Which US states have the highest number of white supremacist groups and how are they counted?
Executive summary
Counting of U.S. white‑supremacist and hate groups is inconsistent across trackers, but major monitoring organizations report the largest raw numbers in big, populous states: the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) found 1,371 hate and anti‑government groups active nationwide in 2024 and lists California, Florida, Texas and several others among states with the most groups [1] [2]. Event‑based trackers such as ACLED say activity‑counts (events, demonstrations, flyering) are concentrated in states like California, Texas and Ohio — ACLED notes Ohio had among the most recorded white‑supremacist events from 2023–Feb 2024, behind only California and Texas [3].
1. What different trackers measure and why that matters
Organizations are not counting the same thing. The SPLC compiles an inventory of “hate and antigovernment extremist groups” and maps where those groups are active; its 2024 tally was 1,371 groups nationwide and it highlights states such as California and Florida among leaders in group counts [1] [2] [4]. ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project) does not list every registered organization but instead records public events involving actors it classifies as “white supremacist” (rallies, flyers, demonstrations), so its finding that Ohio had some of the highest levels of white‑supremacist activity (behind California and Texas) reflects event frequency rather than a roster of formal groups [3]. Academic and reference sources emphasize fluidity: groups appear, merge, splinter and go dormant, so static lists and event logs capture different slices of the threat [5] [6].
2. Which states show up most often in reporting
Across the sources provided, populous states and certain Midwestern pockets repeatedly appear. The SPLC and reporting based on its data name California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Washington and Ohio as among states “leading in numbers” of anti‑government and hate groups [2]. ACLED’s event analysis identifies California and Texas as the top two for recorded events and places Ohio among the highest for white‑supremacist incidents between 2023 and Feb. 2024 [3]. Local reporting, for example in The Guardian, notes renewed activity in northern Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana [7]. These patterns point to concentration in large states plus localized hotspots in the Midwest and Upper South [2] [3] [7].
3. How groups are classified and the controversies around labels
Labeling is contested. SPLC classifies groups as “hate” or “extremist” based on ideology and activity; ACLED flags actors that self‑identify as white nationalist/supremacist or whose actions match those categories [4] [3]. Reference sources note that “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” overlap with other categories — KKK, neo‑Nazi, neo‑Confederate, racist skinhead and Christian Identity groups — making neat categorization difficult [8] [9]. Wikipedia’s lists and category pages attempt comprehensive catalogs but carry the limits of open editing and uneven sourcing [9] [10]. Critics warn that methodology and political framing influence which groups get listed and how counts change over time [5].
4. Numbers versus activity: why raw counts can mislead
A high count of “groups” in a state does not always mean high on‑the‑ground violence; some entities are small, transient or largely online. ACLED’s event‑focused approach highlights where public activity and confrontations occur, which is why Ohio ranks high on activity even if other states have larger enumerations of formal groups [3]. SPLC’s map shows that hate groups are present in all 50 states but conflates different types of organizations under broad categories, producing high raw totals like 1,371 in 2024 [4] [1].
5. What the reporting agrees on and what it omits
Sources agree that white‑supremacist networks are active nationwide, that violence tied to those ideologies has been lethal in recent years, and that big states often register more groups or events [1] [3] [11]. Available sources do not mention a single, government‑issued, nationwide list of white‑supremacist groups with standardized counting rules; the FBI’s public FOIA repository exists but does not substitute for consolidated national tallies in the sources provided (p1_s13; not found in current reporting). Methodological variation and political framing shape headline numbers.
6. Takeaway for readers and policymakers
When asked “which states have the most white‑supremacist groups,” the correct, evidence‑based answer is: results depend on the metric. For inventories of active groups, SPLC’s data points to California, Florida, Texas and other large states as frequent leaders [1] [2]. For event frequency — public rallies, flyering, confrontations — ACLED identifies California, Texas and Ohio as among the most active [3]. Any policy or public discussion should specify whether it refers to group rosters, incident counts, or online recruitment, because each yields different state rankings and policy implications [4] [3] [1].