Which States Have the Most Libertarians? This Map Will Tell You.
Montana and New Hampshire look promising, but most of the East Coast is a no-go zone.
Trying to pick a new place to live where the locals are less predatory toward your personal liberty? Well, Jason Sorens of Free State Project fame has crunched the numbers so you don't have to. He examined voting patterns and political donations to detect concentrations of liberty lovers in these here United States. As he puts it:
To see which states have the most libertarians, I use six measures: Libertarian Party presidential vote share in 2008 and 2012, Ron Paul contributions as a share of personal income in 2007-8, Ron Paul and Gary Johnson contributions as a share of income in 2011-12, and "adjusted" Ron Paul primary vote share in 2008 and 2012. Ron Paul vote shares are adjusted for primary vs. caucus, calendar, number of other candidates, and the like.
This is no guarantee that laws and policies in your new digs will be to your liking (for that, look here). But you might find some new friends who will gripe about them with you.
Note: The measure is per capita, but Sorens specifies "it's all ordinal, not cardinal. I couldn't give you a precise count (MT has X many libertarians per capita), just a relative ranking of the states."

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Somewhat related, though kind of OT: I just found out that there is a not insignificant number of people who think the city of Washington DC's politics change depending on who the President is. Like, they think when there's a Republican President, the city turns into a Republican city.
WTF?
Given that you are likely talking about DC metro residents/workers, I feel the need to point out the sad irony of people who don't even understand their own local government(s) thinking they are well suited to run the rest of the country.
No - the people that have expressed puzzlement over the fact that DC politics remain constant no matter who the President is are all from outside this area.
Ah, well that does make more sense. Plenty of locals are woefully ignorant of how DC politics work, even if they don't hold this particular false belief, though.
Absolutely. People may genuflect to a different group of rulers, but always, always, the pattern is that, over time, government will grow and freedom will shrink.
Bureaucrats will defend their turf, and attempt to enlarge it.
Hasn't somebody said that?
If not,I claim it as DenverJ's Law #1
http://tinyurl.com/kpxwj3h
They should just wake up and smell the... whatever.
Remember the ferryman in Outlaw Josie Wales? When he saw gray he whistled Dixie, when he saw blue he whistled Battle Hymn Of The Republic. If your business depends on which party has the purse strings you whistle the tune that will return the most money. For the every day Joe on the street that's not true, they're going democrat come Hell or high water because that's where the entitlement money is.
The matrix has us!
Does anyone have an age distribution by state histogram?
I'm a libertarian and I'm not represented on this map.
Or wait, if I'm not represented on this map, am I truly a libertarian?
yes
Well, do you like roads?
Well I drive on the roads, so clearly I am no kind of libertarian.
Doc Brown would be disgusted.
If a socialist conducts a transaction in the marketplace, what does that make him?
What is the sound of a socialist making a transaction in the market?
Put your hands up!
That is a brilliantly succinct retort to the whole "but you use roads!" meme.
No. In fact, your very existence is now in question. Tell me, have you ever taken the V-K Empathy Test?
Residents of Somalia are not included.
You didn't build that warlord camp.
I'm a libertarian in Nevada, so in theory, I'm represented, but I don't recall ever being asked.
Wow, California almost made it to the coveted most libertarian group!
Just because it's a bloated sea of humanity. We are still swamped in absolute numbers by leftist douchenozzles!
You can't handle decimal points!
I'm a California libertarian. There are quite a few of us, is just that the progressives, socialists, and hipster-vote-for-what-feels-right-or-is-trendy crowd is a hell of a lot louder. I suspect most libertarians are like me and prefer to sit on the couch with a beer and complain in the internet.
"I'm a california libertarian"
So am I! I voted for the guy who got the troops out of Iraq because I was sickened by what was being done with my tax dollars.
If you were a "Libertarian" AMSOC you would be sickened by anything done with your tax dollars.
Also. Knock Knock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je-M675ZTK4
The same hypocrite gave a no bid contract to KBR (Halliburton).
You do know there are currently over 3,000 troops in Iraq, right?
