Let’s get this straight from the start: If Olympic gold medals could be translated into height, California’s 491 medals all told as of the 2021 games would make it Mount Everest. The total extends back to the first Olympics in 1896. Taken together, the next two states, New York (246) and Illinois (131) share 377 medals — not enough to match the Gold Rush state.

None of this is intended to make New Jersey look shabby. SwimSwam, which keeps tabs on records and rankings, has this to say, “New Jersey, with its relatively small population size … compared to California’s, is small but mighty,” thanks to its 92 medals. With 111 gold medals, nearby Pennsylvania is a bit bigger and mightier. And Connecticut’s 30 gold medals puts it further down on the small-but-mighty scale. At the bottom of the heap are North Dakota (2) and Wyoming ( 1).

To return to Small but Mighty, we’re of the opinion that it would make a much better license plate motto than The Garden State. Who’s in charge of these things?