The Most (and Least) Patriotic States in America

On Monday, DC-based personal finance website WalletHub released their 2021 report detailing the results of an annual study aiming to rank each state in the union by how “patriotic” its residents, on average, are determined to be.

The study found Montana claiming the #1 slot by a comfortable margin, with Alaska, Maryland, and Vermont tailing closest behind. New York, meanwhile, placed in a resounding fiftieth.

As patriotism’s definition is largely subjective, a group of academics were consulted and asked to answer a set of questions concerning patriotism’s definition, what they consider displays of patriotism to be, and the socioeconomic factors that contribute to the expression of patriotism — or a lack thereof. As has also been the case in years past, this assisted in the creation of a consensus in establishing the definition of the word that would be used for the purpose of the study.

Thirteen key parameters were used, each pertaining to civic and military engagement to gauge and score each state’s relative patriotism.

Levels of civic engagement were determined by looking at factors including rates of voter turnout in last year’s primary and general elections, jury participation, civics education, and per capita participation in volunteer work.

Military engagement was measured through the aggregation of average numbers of military enlistees, veterans, active-duty personnel, and individuals living in military reserves relative to each state’s overall population.

Red states were also found to have slightly outperformed blue states overall. The report’s seven highest-ranked states are all governed by Republicans — five of these states also have Republican-run legislatures. Six out of the bottom seven, meanwhile, are governed by Democrats, with five having Democratic legislatures.

The study found that the top ten most patriotic states in the union are as follows:

1. Montana
2. Alaska
3. Maryland
4. Vermont
5. New Hampshire
6. North Dakota
7. Wyoming
8. Minnesota
9. Oregon
10. Virginia

The bottom 10, meanwhile, are:

1. New York
2. Florida
3. Connecticut
4. Michigan
5. California
6. Illinois
7. New Jersey
8. Arkansas
9. West Virginia
10. Texas

The full list, as well as further insight into the study and its methodology, can be accessed here.

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