Military fit-to-serve index by state

A report released a few months ago assessing the percentage of those aged 17-24 able to serve in the US military found three quarters unable to do so. That a majority of young Americans are deemed unfit to serve stems from three major causes: Poor health (including obesity), failure to graduate from high school, and the carrying of some sort of criminal record.

Data are reported for each of these inhibiting factors at the state level. Some people are unfit on more than one dimension, so it's not possible to calculate what percentage of each state's young adult population is able or unable to serve (given the percentages for each category, even if there was no overlap, statewide figures do not add up to 75% or more), and the report does not list statewide totals. So I have created a fit-to-serve index* based on these three major inhibiting factors. Higher values indicate a greater portion of the population being eligible for military service:

State	Index
1. New Hampshire	159
2. Maine	149
3. North Dakota	138
4. Utah	136
5. Iowa	131
6. West Virginia	128
7. Vermont	126
8. Kansas	119
9. Montana	117
10. Wisconsin	117
11. South Dakota	112
12. Nebraska	111
13. Oklahoma	108
14. Virginia	108
15. Connecticut	107
16. Minnesota	107
17. New York	107
18. New Jersey	106
19. Wyoming	106
20. Missouri	105
21. Oregon	102
22. Illinois	100
23. Pennsylvania	99
24. Colorado	97
25. Hawaii	96
26. Maryland	96
27. California	94
28. Tennessee	94
29. Massachusetts	93
30. Washington	93
31. Kentucky	92
32. Rhode Island	92
33. Michigan	91
34. North Carolina	91
35. Arizona	90
36. Alaska	89
37. Ohio	89
38. Idaho	88
39. Indiana	88
40. Nevada	84
41. Arkansas	83
42. Delaware	83
43. Alabama	81
44. Florida	81
45. South Carolina	81
46. Texas	80
47. New Mexico	79
48. Mississippi	76
49. Louisiana	69
50. District of Columbia	59
51. Georgia	58

Fairly predictable, with a couple of exceptions. As is the case with so many other measures of desirable attributes, IQ correlates with the fit-to-serve index at .54 (p=0)

Massachusetts and Minnesota are both relatively far down the list compared to how these states measure on most desirable state rankings due to having the 5th and 7th highest, respectively, percentages of adults on parole, probation, in jail, or in prison among the states. Massachusetts' crime rates are surprisingly high for being an affluent, mostly white northeastern state that consistently tops the NAEP charts. I am not sure why Minnesota finds so many people on the wrong side of the law--the state's reported non drug-related crime statistics are stellar. Are there cities in Minnesota that are drug trafficking hubs for contraband coming in from Canada? Or am I missing something else?

Another interesting bit turned up in looking at per capita service rates by state. While red state populations are essentially no more (or less) able to serve than blue staters are--the correlation between ability to serve and voting for McCain in 2008 is a meaningless .06 (p=.69)--they are considerably more willing to do so. The correlation between the percentage of a state's population that signs up for military service and support for McCain in 2008 is .49 (p=0). Republicans are said to reserve greater hostility for the government than Democrats do, but in the case of the military, the parties have swapped spots.

* 118 + X (where X is 1 in every X adults in a state are on parole, probation, in jail, or in prison) - % of those aged 10-17 who are obese - % of those who fail to graduate from high school on time