Best States for Community Connection

The value of tight-knit communities where residents genuinely care for one another cannot be overstated. Strong social connections offer many benefits, after all, such as lower stress, anxiety, and depression levels. However, according to a Gallup survey, only 58% of U.S. adults feel extremely or very proud to be American, a new low since measurements began in 2001.

To highlight the best states for community connection and the ones that have the most room to improve, SmileHub compared each of the 50 states based on 21 key metrics. The data set ranges from the number of community support charities per capita to the volunteer rate to the number of hate crime incidents per capita.

If you want to improve your community but don’t know where to donate, check out our picks for the Best Charities for Community Support in 2025.

• Main Findings
• Methodology

Main Findings

Best States for Community Connection

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Community Well-Being & Togetherness Rank	Financial & Social Support Rank	Stability Detractors Rank
1	Minnesota	65.86	2	3	6
2	Utah	62.72	1	25	5
3	Massachusetts	62.35	3	5	17
4	North Dakota	62.20	8	4	10
5	New Hampshire	61.31	7	24	1
6	Vermont	59.44	11	1	36
7	Nebraska	58.37	5	18	14
8	Connecticut	57.98	12	14	9
9	South Dakota	57.79	16	6	15
10	Pennsylvania	57.74	18	8	12
11	Maryland	57.56	4	13	27
12	Virginia	57.36	6	22	16
13	Wyoming	55.87	22	7	18
14	Kansas	55.44	10	11	32
15	New York	55.07	26	2	22
16	Illinois	54.88	21	15	13
17	Iowa	53.70	25	26	7
18	Maine	53.24	32	23	2
19	New Jersey	52.96	9	38	19
20	Hawaii	52.34	27	32	3
21	Wisconsin	52.33	23	30	11
22	Montana	51.24	20	21	25
23	Rhode Island	50.90	36	28	4
24	Idaho	50.83	19	43	8
25	Alaska	50.02	13	10	48
26	California	49.89	31	9	37
27	Indiana	48.97	34	17	23
28	Ohio	48.17	33	20	29
29	Washington	48.02	17	29	42
30	Delaware	47.38	15	46	31
31	Colorado	46.90	14	34	43
32	Oregon	46.60	24	19	45
33	Missouri	46.33	35	16	39
34	Georgia	45.29	30	40	28
35	North Carolina	44.97	28	45	24
36	Tennessee	43.78	29	35	41
37	Michigan	43.53	37	33	26
38	Oklahoma	43.31	40	12	44
39	Texas	42.83	41	27	35
40	Kentucky	42.59	38	37	30
41	Arizona	41.05	39	36	38
42	Florida	40.29	43	44	21
43	Mississippi	38.62	44	41	34
44	South Carolina	38.16	42	47	33
45	West Virginia	38.09	49	39	20
46	Alabama	35.73	47	42	40
47	Arkansas	34.28	48	31	47
48	Nevada	32.96	46	48	46
49	New Mexico	30.17	45	50	50
50	Louisiana	28.05	50	49	49

Notes: *1 = Best

With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

Methodology

To identify the best states for community connection, SmileHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Community Well-Being & Togetherness, 2) Financial & Social Support and 3) Stability Detractors.

We evaluated those dimensions using 21 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of community support. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for population differences across states.

We then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

Community Well-Being & Togetherness - Total Points: 40

• Volunteer Rates: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Share of Population Belonging to an Organizational Membership: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Share of Eligible Voters Who Voted in the 2024 Presidential Election: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• “State Kindness” Ranking: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: The United States of Kindness survey administered by kindness.org and commissioned by Verizon and Nextdoor asked 10,000 people across the U.S. questions to determine the kindness of neighbors across the country.

• Poor Mental Health Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Share of Residents Living in Poverty: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Food Insecurity Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Access to Public Transportation: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

Financial & Social Support - Total Points: 35

• Community Support Charities per Capita*: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)

• Google Search Interest for "Charitable Donations": Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the search interest for the following terms: “volunteer”, “non profit organizations”, “charity”, “charitable donations” and “charitable organizations”.

• Share of Income Donated to Charity: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)

• Adoption Rate: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the number of children adopted through public agencies per adult population.

• Residents Who Work in Community & Social Services per Capita: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)

• Job Growth Rate: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)

• Sharecare Well-Being “Economic Security”: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
  Note: Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100 (100=best). Component of Sharecare's Well-Being Index Score - "Community members are employed, insured, and otherwise stable financially".

• Civic and Social Organizations per Capita: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
  Note: According to the North American Industry Classification System, “civic and social organizations” comprise establishments primarily engaged in promoting the civic and social interests of their members. Establishments in this industry may operate bars and restaurants for their members.

Stability Detractors - Total Points: 25

• Separation & Divorce Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Violent Crime Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Property Crime Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

• Incarceration Rate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: “Incarceration” refers to the long-term confinement of convicted and sentenced offenders.

• Hate Crime Incidents per Capita: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: 31% of Americans stress about hate crimes.

 
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Children’s Bureau, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Internal Revenue Service, Google Trends, Kindness.org, AmeriCorps and Sharecare’s “Community Well-Being Index”.