Arizona Has More Boats Per Capita Than Any State

Since I moved to Arizona in 1979 I have heard the following comment over and over again: Arizona has more boats on a per capita basis than any other state. Even though I heard it, and I read it, I always wondered about it. How could Arizona have more boats per capita than, say, Michigan or Florida? Granted, we have many man-made lakes. I still don't believe it. So let's investigate. Does Arizona have more boats per capita than any other state?

Who Said So?

When I first looked into it in 2006 the claim that Arizona has more boats on a per capita basis than any other state appeared on the websites of at least four otherwise reputable sources of information.  I know, I know -- the encyclopedia is never wrong, and the local newspaper never prints anything that is inaccurate. Well, maybe not never...

AA of them have removed the erroneous information from their websites since then.

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Arizona Chamber of Commerce
• Mesa Community College
• AZCentral.com (Arizona Republic)

Many sites, the most notable of which are Realtor websites, perpetuate the myth, but cite one of the above resources as the source of the information. Since I originally wrote this article in 2006, many websites have removed the erroneous information.

Who Keeps Track?

I have never seen any documentation associated with any of the claims about the number of boats in Arizona.

I spoke to an individual at Arizona Game and Fish, who chuckled, and agreed that he'd heard that statistic many times, too. He told me that there was no way that Arizona can make a claim to have more boats, either on an absolute basis, or more boats, on a relative population basis. He advised me that the U.S. Coast Guard keeps track of boat registrations per state.

What is a Boat?

First, the basics. It might seem silly, but, for the purposes of this discussion, what is a boat? Since states register watercraft, states define which types of watercraft must be registered. This already creates a problem. In some states, only boats with motors must be registered. That's the minimum required by federal law. That includes anything that is propelled by a motor. In other states, rowboats, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks must be registered. Some states require registration of 12-foot sailboats, and some states don't. About 7% of registered boats in the U.S. in 2004 were not motorized.

When Did Arizona Have More Boats?

Whenever I have heard or seen the claim that Arizona has more boats per capita than any other state, it is never accompanied by a date or a year. There's a good reason for that.

The Bottom Line

In my opinion, the statement that Arizona has more boats per capita than any other state is false. It's a myth. I don't believe it ever was true. The term per capita means per person (or literally, per head). That means that on a percentage basis, Arizona would have the highest percentage of boat registrations relative to population size. It simply isn't true.

In 2004, Arizona ranked 30th among the states with respect to the number of boats registered in the state. As a percentage of its population, it ranked 43rd out of 50, with only 2.56% of the population owning boats. If we were to find statistics for 20 years ago, I still don't believe it could be true. Even considering a statistical variation for different types of boats being registered in different states, I don't believe it. (Actually, that would make our ranking even lower, since in Arizona just about all watercraft are registered.) If the people making the claim believe that unregistered boats make a difference, I still don't believe it -- and where would they obtain that number anyway?

The Numbers Don't Lie

The following numbers were obtained from the U.S. Coast Guard. As far as I can determine, these are the only official statistics maintained on boat ownership in the U.S.

State	Rank	Boats (2004)	2004 Population	Boats per 100,000	%	Per Capita Rank
Minnesota	4	853448	5,100,958	16731	16.73%	1
Wisconsin	6	605467	5,509,026	10990	10.99%	2
South Carolina	9	397458	4,198,068	9468	9.47%	3
Michigan	2	944800	10,112,620	9343	9.34%	4
North Dakota	42	52961	634,366	8349	8.35%	5
New Hampshire	32	101626	1,299,500	7820	7.82%	6
Iowa	20	228140	2,954,451	7722	7.72%	7
Alaska	45	49225	655,435	7510	7.51%	8
Arkansas	26	205745	2,752,629	7474	7.47%	9
Mississippi	23	209216	2,902,966	7207	7.21%	10
Maine	35	94582	1,317,253	7180	7.18%	11
Louisiana	15	309950	4,515,770	6864	6.86%	12
South Dakota	44	51604	770,883	6694	6.69%	13
Montana	40	59271	926,865	6395	6.39%	14
Delaware	43	51797	830,364	6238	6.24%	15
Idaho	36	83639	1,393,262	6003	6.00%	16
Oklahoma	25	206049	3,523,553	5848	5.85%	17
Alabama	17	264006	4,530,182	5828	5.83%	18
Missouri	13	326210	5,754,618	5669	5.67%	19
Florida	1	946072	17,397,161	5438	5.44%	20
Oregon	27	190119	3,594,586	5289	5.29%	21
Vermont	48	32498	621,394	5230	5.23%	22
Wyoming	49	25897	506,529	5113	5.11%	23
Nebraska	37	77636	1,747,214	4443	4.44%	24
Tennessee	18	261465	5,900,962	4431	4.43%	25
Washington	16	266056	6,203,788	4289	4.29%	26
Kentucky	28	174463	4,145,922	4208	4.21%	27
North Carolina	11	356946	8,541,221	4179	4.18%	28
Rhode Island	46	43671	1,080,632	4041	4.04%	29
Maryland	24	206681	5,558,058	3719	3.72%	30
Georgia	14	322252	8,829,383	3650	3.65%	31
Ohio	8	414938	11,459,011	3621	3.62%	32
Kansas	33	98512	2,735,502	3601	3.60%	33
West Virginia	39	63504	1,815,354	3498	3.50%	34
Indiana	21	213309	6,237,569	3420	3.42%	35
Virginia	19	242642	7,459,827	3253	3.25%	36
Connecticut	31	111992	3,503,604	3196	3.20%	37
Utah	38	74293	2,389,039	3110	3.11%	38
Illinois	10	393856	12,713,634	3098	3.10%	39
Pennsylvania	12	354079	12,406,292	2854	2.85%	40
Texas	5	616779	22,490,022	2742	2.74%	41
New York	7	519066	19,227,088	2700	2.70%	42
Arizona	30	147294	5,743,834	2564	2.56%	43
California	3	894884	35,893,799	2493	2.49%	44
Nevada	41	57612	2,334,771	2468	2.47%	45
New Jersey	22	209678	8,698,879	2410	2.41%	46
Massachusetts	29	150683	6,416,505	2348	2.35%	47
Colorado	34	98079	4,601,403	2132	2.13%	48
New Mexico	47	38439	1,903,289	2020	2.02%	49
Hawaii	50	13205	1,262,840	1046	1.05%	50

