Independence Day is right around the corner. You've probably seen Old Glory flying throughout the Quad Cities and hear a lot of fireworks going off. As we inch closer to the Fourth of July, American patriotism will grow every day. Even though we all cherish our freedoms as Americans and we have a sense of patriotism, some states are more patriotic than others. A new study has come out showing how patriotic each state is or isn't.

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A new study has been conducted by our friends at WalletHub. They wanted to find out which states are the most patriotic.

To do so, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key dimensions:

  • Military Engagement
  • Civic Engagement

They evaluated those two dimensions using 13 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of patriotism.

After determining each state's weighted average across all metrics, they calculated their overall score and used those scores to rank each state.

When all the fancy math was done, this is how patriotic each state is:

Source: WalletHub

WalletHub found that Montana is the most patriotic state. They have an overall score of 61.91 and ranked #22 in Military Engagement and #1 in Civic Engagement.

How did Iowa and Illinois do?

Iowa is ranked as one of the most patriotic states, according to WalletHub. Iowa ranked as the 16th most patriotic state with an overall score of 44.09. Iowa is #41 in Military Engagement and #10 in Civic Engagement.

These are some other fun statistics about Iowa from this study:

  • 21st – Peace Corps Volunteers per Capita
  • 12th – % of Adults Who Voted in 2020 Presidential Election
  • 4th – Volunteer Rate
  • 20th – Civics Education Requirement
  • 6th – AmeriCorps Volunteers per Capita

Illinois was towards the bottom of this list. Illinois ranked as the 45th patriotic state (yikes). Illinois' overall score was 28.53. Illinois is #39 in Military Engagement and #36 in Civic Engagement. 

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