States Most Reliant on the Gun Industry in 2018 | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

States Most Reliant on the Gun Industry in 2018

Gun sales are down but it's still a multi-billion dollar industry

The so-called “Trump Slump” on gun sales seems to be continuing, which could impact the economies of some of our neighboring states.
According to the personal finance website WalletHub, gun sales have been down since Trump won the White House. WalletHub recently released a report on how states depend on the gun industry for economic stability, with Idaho topping the list, and Maryland coming in last—or first—depending on your view of the gun industry.

The report used three categories to determine its results: Firearms Industry, which included subcategories like firearms-industry jobs per 10,000 residents, firearms and ammunitions dealers and total firearms industry output per capita; Gun Prevalence, which included subcategories like gun ownership rate, gun sales per 1,000 residents and gun advertisements for private buying and selling; and Gun Politics, which included subcategories like gun-control and gun-rights contributions to congressional members and average NRA-PVA senator score per capita. 

State Dependency on the Gun Industry


1 Idaho 81.73
2 Montana 78.69
3 Alaska 75.88
4 South Dakota 74.39
5 Wyoming 71.94
6 Kentucky 69.93
7 Arkansas 68.28
8 Kansas 67.53
9 Oklahoma 66.82
10 North Dakota 66.19
11 Alabama 64.02
12 Missouri 62.77
13 West Virginia 62.71
14 Tennessee 62.69
15 South Carolina 61.84
16 Mississippi 60.96
17 Utah 60.57
18 North Carolina 57.16
19 Arizona 56.62
20 Indiana 56.45
21 Nebraska 55.38
22 Texas 53.62
23 Louisiana 53.41
24 Colorado 52.20
25 Pennsylvania 51.94
26 Wisconsin 50.77
27 Ohio 50.22
28 New Hampshire 49.89
29 Georgia 49.72
30 Maine 48.75
31 Minnesota 48.70
32 New Mexico 48.18
33 Vermont 47.84
34 Nevada 46.88
35 Iowa 45.55
36 Oregon 44.57
37 Virginia 43.43
38 Florida 41.06
39 Washington 39.07
40 Michigan 36.10
41 Illinois 32.24
42 California 24.35
43 Massachusetts 23.94
44 Connecticut 22.04
45 Hawaii 20.19
46 New York 18.16
47 Delaware 17.40
48 Rhode Island 16.27
49 New Jersey 14.89
50 Maryland 14.83

According to the WalletHub report, by one estimate the gun industry contributed more than $51 billion to the U.S. economy and generated $6.5 billion in federal and state taxes in 2017.

The full report can be found at: wallethub.com

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