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.
