Is “Iowa Nice” A Real Thing?

I had a random thought today... Is "Iowa Nice" a real thing? Based on my personal experience I want to say yes. I think Iowa, and the midwest, in general, is a very kind and nice place. Apparently, that might not be the case.

A recent study took a look at the kindest states in America.

How The Study Works

Thousands of people from all 50 states were surveyed with a variety of questions.

As part of its "A Call for Kindness" campaign, Verizon worked with Kindness.org, a non-profit whose mission is to educate and inspire people to choose kindness, to commission a first-of-its-kind academic research study to find out the state of kindness in America. The results? All 50 states have a surprisingly high capacity to be kind - but only one state could be crowned the kindest.

Some cool findings from this study are as follows:

The top three kindest acts ranked by Americans overall were: “Become an organ donor for a family member,” “Pull a stranger from a burning car,” “Adopt and raise a family member.”

 

The top three kind acts that you can plan ahead are: “Cover the shift for a work colleague,” “Cheer up a family member,” “Call a friend to encourage them.”

 

The average American would give up $6.40 if that meant a stranger got $10.

 

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The Top 10 Nicest States

10. Wyoming

Okay, I can see it!

9. West Virginia

Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed it, but sure.

8. Missouri

Hey close to Iowa!

7. New Hampshire

Again not my first guess, but okay yeah.

6. Alaska

Okay, no one lives here so, of course, the few that do are nice!

5. North Dakota

Again who lives here?!

4. Georgia

Southern hospitality right?

3. Oklahoma

Yeah okay, this one I could see!

2. New Mexico

I believe it, but this state didn't even cross my mind.

1. Kentucky

Oh... I really would not have guessed Kentucky.

Clearly, Iowa isn't on that list, and I'm not too happy about it... So where did we rank?

Iowa Ranking

On the bright side, we still rank in the top half... We came in at 22! Other Midwestern states didn't do too great either...

13. Ohio

16. Minnesota

35. Illinois

41. Wisconsin

I'm going to be honest I really don't believe this list. BUT if we go off these numbers Iowa isn't really "Nice" rather we just aren't mean.