We’re all familiar with the litany of national polls that are conducted, almost all of which are specifically about politics. That’s why it was interesting and refreshing to see YouGov, take on a different topic. What’s the best state? The methodology was interesting too. Rather than just asking people to name the best state, they presented two states at a time and asked which is the better state. They then calculated a “win percentage”, of all state’s head-to-head matchups.
Survey says, Hawaii comes in at #1, followed by Colorado, Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Florida. Florida, with a 61% win rate was only 1% behind Nevada for fourth overall. Hawaii’s win rate stood at 69%.
As for the other end of the spectrum, Alabama isn’t that sweet of home in the mind of most. They finished last among states at 38%. Washington, D.C. was last overall at 35%. Barely ranking above those two were New Jersey and Mississippi at 38% and 39%. It’s probably not worth reading too much into any of this. Clearly Hawaii’s top ranking and Nevada’s fourth overall ranking speak to destination locations generally winning out.
This likely contributes to Florida’s strong performance. Still, it’s notable that Florida fared far better than the two states larger than ours, Texas at #10 and California at #12, so there’s certainly more to the story than just a place to visit on vacation.
One question in particular I found interesting was this one. Do you consider the state you live in now to be your home state or the state where you were born? 70% of people answered with the state where they were born and evidently still where the heart is. I’m in the minority in this one. Though I was born and mostly raised in Georgia, including starting my business and my radio career in Georgia – I'm part of the 30% who identifies with where they live now. My home and heart are here in South Florida.
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