Texas ranked – WalletHub’s June 15 study ranking states by patriotism places Texas at No. 45—far from the top 10—after strong military-related scores are offset by weak civic engagement metrics.
A new WalletHub study is putting Texas’s “patriotism” score under a harsh spotlight: the Lone Star State landed at No. 45 in rankings released June 15, missing the top 10 entirely and sitting below several states that the same report treats as less patriotic.
The numbers land Texas in the bottom half of the national list. WalletHub’s ranking placed only Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, New York, and Arkansas below Texas.
WalletHub said it built its results using 13 metrics split across two main dimensions: military engagement and civic engagement. Texas’s split score shows why it slid. The state ranked No. 13 in military engagement and No. 3 for the highest average number of military enlistees. But on civic engagement, Texas ranked No. 47.
That civic-engagement weakness is part of the broader picture the report paints. Virginia took the No. 1 spot. with WalletHub estimating that for every 100. 000 civilians in the state. there are nearly 1. 761 active-duty military personnel—its third-highest active-duty concentration nationwide. Virginia also posted a high voter turnout rate. with 72.9% of residents voting in the 2024 presidential election. compared with the national average of 66%.
In the same study, Arkansas ranked last for patriotism. WalletHub placed Arkansas at No. 28 in military engagement and No. 50 in civic engagement.
The top 10 most patriotic states, according to the WalletHub study, are: Virginia, Montana, Vermont, Colorado, Oregon, North Dakota, Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, and New Hampshire.
The bottom 10 least patriotic states listed by WalletHub are: Arkansas, New York, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Indiana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
Separately. a brief personal moment in Texas’s military community underscores the stakes of what patriotism is supposed to mean in practice: when Kayla Killin graduated from basic military training at Lackland AFB in Texas. her 4-year-old brother. Quico. had the honor of tapping her out. The report says she was tapping out after the graduation ceremony at Lackland AFB. where basic training marks the transition from civilian life into military service.
Texas WalletHub patriotic states military engagement civic engagement Lackland AFB Virginia Arkansas voter turnout 2024 presidential election
So Texas is “not patriotic” now? Sounds made up. I’m sure everybody just needs more flag stores or whatever.
I don’t get it… Texas military stuff is high but civic engagement is low so they call it less patriotic? Like voting numbers only?? Seems kinda biased toward places with higher turnout.
Wait they said Texas is No. 45?? That’s insane. But then they also say Texas ranked No. 13 for military engagement and No. 3 for enlistees… so how is that the conclusion? Feels like they cherry-picked the “civic” part.
Kayla tapping out at Lackland AFB is honestly the only part that makes sense to me. Like what is patriotism even supposed to mean on a spreadsheet. If Virginia has that 72.9% turnout, cool, but Texas has a whole culture too. Also Arkansas last?? I swear these rankings always hate the South for some reason.