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

In 2012, I received an email asking about this data. Honestly, not much has changed. Again, I obtained the data on registered watercraft as of 2010, now referred to as vessels, from the U.S. Coast Guard. The data on population was obtained from the U.S. Census. In 2010 there were nearly 309 million people in the U.S. There were close to 12.5 million registered recreational water vessels in that year, meaning that about 4% of our population owns a recreational watercraft of some sort. No matter how you slice and dice it, there's no way that Arizona ranks even close to #1 for watercraft, watercraft per capita, or probably any other measure relating to boats.

State	Vessels Rank	Vessels (2010)	2010 Population	Per Capita %	Per Capita Rank
Minnesota	2	813976	5,304	15.3%	1
Wisconsin	5	615335	5,687	10.8%	2
South Carolina	8	435491	4,625	9.4%	3
Maine	31	111873	1,328	8.4%	4
North Dakota	42	56128	673	8.3%	5
Michigan	3	812066	9,884	8.2%	6
New Hampshire	33	94773	1,316	7.2%	7
Arkansas	23	205925	2,916	7.1%	8
Delaware	40	62983	898	7.0%	9
South Dakota	41	56624	814	7.0%	10
Alaska	45	48891	710	6.9%	11
Iowa	21	209660	3,046	6.9%	12
Louisiana	14	302141	4,533	6.7%	13
Alabama	17	271377	4,780	5.7%	14
Idaho	36	87662	1,568	5.6%	15
Oklahoma	22	209457	3,751	5.6%	16
Montana	44	52105	989	5.3%	17
Mississippi	28	156216	2,967	5.3%	18
Wyoming	49	28249	564	5.0%	19
Missouri	15	297194	5,989	5.0%	20
Florida	1	914535	18,801	4.9%	21
Vermont	48	30315	626	4.8%	22
Oregon	25	177634	3,831	4.6%	23
Nebraska	37	83832	1,826	4.6%	24
Rhode Island	46	45930	1,053	4.4%	25
Indiana	16	281908	6,484	4.3%	26
North Carolina	10	400846	9,535	4.2%	27
Tennessee	18	266185	6,346	4.2%	28
Kentucky	26	175863	4,339	4.1%	29
Ohio	9	430710	11,537	3.7%	30
Georgia	13	353950	9,688	3.7%	31
Washington	20	237921	6,725	3.5%	32
West Virginia	39	64510	1,853	3.5%	33
Maryland	24	193259	5,774	3.3%	34
Kansas	35	89315	2,853	3.1%	35
Virginia	19	245940	8,001	3.1%	36
Connecticut	32	108078	3,574	3.0%	37
Illinois	11	370522	12,831	2.9%	38
Pennsylvania	12	365872	12,702	2.9%	39
Utah	38	70321	2,764	2.5%	40
New York	7	475689	19,378	2.5%	41
Texas	6	596830	25,146	2.4%	42
California	4	810008	37,254	2.2%	43
Massachusetts	29	141959	6,548	2.2%	44
Arizona	30	135326	6,392	2.1%	45
Nevada	43	53464	2,701	2.0%	46
New Jersey	27	169750	8,792	1.9%	47
Colorado	34	91424	5,029	1.8%	48
New Mexico	47	37340	2,059	1.8%	49
Hawaii	50	14835	1,360	1.1%	50