State of Texas, March 15, 2017
With gun sales declining since President Donald Trump took office, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017’s States Most Dependent on the Gun Industry.
To determine the states that depend most heavily on the arms and ammunitions industry both directly for jobs and political contributions and indirectly through firearm ownership, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 13 key metrics. The data set ranges from firearms industry jobs per capita to gun sales per 1,000 residents to gun ownership rate.
Texas’ Dependence on the Gun Industry (1=Most Dependent; 25=Avg.)
- 18th – Gun Ownership Rate
- 36th – Firearms-Industry Jobs per Capita
- 13th – Avg. Firearms-Industry Wages & Benefits
- 31st – Total Firearms-Industry Output per Capita
- 25th – Total Taxes Paid by Firearms Industry per Capita
- 34th – NICS Background Checks per Capita
- 22nd – Gun-Control Contributions to Congressional Members per Capita
- 21st – Gun-Rights Contributions to Congressional Members per Capita
Source: WalletHub
| Overall Rank | State | Total Score | ‘Firearms Industry’ Rank | ‘Gun Prevalence’ Rank | ‘Gun Politics’ Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | 80.02 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Wyoming | 79.68 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Montana | 78.91 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | South Dakota | 73.64 | 4 | 13 | 1 |
| 5 | Idaho | 72.63 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 60.01 | 18 | 4 | 9 |
| 7 | Kansas | 59.46 | 8 | 17 | 6 |
| 8 | Arkansas | 59.15 | 7 | 9 | 18 |
| 9 | North Dakota | 58.99 | 15 | 7 | 7 |
| 10 | Alabama | 56.03 | 16 | 12 | 10 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 55.05 | 20 | 14 | 8 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 53.76 | 1 | 6 | 45 |
| 13 | West Virginia | 50.95 | 24 | 11 | 24 |
| 14 | Utah | 50.94 | 10 | 30 | 13 |
| 15 | Missouri | 50.87 | 11 | 27 | 19 |
| 16 | South Carolina | 49.58 | 28 | 16 | 17 |
| 17 | Nevada | 49.54 | 17 | 24 | 11 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 49.18 | 14 | 21 | 30 |
| 19 | Vermont | 48.95 | 29 | 10 | 29 |
| 20 | Nebraska | 48.57 | 12 | 37 | 14 |
| 21 | Indiana | 48.31 | 39 | 5 | 26 |
| 22 | Tennessee | 48.01 | 21 | 18 | 22 |
| 23 | Louisiana | 47.26 | 22 | 25 | 15 |
| 24 | Arizona | 47.07 | 13 | 38 | 20 |
| 25 | Minnesota | 44.73 | 26 | 20 | 31 |
| 26 | Texas | 44.06 | 19 | 35 | 16 |
| 27 | Iowa | 42.53 | 38 | 31 | 12 |
| 28 | New Mexico | 42.50 | 42 | 15 | 25 |
| 29 | Colorado | 41.56 | 23 | 19 | 38 |
| 30 | Oregon | 40.19 | 25 | 28 | 35 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | 39.44 | 34 | 36 | 23 |
| 32 | Ohio | 39.30 | 31 | 41 | 21 |
| 33 | Virginia | 38.59 | 30 | 39 | 28 |
| 34 | Georgia | 38.44 | 33 | 40 | 27 |
| 35 | North Carolina | 37.51 | 27 | 32 | 34 |
| 36 | Florida | 36.30 | 32 | 34 | 33 |
| 37 | Maine | 36.19 | 9 | 33 | 46 |
| 38 | Wisconsin | 35.01 | 41 | 22 | 37 |
| 39 | District of Columbia | 31.89 | 43 | 46 | 32 |
| 40 | Illinois | 31.18 | 45 | 26 | 40 |
| 41 | Washington | 29.69 | 35 | 29 | 48 |
| 42 | Hawaii | 27.94 | 51 | 23 | 36 |
| 43 | Connecticut | 25.85 | 36 | 44 | 47 |
| 44 | Massachusetts | 24.61 | 40 | 47 | 41 |
| 45 | Michigan | 22.67 | 37 | 42 | 49 |
| 46 | Maryland | 20.55 | 46 | 48 | 42 |
| 47 | California | 18.78 | 49 | 45 | 44 |
| 48 | New Jersey | 16.83 | 50 | 51 | 39 |
| 49 | New York | 15.29 | 48 | 50 | 43 |
| 50 | Delaware | 15.29 | 44 | 43 | 50 |
| 51 | Rhode Island | 8.09 | 47 | 49 | 50 |
*1 = Most Dependent