As I recall, the two main parties have the libertarians locked out in Oklahoma.
Not to mention the other 49 states and the District.
And Puerto Rico.
And American Somoa and Guam
When my step dad ran for county commissioner as a republican, the other party told voters that if they were registered democrat- or had voted for a democrat in the past- they weren't allowed to vote republican.
(not that he would have won anyway... but... )
I think Wyoming wins. Libertarians are renegades. Dubious the same can be said for Hawaii.
Hawaiians would like to return to monarchy.
I think they're well on their way.
Ugh this is very true. Hawaiians are the worst kind of authoritarians. They are locked in a battle against their neighbors to make sure no one is renting out their property on AirBNB because tourists are the worst except also they need them to survive... what they want is for tourists to come to the islands but stay penned up in the shitty touristy hotels but also they want land values to be cheaper but they don't want anyone else to move there.
I grew up in a tourist trap. I wholeheartedly understand the hatred of touristas.
They fuck up traffic, they are rude, they are dumb and worst of all you really need their money so you are willing to kiss their ass for it.
You just described my entire outlook on the general public. I also enjoy using some of the hotter females as receptacles for my lust.
I currently reside in Hawaii and the state is incredibly hostile to the concept of personal liberty. The native Hawaiians pine for the return to an absolute monarch and do not want to just kill tourism but to wrap det cord around tourism's neck and kill it in front of a GoPro. Most of the people who work in tourism related industries want everybody else to pay for it. The remainder divide between those who love "feelings" and the military who rotate out every 2-3 years and are not residents. My earlier career had me live in Cali and NYC and I remember how "libertarian" Manhattan is compared to here. I can't wait to get a new job elsewhere.
Of course the comments concerning tourists are constitutionally protected use of satire and a reference to current events. No woodchippers were harmed in the production of this comment.
Some Hawaiians have an attitude about haoles. I had two very public in-my- face confrontations there, though none escalated to actual fisticuffs. Both events only required me to shout "Bullshit!" once and "Fuck you! once back at them.
I love Wyoming. Beautiful state with no people. I'll probably retire there.
Not surprised about my state. WI sucks.
Hey! Sure the weather sucks and Milwaukee city governance sucks and Madison is a people's republic but at least... uh I lost my train of thought.
Also, apparently there are at least two libertarians so that counts for something.
Nope. I just finished my fishing trip in Algoma, so it is just Dixon again.
Oh, and Ted. I guess that does make two.
Percentage or gross? My math teacher always told me to label my charts.
I'll bet there are far more libertarians in New Jersey than there are in Montana. Except in the Northwest corner of the state (Scott Garrett), we just get massively outvoted by the city liberals and suburban moderate Republicans.
Neither, it's the measure of covariance among 6 variables.
Meh, that metric really shows who voted and donated to the LP in the last few years. Which is certainly not the same as who is a libertarian.
Not enough popcorn in the house for days like this at Reason. Heading out to Costco for a few pounds. BRB!
I knew it. The 3 H&R denizens from Florida are the only 3 libertarians in the state.
well, and they're probably all from the panhandle anyway- which is really alabama.
I'm down near Fort Lauderdale. Think the others are up north though.
(and Tallahassee on west is really Alabama. Eastern panhandle is really Georgia.)
Actually, are any of the Floridians around here from the Panhandle? Seems like mostly Central Florida, with some SE Florida thrown in.
FWB
Well, that's the Panhandle.
Nah, I know a good number of libertarians here. I think they just don't tend to vote or send money. Not at all unusual fro libertarians.
Or for them, even without fros.
The fros make them appear badass, and bigger.
SOLID
And one of those is a fucking lizard
Another FL libertarian here. (aka Swamp Think prior to 701)
I'm 4th generation Floridian. My ancestors came here because the other states were too "civilized" for them in 1820.
I bet you post while riding your fan boat over 18 foot pythons.
You know it!!!
*fires sawed off shotgun into air*
I have a cunning plan: Airboats powered by spinning pythons.
That playing God, so I approve.
I find the methodology to be of dubious legitimacy.
