America’s Most and Least Average States

Methodology: Race and ethnicity data taken from US Census Bureau; religious affiliation data taken from Pew Research Center; voting data taken from US Federal Elections Commission. Within each category, each state’s demographic composition was compared to that of the entire country. States with less variation from the national composition scored higher (more average). The composite score is the average of the three category scores. Category groupings for race and ethnicity include: Hispanic (any race), Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Non-Hispanic Other. Category groupings for religious affiliation include: Evangelical Protestant, Mainline Protestant, Black Protestant, Catholic, Other Christian, Other Religion, and Unaffiliated. Categories for political affiliation include: Democratic, Republican, and Other. (Party affiliation determined by averaged results of presidential elections 2004-2016.)