Out of the fifty states, Georgia ranks in the middle when it comes to patriotism. According to a study conducted by WalletHub, Georgia places 22nd out of the fifty states.
The two factors measured in the study were military engagement and civic engagement. Both factors were measured according to different statistics.
For example, military engagement was calculated by the number of veterans per 1,000 citizens and the active-duty military personnel per 100,000 civilian adults. The share of the civilian adult population in military reserves and the average number of military enlistees per 1,000 civilian adults between 2016 and 2021 were also measured.
On the other hand, civic engagement was measured by nine different statistics. These concerned the participation rate of volunteers, civic organizations, and voting.
WalletHub analyst Chip Lubo discussed the findings of the study. He stated, “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.”
Interestingly enough, blue states averaged a higher rank than red states. Blue states averaged a ranking of 21.21 while red states averaged 28.13. This can be seen in the top five states, where three of them turned out to be blue.
Virginia and Montana took first and second place. Virginia received high scores for both categories, while Montana scored higher in civic engagement than in military engagement.
Geography didn’t play a factor in this study, and that can be seen in how wildly ranked all the states are. Lubo commented, “Patriotism also isn’t concentrated in any one particular area – the top states are located in vastly different geographic regions.”
Georgia ranked the highest in the country for the average number of military enlistees. It ranked number 5 in terms of overall military engagement. For overall civic engagement, it ranked at 33.
Florida did not rank so well, however. It placed 46th overall and in civic engagement, while placing 21st in military engagement. It has some work to do if it wants to catch up to the Peach State.
