A Poll Ranking All 50 States Sparks Fierce Twitter Debate

A new poll ranking every U.S. state and Washington D.C. came out on Tuesday, and naturally a lot of people had thoughts.

The YouGov survey puts Hawaii at the top with 69 percent and D.C. dead last at #51 with only 35 percent. Of the 50 states, Alabama comes dead last with 38 percent.

The top five states also include Colorado, Virginia, Nevada, and North Carolina, followed by Florida.

One of the most contentious rankings in the poll is the very low placement of New Jersey at #48 (in the interest of disclosure, this editor is from New Jersey and would also like to question its ranking). Even the state’s official Twitter account had to push back a bit:

Me to all the people who so disrespected New Jersey: https://t.co/UaZgJyioXG pic.twitter.com/0xGMHWfYc7

— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) April 13, 2021

My takeaway: most Americans don’t know a lot about New Jersey https://t.co/pjgYXHDifm

— Alex Sherman (@sherman4949) April 13, 2021

one town spends a few weeks under the psychic control of a renegade superhero mourning her synthezoid husband and all of New Jersey pays for it https://t.co/xqKmcHpYSG

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 13, 2021

New Jersey’s place on the list suggests to me that only Phil Leotardo was consulted for this. https://t.co/2h5qryh6it

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) April 13, 2021

it's amazing what a poor public image New Jersey has. It's objectively very similar to Connecticut and Massachusetts! https://t.co/qfDywjRUht

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) April 13, 2021

you might not be Matt Gaetz, but you’re also banned from New Jersey https://t.co/VskzjkBWUT

— New Jersey (@NJGov) April 13, 2021

https://t.co/AQ2U0Wfhui pic.twitter.com/CjHsQoLecH

— New Jersey (@NJGov) April 13, 2021

And the rest of the list sparked some fierce debate too:

every state in the South should rank above every state in the Northeast but dumping on the South is too engrained in the white Northern mythic https://t.co/GIBuLERXey

— Astead (@AsteadWesley) April 13, 2021

Hawaii and Colorado are no-brainer picks for #1 and #2 but look at good ole Virginia! https://t.co/Vxci9XUUdY

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) April 13, 2021

Sometimes I try to explain to people how Montana lives in the American imaginary differently than Idaho, which is arguably just as beautiful); this list proves it https://t.co/4JoKzPmxbo

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) April 13, 2021

so much of this is wrong i don't even know where to begin https://t.co/y51xna8S1K

— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) April 13, 2021

The Midwest doesn't show up until No. 20 which offends me but also is correct https://t.co/KzqsiB6NA0

— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) April 13, 2021

God I hate this list https://t.co/c8ABuqlHpX

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 13, 2021

Ohio is way too high https://t.co/MRt05lgGbG

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 13, 2021

.@brianschatz clearly rigged this https://t.co/1Z4FBh59SV

— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) April 13, 2021

1) Virginia coming in at No. 3 is two too low. =)
2) Putting D.C. at the bottom is a shame because the city is *so much more* than federal politics. The @930Club alone puts it in the top half. https://t.co/mgO1tpoetD

— Del. Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) April 13, 2021

who tf is ranking nevada at 4 https://t.co/21wmY5u5f8

— Ryan Mac? (@RMac18) April 13, 2021

congrats to DC https://t.co/WmlwZncBAL

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) April 13, 2021

But whatever your feelings about the individual rankings, I think we can all agree: America. The states. America.