How US States rank in terms of motorcycles ownership by population

LINK

An older study, but I’d say still relevant.

What would you say are the key drivers behind this?

I can certainly see heat as being a key component, but then there are states like Florida, New Mexico, and Arizona that are middle of the pack, so it cannot be just heat alone. Other possibly reasons for low ownership I can think of are dangerous drivers, bad roads, populations with large urban areas and not enough back roads. What do think really drives this? I mean, why is Alabama at 32, and Louisiana at 49?

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Rank State # Bikes Population People per bike

1 South Dakota 69,284 816,598 12
2 New Hampshire 79,266 1,316,807 17
3 Iowa 173,929 3,050,202 18
4 Wisconsin 317,276 5,691,659 18
5 Wyoming 30,351 564,554 19
6 North Dakota 32,654 674,629 21
7 Vermont 30,070 625,909 21
8 Montana 46,996 990,958 21
9 Minnesota 240,288 5,310,658 22
10 Alaska 30,983 714,146 23
11 Idaho 62,576 1,571,102 25
12 Maine 50,318 1,327,379 26
13 New Jersey 330,470 8,799,593 27
14 Colorado 173,120 5,047,692 29
15 Delaware 30,494 899,792 30
16 Ohio 390,494 11,537,968 30
17 Oklahoma 127,140 3,760,184 30
18 Washington 220,856 6,742,950 31
19 Pennsylvania 404,164 12,717,722 31
20 Indiana 204,402 6,490,622 32
21 New Mexico 64,863 2,065,913 32
22 Rhode Island 32,989 1,052,528 32
23 Michigan 308,338 9,877,143 32
24 Florida 574,176 18,838,613 33
25 West Virginia 56,210 1,854,368 33
26 Kansas 81,354 2,859,143 35
27 Oregon 108,313 3,838,332 35
28 Nebraska 51,371 1,830,141 36
29 Arizona 178,890 6,413,158 36
30 Connecticut 97,960 3,575,498 36
31 Illinois 350,193 12,841,980 37
32 Alabama 127,255 4,785,401 38
33 Tennessee 168,408 6,357,436 38
34 Arkansas 76,293 2,921,588 38
35 Nevada 68,951 2,704,283 39
36 Virginia 195,722 8,023,953 41
37 Massachusetts 159,000 6,555,466 41
38 Missouri 140,936 5,995,715 43
39 North Carolina 223,209 9,560,234 43
40 South Carolina 107,864 4,637,106 43
41 Kentucky 98,475 4,347,223 44
42 Hawaii 30,098 1,363,359 45
43 California 801,803 37,338,198 47
44 Utah 59,355 2,775,479 47
45 Maryland 120,069 5,785,681 48
46 Georgia 199,586 9,712,157 49
47 New York 345,816 19,395,206 56
48 Texas 438,551 25,253,466 58
49 Louisiana 67,486 4,545,343 67
50 Mississippi 28,067 2,970,072 106
51 Dist. of Col. 3,523 604,912 172

[Source: Fool.com]

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