And, apropos of nearly nothing- Ross Perot was not a libertarian.
Iacocca (a close friend of Ross) said that Perot would dissolve Congress if elected.
You mean anti-free trade Ross Perot wasn't a libertarian? Where's my fainting couch?
Huh. The states with the fewest libertarians are either socially very conservative or fiscally really liberal.
Idaho is incredibly socially conservative...
Largely because of the heavy Mor-mon population in the basin. I'm in eastern WA. We are at the capricious whims of the urban progtards in the west.
SO, I'm in texas... about as good as it gets for this and I can tell you it doesn't feel very libertarian.
It's all the goddamned church people- and the reactionary left that lumps all disagreement in with the church people.
Try living in New Jersey, Sunshine. FYI I pay 17K in property taxes; Yes, that is $17,000 per year.
Quit your bitching. TX is as good as it gets.
$17K? Holy Bejeebus
Try living in New York. They'll see your $17k and raise you.
But you get a 10 year abatement on bidness taxes if you move to NY!!! Right?!! That's what the ads tell me!! WHAT COULD GO WORNG??1q
Can confirm, I live in New Jersey as well.
I'm seriously considering settling in Dallas Texas. My fiance and me have been mulling it over. Only thing hold us back is she is Jewish and wants to make sure there is a good Jewish community down there.
Try the Dallas suburb of Richardson.
Please tell me you at least have a mini-mansion, or a shitload of prime water frontage......possibly also with at least a mini-mansion.
That $17k pays for the best police and fire unions out there!
Reason's "Chip in!" webathon... My hat is off to you.
Thanks!
No data for Hawaii or Wyoming? I'd say that makes them the very mostest libertarian. Good job staying off the grid, guys!
The Cheneys were on vacation when the WY was surveyed so - no data...
The data had been saved on Hillary's server...
I would appreciate a map of where all the easy women are. Address level preferably.
Not my mom's house either assholes.
Dang...
More importantly, where are all the millennial libertarians?
Less importantly, where are all the cosmotarians?
(and, more hypothetically, where are all of the female libertarians?)
I demand a breakdown!
Present!
Quick! Catch him! We need him for the newest zoo exhibit!
FYI: I won't be mating in captivity unless the female libertarian you throw in there is a redhead.
I've only got Carrot Top, it will have to do.
We'll clone you and open an amusement park/zoo.
Feel free at some point to run amuck and devour the guests!
I'm gonna need some bigger teeth...
Present.
Female millennial libertarian... in Montana--aka The Last Best Place
This can't be right. Maryland? MARYLAND?? We clearly need different measures to...measure.
New Hampshire looks pretty good. I need to visit this eastern oasis someday.
No.
Just kidding.
Bring beer.
Ideally at the end of July.
Sorry, that's still Taxachusetts.
People in Taxachusetts make fun of the taxes in CT.... 🙁
Yeah. Come stay. We need a few more libertarians moving here to balance out the Massholes who move here and then vote for the same kinds of people who get elected in Mass. Hamilton gets to be an honorary non-Masshole.
New Hampshire is the prophylaxis that mostly keeps the liberal Massholes from living in Maine. Thanks for that.
New York is near the bottom of the list. I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked.
The alt-text would have been a perfect place for a joke about Wyoming/Hawaii.
Indiana is really surprising. How did that happen? It's even more of an island than New Hampshire.
Indiana is where they send libertarians after they round them up.
I thought they got their own private Idaho?
Learn something every day...
In my experience IN is where they send ugly women.
No, that would be fat women.
Ron Swanson.
MMMM.....Ron Swanson.....
My Indiana relatives are all strangely anti-authoritarian but they aren't really libertarian. I don't know, they are also really really cheap and hate taxes, so that probably helps. It's hard to be pro-government when you aren't willing to give it any money.
Some days I want to move back there but I can't convince myself to leave Virginia's mountains behind.
Big government Lefties are only interested in getting rich people to give money to the government, not themselves. And, in the case of rich lefties, OTHER rich people or corporations are the target.
