Most Independent States 2024

Why Do Americans Value Independence?

There are a lot of Americans who are used to ranting and raving about independence. In a lot of ways, it is ingrained in our culture. For example, the entire purpose of the country was to free itself from the monarchy located in Great Britain, which is an ocean away. Ever since that time, the United States is a country that has been built on individualism. There are a lot of people who are obsessed with becoming self-made, so it should come as no surprise that there are a lot of states that feel the same way. After all, there was even a Civil War fought, presumably, over states' rights. As a result, some states are more independent than others.

What is the Most Independent State?

There is a significant amount of debate regarding which states are independent. Therefore, it is important to take a closer look at how we define whether a state is independent. In general, there are a few sources of dependency, both from residents and from state governments. Residents’ dependency is based on the return on taxes paid to the federal government and the share of federal jobs. The state government’s dependency is based solely on how much of its state revenue comes from federal funding. When looking at states from this perspective of dependence on the federal government, it is possible to examine which states are the most independent.

It has been estimated that Alaska is the most independent state. Alaska is ranked third for the residents’ dependency on the government and second for the state government’s dependency on the federal government. West Virginia and New Mexico also have less depend on the government by residents, while Wyoming and Louisiana’s state governments are less dependent on federal funding.

Which States Claim To Be Independent?

Despite the ranking above, there are some states that claim to be independent. For example, Texas is largely considered to be, jokingly, its own country. For a short time, Texas was its own country before it joined the United States. Texas tends to do things a little differently when compared to the rest of the country, so Texas is very different from the rest of the country. California is another state that could be its own country if it decided to break away. It has a strong economy, but it is still dependent on the rest of the country for a lot of resources, including water.

Is the United States Self-Sufficient?

It is also important to take a closer look at the United States. That way, we can assess how independent the United States truly is. It is true that the United States produces a lot of natural resources. It has a very large bread basket that is responsible for producing food for the rest of the country, and the United States is the largest producer of oil in the world. That being said, there are some items that are in relatively short supply in the United States. For example, the United States does not produce a lot of computer chips, and many of them have to come from Taiwan.