Utah’s state motto is “Industry,” but I’m going to propose a new one: “Home of Eagle Scouts.”
That’s because no state produced more Eagle Scouts in 2016 than Utah. Thanks in large part to the strong support Scouting receives from the LDS church there, 5,664 young men became Eagle Scouts in Utah in 2016.
Utah is No. 1 on the list for at least the eighth year in a row. That’s every year since 2009 — the first year for which detailed Eagle Scout statistics were made available to me.
California, Texas, Pennsylvania and North Carolina round out 2016’s top 5. See the complete list — 1 to 50 — below.
Then keep reading for the population-adjusted numbers.
| Utah | 5,664 |
| California | 5,044 |
| Texas | 4,308 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,461 |
| North Carolina | 2,215 |
| Virginia | 2,112 |
| New York | 2,060 |
| Ohio | 1,876 |
| Florida | 1,741 |
| Illinois | 1,739 |
| Georgia | 1,586 |
| Arizona | 1,484 |
| New Jersey | 1,444 |
| Missouri | 1,385 |
| Idaho | 1,320 |
| Washington | 1,318 |
| Michigan | 1,266 |
| Maryland | 1,075 |
| Massachusetts | 1,047 |
| Minnesota | 980 |
| Colorado | 972 |
| Indiana | 904 |
| Wisconsin | 896 |
| Tennessee | 873 |
| Connecticut | 766 |
| Kansas | 644 |
| South Carolina | 633 |
| Alabama | 620 |
| Oregon | 582 |
| Iowa | 533 |
| Nevada | 533 |
| Kentucky | 487 |
| Oklahoma | 487 |
| Nebraska | 439 |
| Mississippi | 395 |
| Louisiana | 361 |
| Hawaii | 288 |
| Arkansas | 282 |
| New Hampshire | 214 |
| Rhode Island | 202 |
| Montana | 198 |
| New Mexico | 186 |
| Maine | 179 |
| West Virginia | 175 |
| Wyoming | 142 |
| Alaska | 140 |
| South Dakota | 134 |
| Delaware | 131 |
| North Dakota | 102 |
| Vermont | 74 |
But wait! It’s not really fair to look at these numbers without adjusting for population.
I mean, of course more young men will become Eagle Scouts in the nation’s state with the most people under 18 (California) than the one with the least (Vermont).
So …
Which state had the most Eagle Scouts in 2016 after adjusting for population?
I used the data available here, which supplied the number of people under age 18 in each of our 50 states.
Utah topped this list as well, with one new Eagle Scout for every 161 people under 18. But the population-adjusted numbers moved these states from outside the top 10 into it: Idaho, Wyoming, Connecticut, Missouri, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Hawaii.
California, second on the unadjusted list, moves to 41 on the adjusted list.
- Utah
- Idaho
- Virginia
- Wyoming
- Connecticut
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Rhode Island
- Nebraska
- Hawaii
- Pennsylvania
- Arizona
- Kansas
- Montana
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Maryland
- Nevada
- Colorado
- Minnesota
- Massachusetts
- Alaska
- Iowa
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Maine
- Wisconsin
- Oregon
- Delaware
- South Dakota
- Georgia
- Vermont
- Texas
- Illinois
- North Dakota
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
- Michigan
- Indiana
- Alabama
- California
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- New York
- Kentucky
- West Virginia
- Florida
- Arkansas
- New Mexico
- Louisiana
What were the 2016 numbers for Eagle Scouts who don’t live in the 50 states?
Eagle Scouts don’t just live in the 50 United States. They’re everywhere.
| Puerto Rico | 189 |
| Transatlantic Council | 180 |
| Far East Council | 95 |
| Washington, D.C. | 19 |
| Direct Service Council | 7 |
| Virgin Islands (Now merged into council No. 82) | 1 |
For more Eagle Scout stats, click here.
Hat tip: Thanks to the BSA’s Mike Lo Vecchio for the data.
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