I call BS. There would have to be at least a few hundred libertarians to create a distribution like this, and since there's only about 13 of us the math just doesn't add up.
There's a lot of interpolation....
I note for the record that they didn't count any residents of space colonies.
The true libertarian home.
Of course. Earth is English for over.
I thought there was only one true libertarian.
and he lives in 22 Wessex Lane, Hertfordshire, LX3313
is that PB's address?
8% of the year he lives there
"Mr. Humungus, please stand up"
[BOOM]
Hihn is the one true libertarian. And our antics are the reason why 91% of libertarians reject the label. According to some poll conducted back when Mike had been a senior citizen for less than two decades.
Since gjaiety is the topic of the day, I wonder how a map that color-coded gay marriage would compare to that one.
My first, uninformed, reaction, is that the pro-gay marriage states would line up toward the "not many libertarians" end of the scale, and the "more libertarians here" states would align with the
"no gay marriage, thanks" end of the scale.
Not sure what it would mean, but there it is.
Looking quickly over the first two columns, it looks like the two are not very related. Looks pretty close to evenly split, if I am remembering correctly which states had gay marriage.
The best correlations I can see are:
States with high federal landlordism are also libertarian
States with bigger state legislatures (smaller district size) compared to their US House size are more libertarian
I thought the court said we were all pro-gay-marriage now?
Once again Va right in the middle of the pack. Classic.
Virginia is for Government Lovers
There are quite a few libertarians in Virginia. The problem is that Arlington is also in Virginia.
I guess me always proclaiming that I DON'T proclaim to be a libertarian dragged down MI.
I blame myself....
*hangs head*
OT: Anti-Uber people (who don't have a direct stake in the taxi cartel system) have got to be some of the dumbest people around. I saw one on Reddit earlier who decried them as libertarian assholes trying to fuck everyone over by skirting all the regulations that exist to protect the public's interest and exploiting workers and customers, the disabled, etc. Because that's totally what the bulk of taxi regulations are designed and intended to do, and they're all totally necessary. The funniest part is this person claimed to be an anarchist (of the left-wing variety). Some people just cannot fathom something not being controlled down to the last detail by the government, or the notion that government = good, selfless public servants and business = evil exploitative assholes is a really naive, simplistic, and wrong view of the world. I really can't seen how anyone can think a taxi service needs anywhere near the amount of regulation that currently exists or that it's all about the "public interest." When I moved to LA (which was either before or right after Uber got started here), virtually nobody used taxis because of the cost and inconvenience, and public transportation is not too good, so getting around without a car was pretty difficult. Uber (and Lyft) get used all the time now, which seems to indicate that their existence is in the public interest.
And to clarify, by anti-Uber people I mean the people who think such services should be banned or that current taxi regulations need to be extended to them, not anyone who ever criticizes them.
Any "anarchist" who claims something should be banned by the government is unworthy of the term.
They argued that just because they're an anarchist doesn't mean they can't believe that government action sometimes is good, and that taxi safety and labor regulations are needed to protect society from evil greedy capitalists. They acknowledged that some taxi regulations might be outdated, but generally seemed to both really overestimate how much of the regulation is beneficial, as well as the extent its beneficial.
And I'm a communist that believes in natural rights
So this person is a syndicalist who doesn't understand what words mean.
So how are they anarchists?
I suppose communists are in theory anarchists since the state will be unnecessary once everyone is transmogrified into New Socialist Man.
I suppose communists are in theory anarchists since the state will be unnecessary
+1000 Purges Until We Get There
Left-wing anarchism is a real movement and has a longer history than anarcho-capitalism in fact. Most of its adherents are just morons who often don't even understand it, and or course I don't think it would work in real life (on any sort of large scale) even with intelligent, well-intentioned people representing the movement.
Yeah, I have talked to a few of the smarter ones. It could conceivably work in small, voluntary communities, I guess, but those don't tend to last very long. But if people want to give it a shot, good for them.
The History Channel did an excellent documentary on the hippies. They talked a little bit about the communes that sprung up and how it was just a couple people doing all the work while the rest of them sat on their lazy asses and ate all the food.
