Where does Pa. rank when it comes to producing the top athletes in the U.S.? The answer might surprise you

The United States has produced some of history’s most astounding athletes, from Willie Mays to Rocky Marciano.

And many of them, it seems, call Pennsylvania home.

Betway Insider — which calls itself “an editorial blog featuring sporting, insight, intelligent comment and informed bettings tips” under its “ Meet the Team ” section — published a study titled “Homegrown Heroes: The US states producing the most professional athletes.”

These states were found after Betway Insider researchers seeded a list of professional athletes across the NBA/ABA, MLB, NFL, and NFL. Each athlete was then ranked based on things like points scored and points scored per game before getting separated by which state they were born in.

Pennsylvania took home the bronze as the number three state which produced the most top athletes. Some notable Keystone State-grown star athletes mentioned in the report were Wilt Chamberlain, Honus Wagner, Matt Ryan, and Vincent Trochek.

“Pennsylvania has made it onto another top-five list, this time in second, having been the birthplace of 1,498 professional baseball players,” reads the report. “Pennsylvania’s top player is baseball legend, Honus Wagner, who played almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1897 and 1917.

“Nicknamed ‘The Flying Dutchman,’ Wagner was one of the first five members inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

Texas came in second when it came to producing the most athletes across leagues and then California in first.

“Golden State by name and Golden State by nature, there must be something in the water in California, as it’s the state producing the most professional athletes across the whole US,” states the report.

“A huge 5,599 sportspeople across the top four sports in America have all come from Cali, including Yankees royalty Joe DiMaggio and NFL star Tom Brady.”