Top Boating States Revealed

Michigan, Minnesota move up in top-10 boating state ranking, while California drops...

Is boating safer with less boaters on the water? Photo Courtesy of The U.S. Coast Guard.

Earlier this month, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) released the 2010 U.S. Recreational Boat Registration Statistics Report which looks at boat registration numbers for the year, and gives us all an indication of how the economy is affecting us boaters around the country. The report found that boat registration numbers across the United States decreased 2.2 percent (or 282,615 boats) for a total of 12.5 million registered boats in 2010 compared to 2009’s 12.7 million. Our opinion is that a couple of percentage points is not all that bad considering the severity of the world's economic state. Some parts of the country fared better than others. California falls into the "than others" category. Let's take a closer look at the numbers and see if your state fell in the "Top 10 List" of boating states...

Almost the same
The rankings of the top ten states remained nearly the same as the year before, with one notable exception. California seems to have been hardest hit, as it was the only state that dropped in ranking, and it fell two places from number 2 to number 4.  Benefiting form this drop were Michigan and Minnesota, each of which moved up a notch from the previous year.

The 2010 Top 10
The report, released by the NMMA in October 2011, ranks each state based on total boat registrations. Here are the states that made the top ten and their numbers...

1. Florida: 914,535 registered boats in 2010, decreasing 3.6 percent from 2009’s 949,030 but holding onto number 1. Boating in Florida

2. Minnesota: 813,976 registered boats in 2010, increasing 0.3 percent from 2009’s 811.775 and moving from 3rd place to 2nd in this annual list. Boating in Minnesota

3. Michigan: 812,066 registered boats in 2010. Michigan moved from fourth to third, staying relatively flat in 2010 compared to 2009’s 811,670. Boating in Michigan.

4. California: 810,008 registered boats in 2010. California dropped to fourth from second, decreasing a whopping 10.7 percent compared to 2009’s 906,988. Boating in California

5. Wisconsin: 615,335 registered boats in 2010. Wisconsin remained ranked fifth, decreasing 1.8 percent compared to 2009’s 626,304. Boating in Wisconsin

6. Texas: 596,830 registered boats in 2010, decreasing 4.1 percent compared to 2009’s 622,184. Boating in Texas

7. New York: 475,689 registered boats in 2010, decreasing 0.7 percent from 2009’s 479,161. Boating in New York

8. South Carolina: 435,491 registered boats in 2010, compared to 435,528 in 2009. Boating in SC

9. Ohio: 430,710 registered boats in 2010, increasing 1.4 percent compared to 2009’s 424,877. Boating in Ohio

10. North Carolina: 400,846 registered boats in 2010, decreasing 1.2 percent compared to 2009’s 405,663. Boating in NC

For more information about boating in each of the top ten boating states, visit FirstBoat's local boating pages. ###