Guess Which State Americans Hate Most?

If you said 'California,' pat yourself on the back
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2012 10:24 AM CST
Guess Which State Americans Hate Most?
Palm trees are a common feature of both America's most and least popular state. This image is from California, the least popular.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Americans are generally pretty positive, or at least indifferent, about these United States. Public Policy Polling asked 1,200 people how they felt about each of the 50 states, and only five were viewed more unfavorably than favorably. America's favorite state, by an overwhelming margin was Hawaii, while its least favorite was California. Here are the top and bottom five, along with their favorable/unfavorable split:

Most popular:

  1. Hawaii—54-10 (+44)
  2. Colorado—44-9 (+35)
  3. Tennessee—48-14 (+34)
  4. South Dakota—42-8 (+34)
  5. Virginia—45-13 (+32)

Least popular:

  1. California—27-44 (-17)
  2. Illinois—19-29 (-10)
  3. New Jersey—25-32 (-7)
  4. Mississippi—22-28 (-6)
  5. Utah—24-27 (-3)

Of course, most people are indifferent about most states, the Houston Chronicle observes, with an average of two-thirds of respondents saying they were "not sure" for each. But some states were quite polarizing; Democrats like California 91 points more than Republicans do, while Republicans like Texas 82 points more than Democrats. (More poll numbers stories.)

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