The States With the Highest Concentration of Hate Groups: All 50 Ranked

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In a December 2023 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray identified violent domestic extremism as the top terrorism threat facing the United States. Between the Spring of 2020 and November 2023, the FBI's domestic terrorism caseload more than doubled to 2,700 active investigations. Typically, these cases involve individuals or groups using violence to advance social or political agendas -- agendas that are often rooted in anti-government sentiment or prejudicial bias toward certain races, ethnicities, sexual identities, or religions.

The ideologies that motivate hate crimes and certain acts of domestic terrorism are being propagated by extremist groups across the country -- and the number of these groups has grown considerably in recent years. According to the nonprofit legal advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center , there were 1,430 active hate and anti-government extremist groups nationwide in 2023, a 17% increase from 2022.

Active extremist groups include those with decades-long histories in the United States, like the Nation of Islam and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as newer organizations like Patriot Front and the Proud Boys. It is important to note that while the violence these and other similar groups can inspire are a leading national security threat, simply belonging to these organizations -- or subscribing to their core beliefs -- is not a crime.

Currently, each of the 50 states is home to multiple extremist organizations. But in some parts of the country, hate and anti-government groups are far more common than in others.

Using data from the SPLC report The Year in Hate & Extremism 2023 , 24/7 Wall St. identified the states with the most hate groups. We ranked each of the 50 states by the total number of hate and anti-government groups for every million residents. State-level data on population and demographics are from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 American Community Survey.

Nationwide, there are 4.3 extremist groups for every 1 million Americans. Across the 50 states, the concentration of these groups ranges from 1.4 to 15.5 for every 1 million people. Like the country as a whole, most states -- 36 out of 50 -- reported an increase in the number of known anti-government and hate groups in the last year. These states include Kentucky and Georgia, where the number of extremist groups doubled in 2023. Of the remaining 14 states, nine reported a year-over-year decline, and in five, the number of hate groups was unchanged.

With nearly 300 chapters nationwide, Moms for Liberty is the most common extremist group in the United States. Founded in 2021 out of opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, Moms for Liberty advocates book bans and opposes racial and LGBTQ+ inclusive school curriculums, according to SPLC. Other common groups in these states include the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government organization, the Nationalist Social Club, a neo-Nazi group, and the white nationalist organization, Patriot Front. (Here is a look at the largest hate groups in the United States. )

Why It Matters

Rates of hate crime and domestic terrorism have been climbing for years in the United States. Many of these offenses are committed by individuals who have been radicalized by racist, homophobic, ethnocentric, or anti-government ideologies -- ideologies that are widely propagated by extremist hate groups. While every American has the right to adhere to any belief system they choose, it is likely no coincidence that as hate crime rates have been rising in recent years, so too have the number of extremist groups.

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