Americans express patriotism in many forms, and Colorado was ranked the fifth most patriotic state in America, according to a recent study conducted by the financial website WalletHub.

With the Fourth of July approaching, WalletHub’s team compared 13 indicators of patriotism including military enlistments, volunteer rates and the percentage of adults who voted in the 2016 presidential election.

Colorado scored 63 out of 100 total points and ranked 12th in military engagement and ninth in civic engagement.

Along with 43 other states, Colorado has a civic education requirement for high school graduation, said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez. That helped contribute to its civic engagement rank.

Additionally, Colorado was No. 3 for the highest percentage of adults who voted in the 2016 presidential election.

“Sixty-nine percent of Colorado’s citizens voted in that election,” Gonzalez said.

The study says most red states are more patriotic than blue states, although Coloradans voted for Democrats in the last three presidential elections.

Colorado also was ranked No. 7 for states with AmeriCorps volunteers. AmeriCorps is a nonprofit program that engages adults in public service work.

There are about 49 AmeriCorps volunteers per 100,000 adults in Colorado, Gonzalez said.

Trails 2000, a nonprofit group in Durango that plans, builds and maintains trails, frequently has a high number of volunteers, according to executive director Mary Monroe Brown. The group has 400 to 900 volunteers per year who work thousands of hours on trails.

“The community has stepped up on each and every project to help out. I think that if you choose to live in Durango, you really do become a part of the community. Your values reflect what the community is all about,” Brown said.

Virginia was listed as the most patriotic state in the country with 70 points while New Jersey came in last with 27.

mrupani@durangoherald.com