The different regions of the USA all have very distinct minerals, which is related to both the geology and exposure of interesting material. Specimen bearing material can be exposed in a natural occurring outcrop or by removal of overburden from blasting, mining, and/or quarrying. Some areas, such as the New York City area and its suburbs are rich with occurrences of fine minerals but inaccessible due to development or other reasons. Contrasting this, some areas such as the state of Nebraska would be easy to collect minerals in if it were rich in occurrences. This state is one of only a few that have nearly no mineral diversity.

There is a wide variety of minerals in the US due to the large size of the country and its diverse geology. Economically speaking, the US is rich in many important resources including copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, platinum group metals, iron, and building stone such as granite, marble, and basalt. Several regions have produced high quality gem minerals as well. A few locations in the US have extremely unique geology in which many minerals have been discovered.