Virginia Ranks Among The Most Patriotic States In America

VIRGINIA — Shouldn't Virginia be a lock for the most patriotic state in the U.S.? After all, it's one of the original 13 colonies, is the home of founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others, and today hosts numerous military installations. But a recent ranking of the states by patriotism placed New Hampshire as the most patriotic, while New Jersey closed the list; Virginia ranked 14th.

The personal finance website WalletHub used two key metrics — military engagement, with a weight of 25 points, and civic engagement, with a weight of 75 points — to determine the most patriotic states.

In the category of military engagement, WalletHub looked at things like the number of military enlistees from 2012-2017; active-duty military personnel and the share of adults in the military reserves.

Tell Us Virginia: What does patriotism mean to you?

The more broad category of civic engagement measured things like the number of adults voting in the 2016 presidential primary and general elections; the number of volunteers and the hours of service they contribute; the number of AmeriCorps and Peace Corps volunteers; trial and grand jury participation; participation in groups and organizations; and civics education requirements in public schools.

Virginia received high scores for military engagement (5) and civic engagement (17). The Commonwealth ranked third for the most veterans per capita in the country, and fifth for the most Peace Corps volunteers.

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Here are the 10 most patriotic states in America, according to the analysis:

• New Hampshire (1)
• Wyoming (2)
• Vermont (3)
• Utah (4)
• Idaho (5)
• Wisconsin (6)
• Alaska (7)
• South Carolina (8)
• Missouri (9)
• Minnesota (10)

The analysts said the 10 least patriotic states are:

• New Jersey (50)
• New York (49)
• California (48)
• West Virginia (47)
• Texas (46)
• Connecticut (45)
• Indiana (44)
• New Mexico (43)
• Michigan (42)
• Illinois (41)

Although his state ranked in the bottom tier for patriotism, Sean Michael Laurent, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, said most Americans view themselves as patriots and “there is no single state or group of states that is ‘most’ patriotic.” The definition of patriotism is complex and its meaning may well depend on the political ideology of the person who is being asked to define the term, he said.

“Probably, most citizens of the U.S. would call themselves patriots,” Laurent said in comments accompanying the WalletHub analysis. “However, given the current political climate, many people would also accuse people from the ‘other’ side of the ideological spectrum of failing in their patriotism … because standing up for and defending your country can mean different things to different people.”

The analysis found that traditionally Republican states are more patriotic than those that are Democratic strongholds.

“Perhaps the best way to be a patriot is by supporting your leaders when you agree, dissenting when you do not, but above all, trying to keep an open mind and make your country the best place it can be with your every action,” Laurent said.

Changes in cultural traditions may lead some to believe younger citizens aren’t as patriotic as their parents and grandparents, but that’s not necessarily a correct impression, said Timothy Kneeland, a professor and chairman of the History and Political Science Department at Nazareth College.

“Yes, the younger generation may be less likely to adopt the cultural practices of the past, singing the national anthem, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, etc.,” he said. “They have been raised to think that being too American means being too parochial and they may be embarrassed by an overenthusiastic embrace of things that are labeled America. However, they still show their love of country by community service, civic engagement, etc.”

The analysts pulled data from the Census Bureau, Department of Veterans Affairs, Defense Manpower Data Center, Corporation for National & Community Service, Peace Corps, Military OneSource, United States Election Project, Administrative Office of U.S. Courts and the Center for American Progress.