Today, we’ll report on the snobbiest states in America. Using the latest data on wealth, education, and the finer things in life, we identified the snobbiest states in the United States.
The United States is known for its vast economic diversity; several states are flat-out snooty. These states earned their snob status for various reasons, including high-income residents, expensive homes, and a population full of college graduates.
We also accounted for how many people attend theaters, shop at organic markets, and send their kids to private schools, giving us a well-rounded approach to elitism. Put differently, a state is only as snobby as its most affected residents.
The states we’re about to mention are pretty stuck up overall. We ended up with this list of the ten snobbiest states.
On the map
The snobbiest states in America, mapped
Source: HomeSnacks
The verdict
So what’s the snobbiest state in America for 2026?
What’s the snobbiest state in America for 2026? It turns out Massachusetts is the snobbiest state in the country. We can’t measure how much someone turns up their nose at you, but we can calculate how much money people have, how expensive their homes are, and how many of them went to college. And in those categories, Massachusetts takes the cake.
Read below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your state ranked. Or check out more on the richest cities In America.
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Snobbiest States In The US For 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the snobbiest states is the amount of money people have.
However, one statistic only partially encompasses what it means to be one of the ‘snobbiest states.’ So we used Saturday Night Science to compare this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey and Zillow:
- Average Home Price
- Average Income
We ranked each state from 1 to 50 for each criterion, with one being the snobbiest. We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a ‘Snobtastic Index’ with the highest overall Snobtastic Index crowned the ‘Snobbiest State In The US For 2026.’ We updated this article for 2026. This list is our eleventh time ranking the snobbiest states in America.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for every state, including which states are the most down to earth.
The full plate
All 50 states, ranked by snobbery
Click any column to sort. Search by state name.
| Rank | State | Snobtastic Index | Population | Average income | Average home price | Adults with college degrees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 7.92 | 7,044,056 | $144,950 | $656,690 | 46.0% |
| 2 | Connecticut | 12.67 | 3,624,508 | $138,744 | $436,407 | 42.0% |
| 3 | New York | 12.83 | 19,852,366 | $128,247 | $507,794 | 40.0% |
| 4 | Hawaii | 13.25 | 1,445,235 | $131,053 | $832,967 | 37.0% |
| 5 | Maryland | 13.75 | 6,206,011 | $136,642 | $429,705 | 44.0% |
| 6 | New Jersey | 14.08 | 9,343,809 | $143,363 | $569,411 | 44.0% |
| 7 | Virginia | 14.42 | 8,705,170 | $128,260 | $412,467 | 43.0% |
| 8 | California | 16.00 | 39,287,377 | $140,436 | $774,582 | 38.0% |
| 9 | Washington | 19.08 | 7,816,116 | $134,588 | $601,016 | 39.0% |
| 10 | Oregon | 19.42 | 4,254,293 | $111,542 | $499,004 | 37.0% |
| 11 | Colorado | 19.75 | 5,862,189 | $128,255 | $541,842 | 46.0% |
| 12 | Maine | 19.92 | 1,387,817 | $100,102 | $407,566 | 36.0% |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 21.00 | 1,101,801 | $115,075 | $499,272 | 38.0% |
| 14 | Minnesota | 21.67 | 5,739,445 | $118,304 | $346,668 | 40.0% |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | 22.25 | 13,018,639 | $107,538 | $282,736 | 35.0% |
