Alabama isnât the most conservative state in U.S., ranking shows
Alabama – and its lawmakers – have generally been ranked as the most traditional in the country. But a new informal analysis claims the designation of the most conservative state in the U.S. belongs elsewhere.
Stacker recently used data from Gallup to rank all 50 states by the percentage of conservative residents and then by the percentage of residents that identified as moderate. If both percentages were the same for more than one state, that ranking is denoted as a tie. Additionally, data from 270toWin and the Cook Political Report’s 2020 National Popular Vote Tracker was used to show how many times the state voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1964, and how many votes were cast for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
The analysis showed that the states with the lowest concentrations of conservatives are on the West Coast, in the Northeast, and in New England. More rural and Southern states dominated the list of those with the most conservatives.
Alabama was ranked as the second most conservative state, based on the following data:
- Residents who consider themselves conservative: 46%
- Residents who consider themselves moderate: 34%
- Presidential election outcome between 1964-2020: voted Republican 13 times (out of 15)
- Votes cast for Donald Trump in 2020: 1,441,170 (62%)
Coming in at number one was Mississippi with:
- Residents who consider themselves conservative: 50%
- Residents who consider themselves moderate: 29%
- Presidential election outcome between 1964-2020: voted Republican 13 times (out of 15)
- Votes cast for Donald Trump in 2020: 756,789 (57.6%)
You can compare this to Massachusetts, where:
- Residents who consider themselves conservative: 21%
- Residents who consider themselves moderate: 38%
- Presidential election outcome between 1964-2020: voted Republican 2 times (out of 15)
- Votes cast for Donald Trump in 2020: 1,167,202 (32.1%)
Overall, the top 10 most conservative states were:
1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. Wyoming
4. West Virginia
5. South Dakota
6. Oklahoma
7. Louisiana
8. Tennessee
9. Utah
10. Arkansas
The 10 least-conservative states were:
1. Massachusetts
2. Hawaii
3. New York
4. New Hampshire
5. Vermont
6. Washington
7. California
8. New Jersey
9. Maryland
10. Rhode Island