These Are The Most Patriotic States In America

The state that a new analysis suggests is the most patriotic of all U.S. states played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War. Crucial battles were fought there. And once independence from the British crown was achieved, this state produced presidents and other political leaders.

So it fits with Virginia’s enduring public service ethos that it tops the ranking of the most patriotic states in the country by the personal finance website WalletHub. However, some other states whose delegates to the Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia during the summer of 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence finished far down in the ranking.

States were compared across 13 indicators, including the number of military enlistees and veterans per capita to the share of adults who voted in the 2024 presidential election.

For every 100,000 civilians in Virginia, there are more than 1,850 active-duty military personnel, the third-most in the country. For every 1,000 civilians, there are about 103 veterans, the second-most in the country. Virginia also has the fifth-highest number of Peace Corps volunteers and consistently has high voter turnout, including 73 percent in the 2024 election, compared with the national average of 66 percent. Graduation requirements at public high schools include a stand-alone civics course.

Patriotism Isn’t Geographic

“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 or local organizations,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in a news release. “Patriotism also isn’t concentrated in any one particular area — the top states are located in vastly different geographic areas.”

Here are the top 10 most patriotic states:

1. Virginia
2. Montana
3. Vermont
4. Colorado
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. North Dakota
8. Maryland
9. Minnesota
10. New Hampshire

Where The Original 13 Ranked

Notably absent from the top 10 states are most of the original 13 British colonies in North America that eventually formed the original states of the new nation made it into the top 10 of Wallet Hub’s list.

Maryland was ranked eighth and New Hampshire 10th. Pennsylvania, where the Continental Congress was held, ranked 37th. Massachusetts, where Paul Revere and other patriots used low-tech but effective lanterns to warn of the approach of the British troops in what began the Revolutionary War, ranked 31st.

Other states in the original 13 and their rankings were No. 20 Delaware, No. 22 Georgia, No. 24 North Carolina, No. 25 South Carolina, No. 29 Connecticut, No. 42 Rhode Island, No. 43 New Jersey and No. 49 New York.

Some original states ranked high in individual measurements.

Armed Forces Participation

Georgia has the highest number of military enlistees, followed by Alaska, Texas, Hawaii and South Carolina, respectively. North Dakota had the least number of military enlistees, followed by Vermont, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Virginia was the only one of the colonies in the top ranking for veterans per capita The states are, respectively, Alaska, Virginia, Wyoming, Montana and Hawaii. Four of the bottom five in this category were colonies. New York and New Jersey were ranked 50th and 49th, followed by California, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Civil Service And Voting

Two of the colonies were in the top five for Peace Corps volunteers per capita — respectively, Vermont, New Hampshire, Oregon, Colorado and Virginia. States with the lowest participation are No. 50 North Dakota, followed by Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana and Alabama.

Rhode Island ranked 50th for volunteers per capita, the only one of the 13 colonies at the top or bottom of the ranking. The top five state s were Utah, Vermont, Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas. Following Rhode Island at the bottom of the ranking were Nevada, Alabama, New Mexico and Florida.

The highest voter turnout was in Minnesota, followed by Oregon, Virginia, New Jersey and Michigan. States with the lowest voter turnout were No. 50 Arkansas, followed by Texas, Louisiana, Hawaii and Alabama

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