Best States for Social Activism

The U.S. has a long history of social movements, from its founding to more modern efforts for racial equality and climate activism. While social activism happens across the country, some states provide better environments for citizens to advocate and make a difference. To determine where social activism is prioritized the most, SmileHub compared the 50 states across 15 key metrics. The data set ranges from the number of rights/activism charities per capita to civic education engagement to hate crimes per capita.

If you want to support social activism but don’t know where to donate, check out our picks for the Best Charities for Rights & Activism in 2025.

• Main Findings
• Methodology

Main Findings

Best States for Social Activism

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Community Support & Engagement Rank	Legal Protection & Education Rank	Labor & Household Rank
1	Maryland	71.37	7	1	8
2	Minnesota	71.33	1	18	3
3	Virginia	71.01	6	1	12
4	Illinois	70.31	3	1	27
5	Colorado	67.60	22	1	4
6	Oregon	67.13	9	11	20
7	Washington	66.67	29	1	2
8	New York	65.99	5	11	34
9	New Hampshire	65.80	21	17	1
10	Maine	65.21	12	11	23
11	Iowa	64.46	19	1	22
12	California	63.71	32	1	14
13	Vermont	62.98	10	18	16
14	Hawaii	62.05	39	1	9
15	Michigan	61.33	23	1	38
16	Connecticut	61.25	35	11	10
17	New Jersey	60.75	41	11	7
18	Massachusetts	60.22	20	21	6
19	Alaska	59.95	15	21	13
20	Delaware	59.91	8	23	19
21	Utah	58.92	33	18	5
22	North Dakota	56.05	4	27	17
23	Nevada	53.41	49	1	32
24	Rhode Island	52.98	17	24	11
25	Pennsylvania	52.89	2	32	29
26	Kansas	51.85	16	24	21
27	New Mexico	49.27	36	16	46
28	Wisconsin	48.78	25	27	18
29	Nebraska	45.96	13	32	28
30	Florida	44.26	42	24	30
31	Idaho	44.02	34	30	15
32	Arizona	43.39	37	29	25
33	South Dakota	43.16	18	38	26
34	North Carolina	42.39	30	30	35
35	Wyoming	41.68	11	49	24
36	Ohio	41.50	26	32	37
37	Georgia	40.75	31	32	36
38	Indiana	40.49	27	38	33
39	Missouri	39.65	24	38	39
40	Montana	38.99	14	49	31
41	Texas	38.61	28	32	41
42	Tennessee	34.19	43	38	40
43	Oklahoma	32.88	44	32	43
44	Kentucky	30.99	46	38	42
45	South Carolina	30.24	48	38	44
46	West Virginia	29.51	40	38	47
47	Louisiana	26.73	47	38	49
48	Arkansas	26.03	45	46	48
49	Alabama	25.27	50	46	45
50	Mississippi	23.71	38	48	50

Notes: *No. 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

In order to identify the best states for social activism, SmileHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Community Support & Engagement, 2) Legal Protection & Education and 3) Labor & Household.

We evaluated those dimensions using 15 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 friendliness toward social activism. 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 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 Support & Engagement - Total Points: 50

• Rights & Activism Charities per Capita*: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
• Civic & Social Organizations per Capita: Full Weight (~5.56 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.
• Google Search Interest for “Social Change”: Double Weight (~11.11 Points)
  Note: This composed metric includes the search interest for the following terms: "social change", "protest" and "advocacy”.
• Share of Population Belonging to an Organizational Membership: Double Weight (~11.11 Points)
• Share of Eligible Voters Who Voted in the 2020 Presidential Election: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
• Access to Public Transportation (Proxy for Openness to Social Activism): Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
  Note: States where public transportation is used more often likely have populations that are more open to social change or will actively voice opinions related to social causes.

• Hate Crime Incidents per Capita: Full Weight (~5.56 Points)
  Note: 31% of Americans stress about hate crimes.

Legal Protection & Education - Total Points: 30

• Non-Discrimination in Employment Laws: Full Weight (~6.00 Points)
  Note: This is a binary metric:
  
  • 1 - The state expressly prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
    
  • 0.5 - The state expressly prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation only, or the state meets the first criteria, but enforcement authorities are accepting complaints on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity because the state has adopted the Bostock Rationale into state law.
    
  • 0 - The state does not have laws expressly prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
• Non-Discrimination in Housing Laws: Full Weight (~6.00 Points)
  Note: This is a binary metric:
  
  • 1 - The state expressly prohibits housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
    
  • 0.5 - The state expressly prohibits housing discrimination based on sexual orientation only, or the state meets the first criteria, but enforcement authorities are accepting complaints on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity because the state has adopted the Bostock Rationale into state law.
    
  • 0 - The state does not have laws expressly prohibiting housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
• Non-Discrimination in Education Laws: Full Weight (~6.00 Points)
  Note: This is a binary metric:
  
  • 1 - The state expressly prohibits non-discrimination in education on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
    
  • 0.5 - The state expressly prohibits non-discrimination in education on the basis of sexual orientation only.
    
  • 0 - The state does not have laws expressly prohibiting non-discrimination in education based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
• Civic Education Engagement: Full Weight (~6.00 Points)
  Note: This is a binary metric:
  
  • 1 - State requires U.S. history/civics to graduate.
    
  • 0 - State doesn’t require U.S. history/civics to graduate.
• Voter Accessibility Policies: Full Weight (~6.00 Points)

Labor & Household - Total Points: 20

• Share of Households with Internet Access: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)
• Share of Residents Living in Poverty: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)
• Food Insecurity Rate: Full Weight (~6.67 Points)

 
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Agriculture, Federal Bureau of Investigation, AmeriCorps, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Ballotpedia and Google Trends.