N.C. claims middle ranking in new list of most patriotic states
By John Trump
Carolina Journal News Service
RALEIGH — It would be hard for North Carolina to end up closer to the average in a new ranking of the most patriotic states. WalletHub.com ranks the Tar Heel State No. 25. The new rankings arrive a couple of weeks before Independence Day.
North Carolina also ranks in the middle among its neighboring states, with Virginia ranked No. 10, South Carolina No. 19, Georgia No. 29, and Tennessee No. 30.
Along with an overall ranking, North Carolina gets a No. 6 placement for “military engagement” and No. 33 for “civic engagement.” WalletHub.com weighted civic factors three times as heavily as military factors.
Montana takes the top honor in the WalletHub.com list, with Alaska, Maryland, Vermont, and New Hampshire rounding out the top five. The bottom five states are California, Michigan, Connecticut, Florida, and New York (at No. 50).
“In order to determine where Americans have the most red, white, and blue pride, WalletHub compared the states across 13 key indicators of patriotism,” according to financial writer Adam McCann. “Our data set ranges from the state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election to AmeriCorps volunteers per capita.”
The list proclaims “red states are more patriotic than blue states,” though the difference in average rankings is slight. States that voted Republican in the 2020 presidential election had an average ranking of 25.32. Those that voted Democratic had an average ranking of 25.68.
Military-related criteria used in the WalletHub.com ranking were average military enlistees per 1,000 civilian adults between 2013 and 2018, veterans per 1,000 civilian adults, active-duty military personnel per 100,000 civilian adults, and the share of civilian adult population in military reserves.
Civic factors were the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election, the share of adults who voted in the 2020 primary elections, volunteer rate, volunteer hours per resident, AmeriCorps volunteers per capita, Peace Corps volunteers per capita, trial and grand jury participation per civilian adult population, the share of residents who participate in groups or organizations, and a state civics education requirement.
