How Patriotic Is Louisiana?

The 4th of July is less than a week away, which makes it a good time for personal finance website WalletHub to release its list of 2016's Most Patriotic States.

WalletHub compared the 50 states across 12 key metrics, like military engagement, voting habits and civic education. So, where does Louisiana rank? You would think, given that we have Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk in the Bayou State, we'd at least be in the top 20. But that wasn't the case. Louisiana ranked close to the bottom, at #41.

We ranked number 32 for Military Engagement, and 45th for Civic Engagement. According to the study, we also ranked at the bottom for Volunteer Rate, with 18.2%. Surprising, given all the support Louisianans give to our non-profits.

The top 5 most patriotic states are Virginia, Alaska, South Carolina, Colorado and Georgia. The bottom five, from 46 to 50, are Illinois, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Here were some of the other key stats:

Red states are more patriotic, with an average ranking of 22.5, compared with 28.3 for blue states (1 = Best).

Alaska has the highest number of veterans per 1,000 residents, 100.8, which is two times higher than in New York, the state with the lowest, 45.5.

Georgia has the highest percentage of residents who enlisted in the military (non-prior service), 0.063%, which is three times higher than in North Dakota, the state with the lowest, 0.022%.

Minnesota has the highest percentage of residents who voted in the 2012 presidential election, 74.37%, which is two times higher than in Arizona, the state with the lowest, 37.98%.

Vermont has the highest number of Americorps volunteers per 100,000 residents, 58.91, which is eight times higher than in Virginia, the state with the lowest, 7.42.