| 16 | Illinois | 22.33 | 12,694,798 | $115,638 | $285,736 | 38.0% |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 22.67 | 1,394,868 | $128,322 | $507,347 | 40.0% |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 23.17 | 5,914,872 | $101,466 | $330,171 | 33.0% |
| 19 | Florida | 23.25 | 22,416,077 | $105,967 | $375,662 | 33.0% |
| 20 | North Carolina | 23.25 | 10,730,404 | $101,208 | $336,408 | 36.0% |
| 21 | Georgia | 23.92 | 10,940,407 | $106,944 | $332,063 | 35.0% |
| 22 | Montana | 23.92 | 1,116,875 | $98,908 | $466,917 | 35.0% |
| 23 | Delaware | 23.92 | 1,021,191 | $112,616 | $402,891 | 35.0% |
| 24 | Utah | 25.25 | 3,392,331 | $121,376 | $537,810 | 39.0% |
| 25 | Vermont | 26.42 | 647,106 | $107,852 | $394,038 | 43.0% |
| 26 | Nebraska | 27.08 | 1,978,707 | $102,399 | $276,500 | 35.0% |
| 27 | Alaska | 27.50 | 735,706 | $118,985 | $387,636 | 32.0% |
| 28 | Missouri | 27.83 | 6,191,814 | $96,247 | $263,040 | 32.0% |
| 29 | Tennessee | 28.25 | 7,066,383 | $96,820 | $333,651 | 31.0% |
| 30 | North Dakota | 28.50 | 784,841 | $101,793 | $284,076 | 33.0% |
| 31 | Arizona | 29.17 | 7,378,838 | $108,273 | $423,330 | 33.0% |
| 32 | Texas | 30.25 | 30,188,424 | $109,933 | $300,957 | 33.0% |
| 33 | Idaho | 30.25 | 1,934,262 | $102,747 | $473,335 | 31.0% |
| 34 | Michigan | 30.50 | 10,077,761 | $98,700 | $259,857 | 32.0% |
| 35 | Wyoming | 30.58 | 582,397 | $100,641 | $363,227 | 30.0% |
| 36 | Kansas | 30.92 | 2,947,197 | $100,417 | $244,761 | 35.0% |
| 37 | South Carolina | 31.67 | 5,296,225 | $95,567 | $304,083 | 32.0% |
| 38 | Alabama | 32.00 | 5,086,768 | $88,898 | $236,453 | 28.0% |
| 39 | South Dakota | 32.00 | 907,428 | $98,527 | $317,148 | 32.0% |
| 40 | Ohio | 32.42 | 11,810,293 | $96,990 | $242,141 | 31.0% |
| 41 | New Mexico | 33.00 | 2,120,246 | $88,155 | $316,750 | 31.0% |
| 42 | Iowa | 33.08 | 3,210,507 | $98,187 | $231,585 | 31.0% |
| 43 | Indiana | 34.42 | 6,851,073 | $95,247 | $254,122 | 30.0% |
| 44 | Nevada | 35.17 | 3,184,612 | $106,475 | $446,865 | 28.0% |
| 45 | West Virginia | 35.17 | 1,778,373 | $81,190 | $174,412 | 24.0% |
| 46 | Mississippi | 36.42 | 2,946,779 | $78,922 | $192,906 | 25.0% |
| 47 | Kentucky | 36.58 | 4,534,824 | $87,807 | $231,894 | 27.0% |
| 48 | Louisiana | 36.75 | 4,611,961 | $87,038 | $211,635 | 27.0% |
| 49 | Arkansas | 37.58 | 3,049,391 | $84,759 | $222,050 | 25.0% |
| 50 | Oklahoma | 41.83 | 4,028,634 | $88,936 | $220,468 | 28.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, Zillow research.
There You Have It — The Snobbiest States In The Country
After measuring every snob factor that makes sense, there isn’t a straightforward ‘region’ with the most snobs. But if we had to pick, the eastern seaboard is where the snobbery is located. If you live in one of the states mentioned above, consider being a little nicer to the rest of us.
Does being snobby make you out of touch with reality? Perhaps. But money does indeed buy attitude — ask someone without it.
The snobbiest states in the United States for 2026 are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, California, Washington, and Oregon.
In most of these states, people have it made. They have big homes, fancy degrees, and bright futures. But this comes at a cost. Keeping up with friends and neighbors means private school, after-school activities, and two substantial car payments. For some, it’s the only way to live.
For the rest of America, we can feel better about ourselves when we define success as love, friends, health, or the little things in life.
