With the Fourth of July just days away, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its list of 2016’s Most Patriotic States as a follow-up to its recent look at the Best & Worst Fourth of July Destinations.
To identify the country’s patriotic hotspots, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 12 key metrics such as military engagement, voting habits and civic education.
| Top 20 Most Patriotic States | |||||
| 1 | Virginia | 11 | North Carolina | ||
| 2 | Alaska | 12 | Vermont | ||
| 3 | South Carolina | 13 | Idaho | ||
| 4 | Colorado | 14 | Wyoming | ||
| 5 | Georgia | 15 | Maine | ||
| 6 | Hawaii | 16 | Mississippi | ||
| 7 | Montana | 17 | New Mexico | ||
| 8 | Alabama | 18 | Wisconsin | ||
| 9 | Washington | 19 | Missouri | ||
| 10 | New Hampshire | 20 | South Dakota | ||
Key Stats
- Red states are more patriotic, with an average ranking of 22.5, compared with 28.3 for blue states (1 = Best).
- Alaska has the highest number of veterans per 1,000 residents, 100.8, which is two times higher than in New York, the state with the lowest, 45.5.
- Georgia has the highest percentage of residents who enlisted in the military (non-prior service), 0.063%, which is three times higher than in North Dakota, the state with the lowest, 0.022%.
- Minnesota has the highest percentage of residents who voted in the 2012 presidential election, 74.37%, which is two times higher than in Arizona, the state with the lowest, 37.98%.
- Utah has the highest volunteer rate, 45.2%, which is three times higher than in Louisiana, the state with the lowest, 18.2%.
- Vermont has the highest number of Americorps volunteers per 100,000 residents, 58.91, which is eight times higher than in Virginia, the state with the lowest, 7.42.
For the full report and to see where your state ranks, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/