July 4th is among the patriotic annual U.S. holidays when Americans across the country celebrate the nation's independence.
Patriotism is defined as "the quality of being patriotic; devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country" by the Oxford Dictionary — and this year the day will be celebrated no differently.
WalletHub analyzed all 50 states to see which were the most patriotic based on a number of factors.
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States were ranked based on military engagement, such as the number of veterans per 1,000 civilian adults, active-duty military personnel and more.
They were also ranked on civic engagement, such as volunteer rate, trial and grand jury participation, U.S. history education requirements, plus the number of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Analyst Cassandra Happe of WalletHub, which is headquartered in Miami, Florida, said these factors weighed heavily on the patriotism rankings for the states.
"The most patriotic states have a lot of residents who serve or have served in the armed forces, high voter turnouts during elections and a high share of the population volunteering with national and local organizations," she said in a media statement.
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She continued, "Patriotism also isn’t concentrated in any one particular area. The top states are located in vastly different geographic regions."
See if your home state ranked near the top of the list.
Virginia, with its close proximity to Washington, D.C., was named the most patriotic U.S. state, according to WalletHub, for its high number of active-duty military personnel and veterans in the area, plus other factors.
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WalletHub noted that 71.5% of Virginia's residents voted in the 2020 presidential election compared to the national average of 67%, which also contributed to the state’s high ranking.
"For every 100,000 civilians in Virginia, there are nearly 1,900 active-duty military personnel, the third-most in the country," said WalletHub in its report.
"And for every 1,000 civilians, there are around 107 veterans, the second-most in the country."
It also said, "To top things off, Virginia has the seventh-highest number of Peace Corps volunteers per capita, and it is one of the many states that require courses in U.S. history or civics for high school graduation."
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Alaska ranked second and Montana ranked third.
Alaska showed high numbers of jury service participation, while Montana showed a large volunteer rate among the public.
States near the bottom of the list included Florida, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Arkansas — which came in last place.
WalletHub also found that the average number of military enlistees was the highest in Georgia and the lowest in North Dakota.
The highest veterans per capita resided in Alaska — while the lowest numbers resided in New Jersey, per WalletHub.
New Jersey, however, was listed as the state with the highest share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election.
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The WalletHub study also found that blue states tend to be more patriotic, with an average rank of 23.44 compared to red states' average rank of 27.56.
Data used in the study was collected in May 2024 from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and others.
