Hawaii is, again, Americans’ favorite state

There’s not always a lot that Americans agree on, but Hawaii being pretty nice certainly seems to be up there. 

According to a new YouGov survey, a whopping 68% of Americans have a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of the Aloha State, compared to just 15% who view Hawaii unfavorably. The island state’s victory builds on another YouGov study from 2021, where it won 69% of head-to-head matchups against other states, making it the most popular back then, too. 

Alaska, the 49th state, which (like Hawaii) was only admitted to the union in 1959, came in second with a net rating of +47% — suggesting some potential correlation between the amount of time Americans have had to form an opinion on the state and how well it does in the ranking. Or how far away it is from the mainland US.

The way people vote and whether they’re city- or suburb-dwellers also had a considerable influence, per YouGov, with states like New York and California seeing huge spreads in favorability depending on party affiliation and where respondents live.

Interestingly, US citizens’ two favorite states are also among the ones they’ve visited least, with only 21% of Americans having actually been to Hawaii and just 12% having visited Alaska, a separate YouGov survey found earlier this year.

The lowest scoring place in the poll technically isn’t a state: Washington, DC, was included in the survey and notched the lowest net favorability at 1% — just below Mississippi’s 2% score.

Go Deeper: Check out the full YouGov survey.