Alaska has been named the most patriotic state in the country, according to a new report published by WalletHub.
On Monday, the personal finance website reported the findings of a study which assessed each state’s patriotism using 13 different indicators, all of which fell under two categories: military engagement or civic engagement.
These indicators, which ranged from comparing a state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election, were weighted using a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of patriotism.
Though some states could score higher on some indicators for patriotism – for instance, New Jersey had the highest share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election – that wouldn’t necessarily translate to a high overall patriotic ranking (overall, the Garden State clocked in at 38).
Overall, the financial website found that on average, blue states were more patriotic – based on their indicators – than red states, with Republican-dominated states scoring an average ranking of 24.92 compared to Democratic states scoring an average of 26.08.
Arkansas was determined to be the least patriotic, while Alaska was closely followed by Montana, Virginia, North Dakota and Oregon to hold the title as the top five most patriotic states in the country.
Coming in ahead of Arkansas as the least patriotic was New York, Rhode Island, Florida and Massachusetts, the state with a licence plate emblazoned with a patriotic colour scheme of red, white and blue alongside the slogan, “The Spirit of America”.
The report also found Alaska had the highest level of veterans per capita, while New York had the least, and Vermont had the greatest number of Peace Corps volunteers per capita, while Alabama had the least.
