Hawaii holds at third among 'Most Popular States'

Hawaii, The Aloha State, is the third most popular state where Americans would choose to live, according to the latest results from The Harris Poll. Meanwhile, California — despite its economic woes — held on to the top spot for the sixth year in a row, a position it's held since surpassing former frontrunner Florida in 2002.

The poll has been conducted every year for over a decade, and asks thousands of Americans to name the states and which cities they'd choose to live. The latest rankings came from a poll of 2,498 U.S. adults who were surveyed online between August 10 and 18, 2009.

As far as states go, the latest rankings are as follows:

1. California 2. Florida 3. Hawaii 4. Texas 5. Colorado 6. Arizona, North Carolina, Washington State (tie) 9. Tennessee 10. Oregon 11. New York 12. South Carolina, Massachusetts (tie) 14. Georgia 15. Montana

When asked to name specific cities, the rankings broke down as follows:

1. New York City 2. Denver, San Francisco (tie) 4. San Diego 5. Seattle 6. Chicago 7. Boston 8. Las Vegas 9. Washington, D.C. 10. Dallas 11. Austin 12. Nashville 13. Atlanta 14. Orlando 15. Los Angeles

According to Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, New York City has topped the list of cities every year since 1997 (except in 1998 when it slipped behind San Francisco). However, Denver and San Francisco, now tied for second place, have moved up from #9 and #4 last year. And this is the first time in the thirteen year series that Denver has placed higher than #4.

Notes the company:

This is much more than a beauty contest. The most popular states and cities where large numbers of people would like to live tend to attract tourists and business. They are places where people like to take vacations and where companies like to have their offices and factories. The climate appears to be important. The majority of the states and cities listed have hot or warm climates, and the top four states are all in the Sun Belt. However, both the two most popular cities, New York City and Denver, get snow and low temperatures in winter.

Source: Harris Interactive