Season 36 Jeopardy! contestants - where they're from

The main table includes all players who made their first appearance on Jeopardy! in 2019-20. Thus, they don't take into account:

The contestants in the 2020 College Championship are credited in the main table according to their given hometowns, not the location of their schools; a separate table at the bottom lists the school locations.

What's here:

A side-by-side comparison of players by media market data for Seasons 33, 34, 35, and 36.

Both challengers have hailed from the same media market on three occasions this season: September 26, October 9, and March 18 (all Washington, DC).

(Credits: Zap2it & TitanTV for TV schedules for each market; John Coryat (yes, that's actually the last name) for ZIP code maps; ThinkTV for a listing of Canadian market sizes, enabling me to rank them properly with the U.S. markets; and Ads for Carts for the lookup tools I use for both American and Canadian DMAs.)

Market size ranks are updated for 2019-20 (source: Nielsen Media Research).

Complete for all of Season 36 (2020-06-12), including the separate table for the Tournament of Champions, and a separate table for the College Championship contestants by location of their schools.

Contestants by media market

RankMarketStationPlayersRegularCollegeTeachers
1New YorkWABC44422
7Washington (Hagerstown)WJLA393621
2Los AngelesKABC30291
6San Francisco-Oakland-San JoseKGO20191
9Boston (Manchester)WBZ20182
3ChicagoWLS181512
4PhiladelphiaWPVI11101
13Seattle-TacomaKOMO1091
14DetroitWDIV761
17DenverKDVR651
18Orlando-Daytona Beach-MelbourneWFTV6411
36West Palm Beach-Fort PierceWPBF651
15Minneapolis-St. PaulKARE541
29San DiegoKNSD55
40AustinKXAN55
Toronto / Hamilton44
10AtlantaWXIA44
16Miami-Fort LauderdaleWPLG431
Vancouver / Victoria44
22Portland, ORKATU44
26BaltimoreWBFF44
34Columbus, OHWBNS44
37CincinnatiWXIX44
79Portland-AuburnWMTW44
23St. LouisKSDK33
27Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville)WTVD33
48LouisvilleWLKY33
96Burlington-PlattsburghWPTZ33
5Dallas-Fort WorthKTXA211
19Cleveland-Akron (Canton)WOIO22
28NashvilleWZTV211
30Salt Lake CityKJZZ22
33Hartford & New HavenWTNH22
35MilwaukeeWDJT22
41JacksonvilleWTLV211
44Birmingham (Anniston & Tuscaloosa)WIAT22
Ottawa / Gatineau22
51MemphisWREG22
Calgary / Lethbridge22
58TulsaKTUL22
60Wilkes Barre-Scranton-HazletonWBRE22
69Roanoke-LynchburgWDBJ211
76Rochester, NYWROC22
112LansingWILX22
11Phoenix (Prescott)KTVK11
21CharlotteWCNC11
24PittsburghWPXI11
25IndianapolisWTHR11
31San AntonioKENS11
38Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-AndersonWLOS11
39Las VegasKLAS11
42Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport NewsWVEC11
46Albuquerque-Santa FeKRQE11
50New OrleansWVUE11
52BuffaloWIVB11
54Richmond-PetersburgWRIC11
56Providence-New BedfordWPRI11
59Albany-Schenectady-TroyWTEN11
61KnoxvilleWBIR11
62Little Rock-Pine BluffKATV11
65Tucson (Sierra Vista)KGUN11
66HonoluluKGMB11
70SpokaneKHQ11
75Columbia, SCWOLO11
78Huntsville-Decatur (Florence)WAAY11
84Paducah-Cape Girardeau-HarrisburgWPSD11
85Colorado Springs-PuebloKKTV11
86ShreveportKTBS11
94Baton RougeWBRZ11
97Myrtle Beach-FlorenceWBTW11
98South Bend-ElkhartWSBT11
109Tallahassee-ThomasvilleWCTV11
111Springfield-HolyokeWWLP11
119MaconWMAZ11
121Traverse City-CadillacWPBN11
124Monterey-SalinasKSBW11
125BakersfieldKBAK11
138RockfordWREX11
142LubbockKCBD11
161BinghamtonWIVT11
163MissoulaKPAX11
194Greenwood-GreenvilleWXVT-LD11

Contestants by state/province

State / ProvincePlayersRegularCollegeTeachers
California575421
New York39381
Florida191432
Illinois191612
Massachusetts19181
District of Columbia1717
Virginia161411
Maryland131111
Michigan11101
Pennsylvania11101
Washington11101
New Jersey1010
Ohio1010
Texas981
Colorado761
Ontario66
Georgia55
Minnesota541
North Carolina55
Tennessee541
British Columbia44
Maine44
Missouri431
New Hampshire431
Alabama33
Connecticut321
Kentucky33
Louisiana33
Oregon33
Alberta22
Arizona22
Delaware22
Oklahoma22
South Carolina22
Utah22
Vermont22
Wisconsin22
Arkansas11
Hawaii11
Indiana11
Mississippi11
Montana11
Nevada11
New Mexico11
Rhode Island11
West Virginia11

2019 Tournament of Champions

RankMarketStationPlayers
10AtlantaWXIA3
1New YorkWABC1
3ChicagoWLS1
4PhiladelphiaWPVI1
13Seattle-TacomaKOMO1
15Minneapolis-St. PaulKARE1
17DenverKDVR1
18Orlando-Daytona Beach-MelbourneWFTV1
24PittsburghWPXI1
30Salt Lake CityKJZZ1
39Las VegasKLAS1
62Little Rock-Pine BluffKATV1
185Bend, ORKOHD1

Of the fifteen ToC competitors, only Eric R. Backes is billed as being from a different town than his original Jeopardy! appearance (previously Austin, TX).

2020 College Championship by school

RankMarketStationPlayersSchool
2Los AngelesKABC1Southern California
3ChicagoWLS1Northwestern
4PhiladelphiaWPVI1Princeton
15Minneapolis-St. PaulKARE1Minnesota
24PittsburghWPXI1Carnegie Mellon
25IndianapolisWTHR1Indiana
29San DiegoKNSD1UC San Diego
33Hartford & New HavenWTNH1Yale
40AustinKXAN1Texas
51MemphisWREG1Ole Miss
62Little Rock-Pine BluffKATV1Hendrix College
69Roanoke-LynchburgWDBJ1Liberty
106Johnstown-Altoona-State CollegeWATM1Penn State
109Tallahassee-ThomasvilleWCTV1Florida State
156GainesvilleWGFL1Florida