Here's What People In California Wanted To Be Growing Up

It’s a question we’ve all had to answer: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The answer is simple in elementary school when astronaut, super-hero or president usually top the list. But have you ever wondered what the most popular responses are in California?

The good folks over at Moneypenny, a nationwide answering service, decided to find out the answer for themselves. The company surveyed thousands of adults to find out what they wanted to be when they were growing up, and organized the information on a state by state basis.

The most common answer in our state was and remains a doctor.

Having more children want to seek medical careers could be a good thing, according to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States will see a shortage of over 122,000 physicians by 2032.

"The nation's population is growing and aging, and as we continue to address population and health goals, more Americans will live longer lives," AAMC President Emeritus Darrell G. Kirch, M Darrell G. Kirch, M.D. said. "Even with new ways of delivering care, America’s doctor shortage continues to remain real and significant."

One profession proved to be a break-out star around the nation: teaching was the top answer in a leading 17 states according to the study. That’s more than twice as many as the next two most popular answers combined (doctor and veterinarian, which led in eight states each).

Rhode Island had the clear best answer (at least best among journalists) on the list with, yes, Newsperson.

Not a single state had firefighter or police officer as a top answer, but Nevada managed to land astronaut.

There were regional differences to be found. Folks in the South and the Midwest were most likely to want to be teachers, residents in the Northeast yearned to become veterinarians, while kids in the West had their dreams set on becoming doctors.

Here’s the state by state breakdown of all the choices:

AK: Doctor
AL: Teacher
AR: Pro Baseball Player
AZ: Doctor
CA: Doctor
CO: Teacher
CT: Teacher
DE: Nurse
FL: Veterinarian
GA: Teacher
HI: Entrepreneur
IA: Doctor
ID: Teacher
IL: Lawyer
IN: Teacher
KS: Musician
KY: Teacher
LA: Veterinarian
MA: Musician
MD: Author
ME: Veterinarian
MI: Teacher
MN: Zoologist
MO: Teacher
MS: Lawyer
MT: Engineer
NC: Teacher
ND: Dancer
NE: Teacher
NH: Teacher
NJ: Veterinarian
NM: Filmmaker
NV: Astronaut
NY: Doctor
OH: Teacher
OK: Artist
OR: Veterinarian
PA: Veterinarian
RI: Newsperson
SC: Teacher
SD: Artist
TN: Teacher
TX: Teacher
UT: Lawyer
VA: Doctor
VT: Veterinarian
WA: Doctor
WI: Doctor
WV: Teacher
WY: Veterinarian