Caitlin Peary (left), 14, and Jay Peary wave their American flags and clap during the annual Bangor/Brewer Veterans Day Parade last November. (BDN photo by Ashley L. Conti)
The Fourth of July holiday is nearly upon us, and sensing an opportunity to capitalize, the research and analysis website WalletHub.com has ranked the 50 states in terms of patriotism.
Just a year ago, the real estate blog Movoto undertook a similar exercise, and determined Maine to be the second most patriotic state in the union, behind just South Carolina.
Maine Veterans’ Services raises the flag outside the new regional home for state Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor offices in South Portland in January. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)
WalletHub used slightly different data in developing its list this summer, and reached different results — but Maine remained in the top 10, placing sixth overall.
In WalletHub’s list, South Carolina finished at No. 9, while Virginia — home state of four of the first five presidents — claimed the top spot.
To reach its conclusions, WalletHub looked at a range of data it considered emblematic of strong patriotism, such as each state’s veterans per capita, Google searches for “American flag,” voter turnout and local volunteerism rates.
(If you’re curious, Movoto also looked at veterans per capita, Google searches for the flag and voter turnout, but chose a few different criteria as well, such as the amount spent on veterans programs and national historic landmarks per capita.)
For WalletHub, Maine ranked ninth in the nation in its number of Peace Corps volunteers per 100,000 residents and 11th in percentage of residents who enlisted in the military in 2013 — presumably the most recent year for which the researchers had complete information.
Maine finished just behind No. 5 Alaska and just ahead of No. 7 North Carolina. Behind Virginia, Washington and Colorado finished second and third overall in the patriotism rankings.
The bottom three in the rankings? Rhode Island, New Jersey and last-place New York. Scroll over the states below to see where each one ranks, according to WalletHub:
