We recently compiled a list of the 25 Most Friendly States in the US, and in this article, we will look at the most friendly state in the US.
What Do Americans Have To Say About Friendship?
Friendship marks one of the most important pillars of American life. According to data from the Pew Research Center, nearly 61% of adults in the US consider having close friends very or extremely important for living a fulfilling life. Around 53% of adults say that they have between one to four close friends, while around 38% claim to have more than five close friends. A report by the Making Caring Common Project administered by Harvard’s Graduate School of Education claims that despite political differences, Americans still fundamentally care about each other. The project’s findings suggest that Americans are generally engaged in caring acts, tend to value caring for one another and feel connected to people around them. However, most of them do not seem to extend the same feelings toward people who differ from them in terms of ethnicity, race, and religion. Interestingly, a report by CBS claims that the rest of the world thinks of Americans as friendly, uncomplicated, and rich, among various other things.
According to a report by the Survey Center on American Life, the role of friends and friendship in social life has declined for Americans. Americans report conversing with their friends less often, having fewer close friendships, and relying on friends less than before for personal support. One of the most prominent reasons behind this decline is that Americans are marrying later than ever, and are more geographically mobile than before. Similarly, Americans are more likely to make friends at work than at other social avenues of life. For more insight, you can look at 28 Most Romantic Cities in the United States in 2024.
International Opinion About Americans
Countries that had a favorable opinion of Americans fell in 2020, recovering in 2021 and undergoing a positive change in 2022. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, around 61% of the total 17 countries surveyed have a favorable opinion of the United States. However, 35% do not share the same sentiments towards the country. Around 91% of people in Poland and 83% people in Israel hold a positive opinion when it comes to Americans. Malaysia is the only country among those surveyed that has a higher negative assessment of the country, with 57% people holding an unfavorable opinion in the domain. A majority of Americans themselves consider openness and friendliness to people from across the world pivotal to who they are as a nation. Another Pew Research Center survey shows that 68% Americans consider openness, friendliness, and mutual respect for foreigners an essential characteristic of their nationality, while 26% oppose the opinion.
The New Way to Make Friends
However, the American friendship trends are not negative overall. While nearly 50% of Americans report having lost touch with a friend during COVID-19, the same number report making a new friend in the same time frame. One of the major drivers of this exchange is apps like Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL). Although primarily used for dating, such applications allow people to get to know each other in a platonic sense, and draw bonds using the power of the Internet in a safe space. Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) is one of the most widely used dating apps in the United States. It was launched in 2014 as an online dating application, with its portfolio encompassing Bumble, Fruitz, and Badoo for dating, Bumble for Friends for friendships, Bumble Bizz for professional networking, and Official for committed relationships. Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) is focused on Bumble BFF and is also expanding its Bumble for Friends experience. In its latest platonic friends experience, the company decided to give users their own friend-making app and released the Bumble for Friends app. The app focuses primarily on making friends in a user’s geographical location, and does not require the downloading of Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL)’s dating app.
Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) is expanding its product portfolio in friendship apps. In May, the group signed an agreement to acquire Geneva, a group chat app that allows people to connect based on mutual interests. The acquisition, expected to close in Q3 2024, will allow Bumble’s NASDAQ:BMBL) users to build one-to-one connections with communities. Bumble for Friends also commissioned a new research in the friend-making domain, finding that 66% of Gen Z respondents made their friends online. This number is approximately two times higher than the national average, which shows only 38% respondents reporting the same. With Gen Z, the youngest generation of U.S. adults, normalizing birthing platonic friendships through online platforms, Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) is gradually undergoing a paradigm shift and investing more resources into its friend-making mode.
Now that we have taken an overview of the nature of American friendship, let’s look at the most friendly state in the US. You can also look at 12 Most Unfriendly Cities in Canada and 15 States with No or Lowest Sales Tax Rates in the US.
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Our Methodology
In order to compile a list of the 25 most friendly states in the US, we used a consensus approach and a visitor survey through Reddit. Firstly, we consulted ten online expert resources to compile a list of the 40 most friendly states in the US. Next, we looked at ten Reddit threads that asked commenters to mention the friendliest states they had visited in the United States. We only chose threads that had more than 50 comments and studied more than 500 comments to shortlist the friendliest states in the United States with the most recommendations by Reddit users. We then counted the number of upvotes on each comment and chose the top 25 states with the most number of upvotes. The 25 most friendly states in the US are arranged in ascending order of their number of upvotes on Reddit.
Note: This list is not exhaustive and does not reflect our opinion. The ranking is solely based on the opinions of mass consumers on Reddit.
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The Most Friendly State in the US
1. Minnesota
Number of Reddit Upvotes: 509
Minnesota ranks in the first spot on our list of the 25 most friendly states in the US, and has 509 upvotes on Reddit. People on the platform consider residents of the state to be the most friendly in the country, based on their daily interactions. Minnesota is a midwestern state that borders Canada and Lake Superior, and is famous for having more than 10,000 lakes. The state is lined with a number of cultural landmarks, including the Walker Art Center and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The state houses approximately 5.717 million people as of 2022. According to statistics by Minnesota Go, the state’s population went from 5.3 million to 5.6 million between 2010 and 2019, growing in line with the national growth average of 7%. Minnesota’s large seven-county metro area houses around 50% of the state’s population. It houses 3.1 million people, as compared to the 2.5 million people living in the Greater Minnesota region. A major chunk of growth in the state, around 75%, is expected to take place in the metro area in the next two decades.
According to our methodology, Minnesota is the most friendly state in the US. To look at other friendly states in the country, check our detailed report on 25 Most Friendly States in the US.
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