Which, as we all know (well, those of us with at least 1/2 a human brain), is a microcosm of communism writ large.
Left-wing anarchism is a real movement and has a longer history than anarcho-capitalism in fact.
Indeed, and "libertarianism" was originally claimed by people we would nowadays call communists. Yet their "anarchism" was really just (mostly violent) opposition to the status quo lacking any defined goals or discernible end state. They basically want something like the French Revolution except never ending.
I suppose that is how so many people came to associate anarchy and chaotic violence and smashing shit up.
Nothing works on any sort of large scale for long
When everybody is dead, no one shall rule over another!
Anti-uber people in my experience are generally reflexive knee-jerk anti-libertarians. In any dispute in which one side smacks of the free market they will automatically line up on the other side, just because.
For exmple there's this guy prior_approval over at Marginal Revolution arguing about this right now.
http://marginalrevolution.com/.....lence.html
From reading his posts off and on, this guy pretty much automatically objects to *any* libertarian-sounding argument about *anything*. He's anti-uber because libertarians are for it.
Perfectly describes the guy I'm talking about
His screen name is apt.
Aren't young, urban, cool people also largely supporters or users of Uber?
I saw one on Reddit earlier who decried them as libertarian assholes trying to fuck everyone over
Uber riders are apparently the new lumpenproles.
Learned a new word today. And a useful one. Thanks.
I am always glad to bring to light the fact that the left has been throwing people under buses since before there even were buses.
The funniest part is this person claimed to be an anarchist
9 out of 10 self-proclaimed anarchists I meet are ignorant morons that read an article by a French philosopher once, understood nothing about it, and think they know everything.
Oh, I see you've met Episiarch.
Just his mom
We can't be sure. Lee didn't say they've been dying to get in Sugarfree's pants.
So, basically left-leaning versions of the Objectivists?
+1 Cytotoxic
Well, there's your problem.
Granted
I'm anti-Uber because they don't let their drivers or passengers carry firearms. Private company, etc., etc., but fuck 'em.
How did you ever compile the stats for the map when 91% of libertarians reject the libertarian label?
Don't wake up cranky grandpa, dude. He will bust some ALL CAPS in your ass. And then hit you with the bold!
*snort/shart*
I only reject the Libertarian label.
This map reminds me - Florida is the USA's penis. We all know that.
But
where are the balls? The panhandle clearly shows where the balls USED to be. But they're gone.
I say we - all of us, each of us - start taking bucketsful of soil down to FL and dumping it in the gulf, till we've dumped enough to create some FUCKING BALLS FOR THIS COUNTRY.
Cause the USA needs nothing more than to get its balls back.
WHO'S WITH ME???!!!!!!!!!
If you think America don't have bawls, you can giiit out!
The first step is overcoming the denial, Auric....
USA to be renamed Caitlyn
Oh I get it, so the states with fewer libertarians are pink because women love pink.
The patriarchy strikes again!
And since there are no female libertarians...
...a witch?
Maybe it's just me, but many of the states (and D.C.)
that are pink (few libertarians) have always been ones
that I associate with ignorance.
INDIANA! I don't know where they are at, too many Democrats up here in the 219.
Maybe they are hiding in Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Evansville, or some other Indiana city that no one from outside of Indiana has ever heard of.
If Montana has the most libertarians, we are well and truly fucked.
"The west is the best"
Wisconsin is below New York? Goddammer.
The only way Maine could get into second place is because the state government does not know what the municipal governments are doing.
Also. Not many people listen to the state government.
Janet Mills does not approve.
You know what's funny, this map actually proves what I've suspected for years, the nation is now dividing East vs West. Well at least we'll know what side to live on for the next civil war.
Fewest - Taxachusetts
Who cares-when push comes to shove all Libertarians vote (and donate) Democrat because they are ashamed and scared of being called haters.
Did one state refuse to answer the question?
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Thanks for the map. I suppose I'll first look to Libertarian states for retirement.
I guess this means I should move from Oklahoma to Texas, but I guess I'm just too sentimental.