I know exactly what you’re thinking: How can Massachusetts – the birthplace of American freedom, the cradle of liberty – not be the most patriotic state in the country? An audacious new survey conducted by real estate website Movoto actually dares to suggest that the Bay State is, in fact, the 27th most patriotic in the union.
Gasp!
To determine patriotism, Movoto comprised the following criteria courtesy of the 2012 U.S. Census, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Google Trends, Facebook, and Wikipedia:
- National Historic Landmarks per Capita
- Veterans per Capita
- Money Spent to Fund Veterans
- Percent of Residents That Voted in the Last Presidential Election
- People Who Google For American Flags to buy
- People Who List America as an Interest on Facebook
They then ranked each state by those categories, the lower score the better. Finally, Movoto “averaged those scores into one Big Deal Score, with a lower score indicating greater patriotism.”
The Commonwealth earned its best mark in the Landmarks category, taking the number 5 spot. We also did well in voter turnout, coming in at number 8.
Aside from those two areas, Massachusetts basically fell short everywhere else.
Interestingly enough, the most patriotic state is South Carolina – the first state to secede from the union to ignite the Civil War. The Palmetto State also sits atop the nation in terms of Googling American flags.
Six Southeastern states, in fact, are among the top 10 most patriotic. Number 2 is our neighbor to the north, Maine; number 4, Wyoming; and number 10 is Arizona.
“So happy birthday, America,” writes Movoto. “We look forward to that banner waving ‘or the land of the free and the home of the brave for a long time to come. And if you really want to see national pride this holiday, you might want to head over to South Carolina.”
