The startling part for me, having grown up in an 18 state, is that the majority of US states are 16.

When I heard that for the first time I was like "Oh, that can't be right..."

Yup. 30 states = 16, 8 states = 17, 12 states = 18.

https://versustexas.com/blog/age-of-consent-by-state/