The United States of Saying “Thank You”

The United States is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, and we wanted to mark the occasion with a little fun of our own.

Every gift sent through Snappy gives recipients the option to send a digital thank-you note back to the sender. After delivering more than 9 million gifts over the last decade, we decided to examine all first-time recipients across all 50 states to see where people were most likely to say thanks. (Yes, sitting on a mountain of gifting data gives us a rather unique, slightly nerdy superpower! We don’t just deliver joy; we can empirically measure gratitude.)

We used Snappy’s gifting data to see which states are most likely to say “thank you” after receiving a gift. As Americans celebrate the semiquincentennial, here’s what we found.

Drumroll, please. 

The top 10 most grateful states are: 

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1. Hawaii (60.9%)
2. Florida (59.6%)
3. Alabama (58.6%)
4. Louisiana (58.1%)
5. Montana (58.0%)
6. Maryland (57.9%)
7. Georgia (57.6%
8. Mississippi (56.9%)
9. South Carolina (56.6%)
10. Ohio (56.2%)

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Looking at the data, a few geographic trends emerge. Hawaii's Aloha spirit proved unbeatable at number one. “Southern Hospitality” is not just a quaint colloquialism; it is a statistically verifiable phenomenon, with Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina all landing in the top 10. Montana showed us that big skies breed big appreciation, Maryland snuck in without so much as a regional stereotype to its name, and Ohio boldly stepped up to represent the polite Midwesterners.

Beyond bragging rights for the country’s 250th year, what does this data actually tell us? It’s a reminder that behind every gift, whether it’s a corporate milestone, a client appreciation effort, or a surprise for a prospect, there's a human connection waiting to be made.

Another finding stands out: in all 50 states, over half of first-time gift recipients said, "thank you." The simple act of saying “thank you” is still social glue, from sea to shining sea. For anyone running a recognition or client appreciation program, that’s worth sitting with: gratitude isn’t rare, it’s the default response to being noticed. The opportunity isn’t convincing people to be grateful; it’s giving them more reasons to be.

Want to test the gratitude levels in your own network? Send a Snappy gift today. We bet you get a thank-you note in return, especially if you're sending it to Honolulu or Tallahassee.

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