Order by String Proximity

50 US states ordered by name similarity, based on Levenshtein string distance  There are 50! (fifty factorial, 3*10^64)  possible orders here. But take a look at this one! Some nice clusters are clearly visible, some patterns that otherwise wouldn’t, emerge.

Perhaps you’ll want to order some of your lists on this principle, not just by alphabetically or numerically. No popular tool supports this option, as far as I know.

Massachusetts

Mississippi

Missouri

Wisconsin

Washington

Michigan

Maryland

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Louisiana

Indiana

Montana

Kentucky

Connecticut

Minnesota

Tennessee

New Jersey

New Mexico

New Hampshire

New York

Delaware

Hawaii

Iowa

Utah

Idaho

Ohio

Maine

Wyoming

Vermont

Oregon

Arizona

Arkansas

Kansas

Texas

Nevada

Nebraska

Alaska

Alabama

Oklahoma

Illinois

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Virginia

West Virginia

South Carolina

North Carolina

North Dakota

South Dakota