It’s hard to define what is or isn’t American. Although we can’t patent freedom, we can safely lay claim to buffalo wings, bluegrass and David Letterman. But we can’t have it all. Contrary to popular belief, English isn’t our official language. And the rumor that New York’s Italian immigrants invented pizza? That’s been laid to rest. Heck, even Lady Liberty was a French citizen.

So how can we quantify our nation’s identity? Parsing demographics is one way to do so, and it can be surprisingly revealing. Characteristics such as ethnic makeup, household size, educational attainment and household characteristics help encapsulate America’s uniqueness from a statistical perspective. And it’s easy to imagine why the results would matter, whether you’re a parent looking out for your family, an entrepreneur nurturing a nascent business or even a marketer trying to target customers.