The 'Top 5' Most Loved and Hated States

Americans tend to have either a positive or an indifferent view of the 50 states (57 in some circles), right?

Maybe not.

Researchers at Public Policy Polling (PPP) decided that they would ask 1,200 people how they felt about each of the 50 states. Surprisingly, five states ranked high on the "unfavorable" list. Unsurprisingly, PPP discovered that (by an overwhelming margin) Americans have an enormously favorable opinion of Hawaii.

You had me at “sarong."

So how did PPP get its results?

"PPP surveyed 1,200 American voters," the report explains. "PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews."

Therefore, because the data might be skewed due to sampling errors, take the survey results with a grain of salt. Of course, that's not to say that we can't enjoy the PPP list and fight over who should and shouldn't be on it.

Here are the "top 5" most popular states according to PPP:

1. Hawaii: 54% Favorable, 10% Unfavorable (+44 Margin)

2. Colorado: 44% Favorable, 9% Unfavorable (+35 Margin)

3. Tennessee: 48% Favorable, 14% Unfavorable (+34 Margin)

4. South Dakota: 42% Favorable, 8% Unfavorable (+34 Margin)

5. Virginia: 45% Favorable, 13% Unfavorable (+32 Margin)

Here are the "top 5" least popular states according to PPP:

1. California: 27% Favorable, 44% Unfavorable (-17 Margin)

2. Illinois:19% Favorable, -29% Unfavorable (-10 Margin)

3. New Jersey: 25% Favorable, -32% Unfavorable (-7 Margin)

4. Mississippi:22% Favorable, 28% Unfavorable (-6 Margin)

5. Utah: 24% Favorable, 27% Unfavorable (-3 Margin)

“Of course,” writes Kevin Spak of Newser, “most people are indifferent about most states...with an average of two-thirds of respondents saying they were ‘not sure’ for each.”

“But some states were quite polarizing; Democrats like California 91 points more than Republicans do, while Republicans like Texas 82 points more than Democrats,” he adds.

Here are some of the other findings from the PPP report [emphasis added]:

There are also some differences across demographic lines.  Women have a higher opinion of New York by 27 points more than men, Massachusetts by 22 points, Delaware and California by 16, New Hampshire by 15, Vermont and Illinois by 13, and Connecticut by 11, while men see North Dakota more favorably by 17 points, South Carolina by 15, Wyoming 14, Montana 13, and Iowa and South Dakota 10.

Democrats’ favorite states include Hawaii (62-7), Washington (50-10), Massachusetts (49-9), Oregon (46-6), Vermont (46-9), Colorado (45-8), and New York (51-15), and their least favorites are led by Texas (17-51), Alabama (13-45), and Mississippi (13-41).

Republicans love Alaska (65-3) and Texas (66-9), and absolutely hate California (12-68), followed distantly by Illinois (15-44) and Massachusetts (19-47).

...

Black voters dislike 10 of the 14 Southern states.  The only ones they like are North Carolina (their second favorite overall after Hawaii, at 42-8), Virginia (36-13), Tennessee (36-15), Maryland (32-13), and Florida (34-18).  Their least favorite state overall is Alabama (14-56), then Mississippi (15-51), and Texas (17-44).

Can anyone honestly say they are surprised by these results? That is, is it shocking to learn that Democrats dislike deep Southern states while a majority of Republicans "absolutely hate California"?

See the full PPP report here.

(H/T: Newser)

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