A goal of the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) program, which partners the USGS with State Geological Surveys, Federal agencies, and the private sector, is to collect new geological, geophysical, geochemical, and topographic (lidar) data in key areas of the U.S., with the purpose of stimulating domestic mineral exploration and production of critical minerals. As a first step, the Earth MRI program identified regional geographic areas within the United States that may have potential to host deposits containing critical minerals. These are the focus areas described in Dicken and others (2022) (https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DIZ9N8).