Massachusetts is One of the Least Stereotypical States in the U.S.

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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Massachusetts is not like the rest of America. The Commonwealth is one of the least "stereotypical" states in the country.

Each state was analyzed across nine categories. And Massachusetts ranked 47th for matching up with the nation's most stereotypical behaviors. (SEE CHART BELOW).

The Commonwealth is most like the rest of America in two categories according to the study.

According to the rankings, MA is most like the rest of the country in three categories -- millionaires per capita (7th), interest in reality TV shows, and retail shopping (20th). In all of the other categories, Massachusetts is ranked 43rd or higher.

Only New York #48, Oregon #49, and Rhode Island #50 are even less stereotypical than the Commonwealth.

MA is ranked 48th for fast food restaurants per capita, % who don't have a passport, and % who are gun owners.

"The United States is an incredibly diverse country, but there are some stereotypes that people who live outside the country have about Americans as a whole, said the real estate website Estately. "The general stereotype is Americans are highly religious and wealthy consumers who spend their time firing guns, driving vehicles, stuffing their faces, watching reality TV, and are averse to traveling or learning about anything beyond their borders. Now certainly not every American fits that stereotype, but Estately set out to determine where that stereotype is most fitting."

Here is what got ranked:

To do this Estately ranked each state from 1-50 using the eight criteria listed below.

Fast food restaurants per capita (source: Yellow Pages)
Miles driven annually per capita (source: U.S. PIRG)
Percentage of residents who don’t have a passport (source: U.S. Department of State)
Percentage of residents who own a gun (source: General Social Survey)
Percentage of residents who describe themselves as “very religious” (source: Gallup)
Google searches related to reality TV (source: Google Trends)
Percentage of population that are millionaires (source: Phoenix Marketing International)
Money spent per capita on retail shopping (source: U.S Census)
Buffets per capita (source: Yellow Pages)