States With the Most Tight-Knit Communities

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 Pew Research Center survey, only 66% of Americans feel close to their fellow citizens, and just 54% of adults feel close to people in their local communities.

To highlight the states with the most tight-knit communities 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 volunteer rate to the separation and divorce rate to the number of community support charities 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 2024.

• Main Findings
• Methodology

Main Findings

States With the Most Tight-Knit Communities

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Community Well-Being & Togetherness Rank	Financial & Social Support Rank	Stability Detractors Rank
1	Minnesota	64.67	1	3	7
2	Utah	61.77	2	14	2
3	Wyoming	59.38	5	2	21
4	North Dakota	59.27	6	9	5
5	South Dakota	58.57	8	4	18
6	New Hampshire	58.01	3	35	1
7	Virginia	57.31	9	12	12
8	Pennsylvania	57.12	16	5	8
9	Massachusetts	57.00	11	11	11
10	Maryland	56.45	7	7	19
11	Nebraska	55.78	4	20	16
12	Vermont	55.01	21	1	33
13	Maine	54.21	12	25	13
14	Illinois	53.79	13	27	10
15	Iowa	52.60	20	28	4
16	New Jersey	52.46	10	38	17
17	New York	51.99	22	10	23
18	Montana	51.55	14	17	26
19	Kansas	51.44	15	15	28
20	Connecticut	49.95	25	39	6
21	Alaska	49.84	18	6	43
22	Rhode Island	49.72	32	30	3
23	Hawaii	49.32	23	33	15
24	Wisconsin	49.24	27	34	14
25	Idaho	47.85	26	43	9
26	Indiana	47.69	30	24	24
27	Delaware	47.17	17	41	31
28	California	46.88	35	8	36
29	Washington	46.06	19	19	45
30	North Carolina	45.71	29	37	27
31	Ohio	45.18	33	23	34
32	Georgia	45.17	31	32	29
33	Missouri	44.53	34	16	40
34	Colorado	44.03	24	22	46
35	Michigan	43.90	36	21	30
36	Oregon	43.53	28	18	47
37	Florida	41.59	45	26	20
38	Arizona	40.46	37	31	39
39	Texas	40.24	41	29	35
40	Oklahoma	39.00	46	13	41
40	Tennessee	39.00	38	42	38
42	Kentucky	37.93	39	47	25
43	West Virginia	37.67	48	40	22
44	South Carolina	36.96	43	44	32
45	Nevada	34.79	40	46	44
46	Mississippi	34.07	42	50	37
47	Alabama	32.34	47	45	42
48	Arkansas	30.79	50	36	48
49	New Mexico	29.21	44	49	49
50	Louisiana	26.65	49	48	50

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 states with the most tight-knit communities, 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 2020 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”.