This Is the Most Selfish State in America
Christopher Duran
Updated on February 22, 2026
The new year is the perfect time to reflect on what we've achieved in the past 365 days and what we want to accomplish in the year ahead. Of course, some new year's resolutions are about tangible gains, like job promotions or weight loss, but the close of one year and the start of another is also a time for reflection on our own virtues, too. What you may not realize is that where you live could be playing a role in where you fall on the naughty or nice list. At Best Life, we crunched the numbers to determine where folks are more concerned with their own lives than those of others—and we've found the most selfish state in America.
For our Selfish Index, we started with the Fraser Institute's generosity index, which scored each state based on the charitable giving trends of its residents on a scale from 1 to 10. Then we looked at the most recent data from AmeriCorp to establish what percentage of residents in each state volunteer in a given year.
Finally, we used a recent study published in the Journal of Research in Personality, which scored each state based on its capacity for empathy—the closer the empathy score is to 4, the less selfish the state is considered. We then gave each metric a weighted value and ran them through our exclusive algorithm to see how each state scored on our Selfish Index.
Utah came out as the least selfish state, with the largest generosity index score and the highest volunteer rate. But generally, states in the Northeast ranked as less selfish, while the South, Midwest, and West were more varied. The most selfish state was notable for both its low volunteer rate and low empathy score. Read on to discover which state it is, and find out where yours falls in the mix. And for the place the runs rampant with a similarly distasteful quality, This Is the Most Dishonest State in America.
Read the original article on Best Life.
50 Utah
Fraser generosity index score: 8.8
Volunteer rate: 51.0 percent
Empathy score: 3.74
Selfish Index Score: 0.00
49 Oregon
Fraser generosity index score: 5.7
Volunteer rate: 43.2 percent
Empathy score: 3.76
Selfish Index Score: 25.75
48 Minnesota
Fraser generosity index score: 5.6
Volunteer rate: 45.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.67
Selfish Index Score: 29.47
47 Montana
Fraser generosity index score: 4.5
Volunteer rate: 38.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.78
Selfish Index Score: 34.12
46 Connecticut
Fraser generosity index score: 6.8
Volunteer rate: 31.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 42.43
45 Massachusetts
Fraser generosity index score: 5.9
Volunteer rate: 32.6 percent
Empathy score: 3.74
Selfish Index Score: 42.44
44 Rhode Island
Fraser generosity index score: 4.5
Volunteer rate: 30.7 percent
Empathy score: 3.78
Selfish Index Score: 43.89
43 Maryland
Fraser generosity index score: 7.7
Volunteer rate: 36.3 percent
Empathy score: 3.67
Selfish Index Score: 44.00
42 North Carolina
Fraser generosity index score: 5.1
Volunteer rate: 35.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.74
Selfish Index Score: 45.02
41 Washington
Fraser generosity index score: 4.9
Volunteer rate: 35.7 percent
Empathy score: 3.74
Selfish Index Score: 45.69
40 Georgia
Fraser generosity index score: 7.5
Volunteer rate: 26.5 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 46.59
39 Vermont
Fraser generosity index score: 3.4
Volunteer rate: 36 percent
Empathy score: 3.77
Selfish Index Score: 47.84
38 Maine
Fraser generosity index score: 3.2
Volunteer rate: 38.7 percent
Empathy score: 3.76
Selfish Index Score: 48.64
37 Virginia
Fraser generosity index score: 6.1
Volunteer rate: 34.0 percent
Empathy score: 3.70
Selfish Index Score: 49.98
36 Illinois
Fraser generosity index score: 5.0
Volunteer rate: 28.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.75
Selfish Index Score: 51.50
35 Wisconsin
Fraser generosity index score: 4.5
Volunteer rate: 37.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 51.75
34 California
Fraser generosity index score: 5.7
Volunteer rate: 25.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.74
Selfish Index Score: 52.52
And for the place where marriage vows don't seem to mean all that much, This Is the Most Adulterous State in America.
