washington	Gonzaga Prep, Spokane	12	3.0%
Mississippi	Moss Point, Moss Point	18	3.0%
Michigan	Cass Tech, Detroit	19	2.5%
Illinois	Evanston, Evanston	25	2.3%
Florida	St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale	42	2.3%
Alabama	Vigor, Prichard	16	2.3%
Ohio	McKinley, Canton	31	2.0%
Georgia	Griffin, Griffin	20	1.9%
California	Long Beach Polytechnic, Long Beach	59	1.9%
North Carolina	E.E. Smith, Fayetteville T.W. Andrews, High Point	11 each	1.8%
New York	Erasmus Hall, Brooklyn	13	1.7%
New Jersey	Bergen Catholic, Oradell Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey Passaic, Passaic	11 each	1.5%
Pennsylvania	Kiski School, Saltsburg	21	1.5%
Texas	Ball, Galveston Longview, Longview	25 each	0.9%

Top hometowns by position: key takeaways

• Top hometown for quarterbacks is Los Angeles. The southern California city has produced 22 NFL quarterbacks since 1920, followed by Pittsburgh and Dallas (15 each), Chicago (13) and San Antonio (12). Of the 28 cities that produced at least five NFL quarterbacks, five cities are in California and Texas, although California edges Texas 45-44. Ohio has three cities, totaling 23 signal callers.
• Los Angeles is also the top hometown for wide receivers. A whopping 70 NFL wide receivers hailed from Los Angeles, followed by Miami (54), Houston (50), New Orleans (37) and Dallas (35). Of the 41 cities that produced at least 10 wide receivers, eight are in Florida, and four in California, Texas and Louisiana.
• Chicago has produced the most running backs. Looking at hometowns that have produced the most running backs—including half backs, tail backs and fullbacks—Chicago is the hometown to 76 future NFL players, followed by Los Angeles (66), Houston (51), Dallas (34), Pittsburgh (32) Columbus, Ohio, and New Orleans (31 each).

Out of 50 cities that produced at least 10 NFL running backs all-time, six cities are in California—the most of any state. California has produced 136 running backs, which is also the most of any state. Florida ranks second with five cities and Texas and Ohio have four cities each.

Top NFL hometowns for quarterbacks

Rank	City and state	No. of quarterbacks
1	Los Angeles	22
2	Dallas	15
2	Pittsburgh	15
3	Chicago	13
4	San Antonio	12
5	Cleveland	9
5	Philadelphia	9
6	Cincinnati	8
6	Shreveport, La.	8
7	Birmingham, Ala.	7
7	Portland, Ore.	7
7	San Diego	7
7	St. Louis	7
8	Columbus, Ohio	6
8	Fresno, Calif.	6
8	Houston	6
8	Louisville, Ky.	6
8	Phoenix	6
8	Tyler, Texas	6
9	Austin, Texas	5
9	Green Bay, Wis.	5
9	Miami	5
9	Mobile, Ala.	5
9	Oakland, Calif.	5
9	Oklahoma City	5
9	San Francisco	5
9	Seattle	5
9	Washington, DC	5

Top NFL hometowns for wide receivers

Ranked hometowns who produced 10 or more NFL wide receivers.

Rank	City and state	No. of wide receivers
1	Los Angeles	70
2	Miami	54
3	Houston	50
4	New Orleans	37
5	Dallas	35
6	Chicago	34
7	Jacksonville, Fla.	30
8	Detroit	28
9	Washington, DC	26
10	Cleveland	23
11	Baltimore	21
11	Memphis, Tenn.	21
12	Birmingham, Ala.	20
12	San Diego	20
12	St. Louis	20
13	Fort Worth, Texas	17
13	Philadelphia	17
14	Atlanta	15
14	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	15
14	Mobile, Ala.	15
15	Tampa, Fla.	14
16	Gainesville, Fla.	13
17	Baton Rouge, La.	12
17	Beaumont, Texas	12
17	Dayton, Ohio	12
17	Oklahoma City	12
17	San Francisco	12
18	Little Rock, Ark.	11
18	Oakland, Calif.	11
18	Sacramento, Calif.	11
18	St. Petersburg, Fla.	11
19	Charlotte, N.C.	10
19	Monroe, La.	10
19	Orlando, Fla.	10
19	Pittsburgh	10
19	Portland, Ore.	10
19	Richmond, Va.	10
19	San Antonio	10
19	Shreveport, La.	10
19	Tallahassee, Fla.	10
19	Texarkana, Texas	10

Top NFL hometowns for running backs

Ranked hometowns who produced 10 or more NFL running backs.

Rank	City and state	No. of running backs
1	Chicago	76
2	Los Angeles	66
3	Houston	51
4	Dallas	34
5	Pittsburgh	32
6	Columbus, Ohio	31
6	New Orleans	31
7	Miami	30
7	Philadelphia	30
7	St. Louis	30
8	Washington, DC	28
9	Detroit	27
10	New York	26
11	Baton Rouge, La.	25
12	Birmingham, Ala.	23
13	Brooklyn, NY	22
13	Milwaukee, Wisc.	22
14	Atlanta	21
15	Cincinnati	20
16	Cleveland	19
16	San Francisco	19
17	Boston	18
18	Jacksonville, Fla.	17
18	Louisville, Ky.	17
19	Indianapolis	16
19	Oakland, Calif.	16
20	Akron, Ohio	15
20	Denver	15
20	Little Rock, Ark.	15
20	Memphis, Tenn.	15
20	Oklahoma City	15
20	San Diego	15
20	Tampa, Fla.	15
21	Baltimore	14
21	Tulsa, Okla.	14
22	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	13
22	San Antonio	13
23	Honolulu	12
23	Jackson, Miss.	12
23	Las Vegas	12
23	Nashville, Tenn.	12
24	Richmond, Va.	11
24	Tallahassee, Fla.	11
25	Beaumont, Texas	10
25	Fort Worth, Texas	10
25	Long Beach, Calif.	10
25	Minneapolis	10
25	Omaha, Neb.	10
25	Shreveport, La.	10
25	Stockton, Calif.	10

Methodology

BeenVerified analyzed historic data from 26,724 National Football League players from Pro Football Reference, as well as 2,837 who were listed as current active players as of July 20, 2022. We checked information on hometowns and highs schools against the record and corrected/replaced data where appropriate.

For top all-time high schools, we only included players who have played at least one regular season game. In the event a player attended more than one high school, we only counted the school from which they graduated.

Birthplace cities are based on geographical boundaries and incorporations at the time of the athlete’s birth; some cities and towns no longer exist.

For more information, contact Kerry Sherin (kerry@beenverified.com) or Sydney Sims (ssims@beenverified.com).

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