Glancing at the US portion, I find it interesting that a lot of the states that traditionally think of themselves as the "Git 'r' done" and "Do it yourself" states have fewer hacker spaces. (e.g. Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota and more)
I wonder if that is because they lack a more hackeresque spirit or because those states being rural don't need a designated hacker space.
Anecdotal, but I think it's because they don't really need designated hacker spaces.
Growing up, we were far from wealthy, yet in the basement we had a woodshop stocked fully with tools (mostly that my dad had bought at estate auctions and soforth) and a garage stocked with every type of tool I could imagine. I think the only thing we didn't have was a welder, although several of my neighbors did.
Based on my experience I think that's easily explained by population density, amount of space available per capita, etc. If anything I see hackeresque spirit as more pronounced in rural areas. They aren't forced by necessity into a shared space like those in the city though, and maybe they don't consider the benefits of a shared space being that important.
The Europe situation seems more interesting. Look at the numbers(per capita) for The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and then France. The first three have many hacker spaces per capita. France is much lower. I'd expect that(from past experience), but don't have any good ideas about why it is.
I am from Omaha, Nebraska and I can say there is plenty of it going on... as far as official places to go? Not likely. Hackerspaces seems to confirm that
I've been to the hacker dojo in Mountain View and it's definitely a great hub for startups and hackers working on projects. They host good sponsored events with good food & drinks, hold hacking classes, and have free swag from companies that hold or sponsor events there.
I haven't been to the other ones around the bay area but I'd like to check out the SF places soon.
I looked at the hacker space in my area (Grand Rapids, MI) and was actually angry at how pointless every single one of their projects appeared to be[1].
I'm a member of familab, the Greater Orlando (Florida), space. We're still struggling financially, and working towards our incorporation. Unfortunately, we've had to downsize, but that hasn't put a stop to our hacking. Hopefully I can meet up with some like minded people at Defcon and gather some advice and/or new members for our space. If you're ever in Orlando and want to peek at the space, let myself or our mailing list know. Any full member with a key can give you the grand (read: 1 room) tour. :)
Jaaga does have folks from design/art community frequenting it, but that doesn't make it any less of a community place for devs. As of now, there are 3 (tech) startups working (full time) out of there. You should come over and have a looksie
It probably makes more sense to also have the states/cities alphabetized as well. Otherwise, you have to scroll up/down or search for "Chicago" to find all the Chicago hackerspaces.
I wonder if that is because they lack a more hackeresque spirit or because those states being rural don't need a designated hacker space.