33 New York
Fraser generosity index score: 6.0
Volunteer rate: 25.3 percent
Empathy score: 3.73
Selfish Index Score: 53.20
32 Arkansas
Fraser generosity index score: 5.4
Volunteer rate: 30.0 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 54.38
31 New Jersey
Fraser generosity index score: 6.3
Volunteer rate: 26.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 55.45
30 Colorado
Fraser generosity index score: 5.2
Volunteer rate: 32.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 55.54
29 Nebraska
Fraser generosity index score: 4.6
Volunteer rate: 40.2 percent
Empathy score: 3.69
Selfish Index Score: 55.65
28 Idaho
Fraser generosity index score: 5.2
Volunteer rate: 37.9 percent
Empathy score: 3.68
Selfish Index Score: 56.88
27 Iowa
Fraser generosity index score: 4.5
Volunteer rate: 41.5 percent
Empathy score: 3.68
Selfish Index Score: 57.43
26 South Carolina
Fraser generosity index score: 5.2
Volunteer rate: 30.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.70
Selfish Index Score: 60.13
25 Oklahoma
Fraser generosity index score: 4.2
Volunteer rate: 32.0 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 60.36
24 Hawaii
Fraser generosity index score: 4.1
Volunteer rate: 28.0 percent
Empathy score: 3.74
Selfish Index Score: 60.56
23 South Dakota
Fraser generosity index score: 3.4
Volunteer rate: 36.3 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 60.76
22 Arizona
Fraser generosity index score: 4.8
Volunteer rate: 30.0 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 61.23
21 Missouri
Fraser generosity index score: 4.4
Volunteer rate: 31.9 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 61.74
20 North Dakota
Fraser generosity index score: 2.6
Volunteer rate: 37.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.73
Selfish Index Score: 62.37
19 Michigan
Fraser generosity index score: 4.3
Volunteer rate: 29.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 62.79
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18 New Hampshire
Fraser generosity index score: 3.9
Volunteer rate: 35.7 percent
Empathy score: 3.70
Selfish Index Score: 63.30
17 Tennessee
Fraser generosity index score: 3.8
Volunteer rate: 31.3 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 63.99
16 Mississippi
Fraser generosity index score: 4.7
Volunteer rate: 23.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.73
Selfish Index Score: 64.09
15 Kansas
Fraser generosity index score: 4.4
Volunteer rate: 36.5 percent
Empathy score: 3.68
Selfish Index Score: 64.16
14 Pennsylvania
Fraser generosity index score: 4.2
Volunteer rate: 34.2 percent
Empathy score: 3.69
Selfish Index Score: 65.67
13 Texas
Fraser generosity index score: 4.4
Volunteer rate: 28.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 65.96
And for the place where people are the most crazy about cannabis, This Is the Most Stoned State in America.
12 Wyoming
Fraser generosity index score: 4.4
Volunteer rate: 32.7 percent
Empathy score: 3.69
Selfish Index Score: 66.08
11 Ohio
Fraser generosity index score: 3.7
Volunteer rate: 33.2 percent
Empathy score: 3.70
Selfish Index Score: 67.72
10 Alaska
Fraser generosity index score: 2.5
Volunteer rate: 40.6 percent
Empathy score: 3.69
Selfish Index Score: 69.84
9 Louisiana
Fraser generosity index score: 3.7
Volunteer rate: 25.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.72
Selfish Index Score: 71.32
8 Indiana
Fraser generosity index score: 3.5
Volunteer rate: 34.9 percent
Empathy score: 3.68
Selfish Index Score: 72.38
7 Florida
Fraser generosity index score: 4.7
Volunteer rate: 22.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.70
Selfish Index Score: 73.27
And for the part of the country that is most active between the sheets, This Is the Most Promiscuous State in America.
6 Delaware
Fraser generosity index score: 4.9
Volunteer rate: 31.8 percent
Empathy score: 3.65
Selfish Index Score: 74.30
5 Alabama
Fraser generosity index score: 5.6
Volunteer rate: 27.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.65
Selfish Index Score: 74.72
4 New Mexico
Fraser generosity index score: 3.2
Volunteer rate: 27.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.71
Selfish Index Score: 75.91
3 West Virginia
Fraser generosity index score: 1.8
Volunteer rate: 28.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.73
Selfish Index Score: 79.17
2 Kentucky
Fraser generosity index score: 4.0
Volunteer rate: 28.1 percent
Empathy score: 3.67
Selfish Index Score: 79.74
1 Nevada
Fraser generosity index score: 4.4
Volunteer rate: 24.4 percent
Empathy score: 3.60
Selfish Index Score: 100.00
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