Why 30.1% of numbers start with 1

kevintwohy:

Since there are nine possible digits, you would expect that one-ninth (11.11%) of the numbers would have 1 in the leading digit position. However, this is not what you will find– about 30.1% of the numbers will start with 1. It gets even stranger from here.

(via hn)

I believe the title of this is misleading. In actuality, 1/9 of all numbers (ie, negative infinite to infinite) do start with one. It’s just in the “real world” that different rules apply.