States With the Most Hate Groups

Missouri is the only Midwestern state to rank on this list. According the SPLC, the state is home to 24 active hate groups, including three neo-Nazi groups, four white nationalist groups, eight black nationalist groups, and the Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Half of the hate groups in the state are based in either Kansas City or St. Louis, and six hate groups operate statewide with no central operations base.

Missouri is far less racially diverse than the country as a whole. About 82% of state residents are white, compared to 73% of the U.S. population.

There are 41 known hate groups currently active in Georgia. They include three chapters of the KKK, the oldest and most infamous hate group in the country, and some newer groups, like the Proud Boys, a group established in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes.

Georgia has one of the most racially diverse populations of any state. About 31% of state residents are black, well above the 12.7% national share. Racial bigotry is a central tenet in the majority of hate groups in Georgia — including the 16 known black nationalist groups active in the state.

There are five known KKK groups active in Mississippi. Texas is the only state with as many active Klan chapters — and Texas has a population nearly 10 times that of Mississippi. Other hate groups in the state include the American Family Association, an anti-LGBT group based in Tupelo, and League of the South, a neo-Confederate group operating in Holly Springs and Jackson.

Hate groups tend to be concentrated in poorer areas, and about one in every five Mississippi residents live in poverty, the highest poverty rate of any state.

Over half of the 21 active hate groups in Louisiana are black nationalist — including three Black Panther groups and four Nation of Islam groups. Historically, black nationalist groups were born as a reaction to white supremacy sentiments and actions, and Louisiana is also home to two active white nationalist groups and two neo-Confederate groups. Unlike many other Southern states, including those bordering Louisiana, there are no known active KKK chapters in Louisiana.

Not all hate groups in Louisiana are focused on race. The state is also home to the Ruth Institute, an anti-LGBT organization based in Lake Charles, and ACT for America, an anti-Muslim group with chapters in Baton Rouge and Metairie.

Since the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in August 2017, a rally that left one dead, Virginia has become something of a symbol of racially motivated hatred in the United States. There are 39 known hate groups active in the state, or 4.6 per 1 million people. Many of those groups, including the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, neo-Confederate group League of the South, and the KKK, were represented at the rally.

Hatred is not exclusively racially motivated in Virginia. There are two known anti-immigrant groups in the state, Arlington-based ProEnglish and Americans for Immigration Control in Monterey. In Virginia, 12.1% of residents were born outside of the United States, a larger immigrant population than in the majority of states.

Over a third of the 14 hate groups active in Arkansas are headquartered in the small city of Harrison, located just south of the Missouri border. Those groups include the neo-Confederate League of the South, two Christian identity groups, and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the only known KKK chapter active in the state.

Hate groups tend to be concentrated in poorer, less educated areas. The typical household in Arkansas earns just $45,869 a year, about $14,500 less than the typical American household. Additionally, just 23.4% of adults in Arkansas have a bachelor’s degree compared to 32.0% of adults nationwide.

Alabama was the setting for many high profile events in the pursuit of racial equality, including Rosa Parks’s stand on a bus in Montgomery, to the march from Selma to Montgomery, to Martin Luther King Jr.’s time spent in a Birmingham jail cell. Today, racial bigotry is a the common ideological foundation of most hate groups in the state. Twelve of the active hate groups in Alabama are either white nationalist, neo-Confederate, or KKK. There are another seven black nationalist groups in the state.

Including neo-Nazi groups and a Birmingham based Proud Boys group, there are 4.7 hate groups for every 1 million people in Alabama, more than in all but three other states.

There are 5.4 active hate groups for every 1 million people in Tennessee, the most of any state in the South. Over half of the of the hate groups in the state are largely racially motivated. These groups include a KKK chapter in McMinnville, another in Shelbyville, and black nationalist groups in Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville.

Hate groups that have emerged more recently are also active in Tennessee. After the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, there was a surge in anti-Muslim hate group activity. In Tennessee, there are four anti-Muslim groups — one in Coffee County, another in Franklin, one in Knoxville, and another in Nashville.

There are 10 known hate groups active in Idaho, or 5.8 for every 1 million state residents. Nationwide, there are 3.1 hate groups for every 1 million people. Religion is a common foundation for hatred among groups in the state. ACT for America and G416 Patriots are two anti-Muslim groups based in Meridian, and America’s Promise Ministries is a Christian identity group based in Sandpoint. There is also a holocaust denial group in Coeur d’Alene, and two racist skinhead groups and a neo-Nazi group that operates statewide.

There are 7.5 hate groups for every 1 million people in New Hampshire. In racially homogenous states, immigrant and minority populations are often viewed as threats. In New Hampshire, 93.4% of the population identifies as white, the largest share of any state on this list, and third-most overall. Of the 10 active hate groups in New Hampshire, three are racist skinhead, two are anti-Muslim, and one is neo-Nazi. There are also two Radical Traditional Catholicism groups in Richmond.

New Hampshire is the only state in the Northeast to rank on this list.