(WFRV) – When driving across a bridge overlooking most bodies of water in Wisconsin, motorists can expect to see a good amount of traffic on the waterways either fishing or cruising.
According to a report from Staten Island Yachts, Wisconsin has the third most recreational boats and yachts per capita. Wisconsin comes in behind Minnesota and South Carolina with 105.335 boats and yachts per 1,000 people.
Minnesota leads the nation with a whopping 143.587 per 1,000 people. Wisconsin, South Carolina and Minnesota are the only three states that have over 100+ boats and yachts per 1,000 people.
The full ranking is below:
Rank | State | Boats & Yachts per 1,000 people |
1 | Minnesota | 143.587 |
2 | South Carolina | 108.671 |
3 | Wisconsin | 105.335 |
4 | Maine | 79.803 |
5 | Michigan | 77.996 |
6 | North Dakota | 74.196 |
7 | New Hampshire | 73.546 |
8 | South Dakota | 68.297 |
9 | Louisiana | 68.211 |
10 | Iowa | 65.815 |
11 | Alaska | 65.464 |
12 | Arkansas | 61.556 |
13 | Delaware | 53.246 |
14 | Oklahoma | 50.293 |
15 | Ohio | 50.292 |
16 | Alabama | 49.412 |
17 | Idaho | 49.095 |
18 | Montana | 47.229 |
19 | Missouri | 46.763 |
20 | Wyoming | 45.11 |
21 | Florida | 44.563 |
22 | Mississippi | 43.25 |
23 | Vermont | 41.427 |
24 | Nebraska | 40.293 |
25 | Oregon | 38.90 |
26 | Tennessee | 35.624 |
27 | North Carolina | 35.517 |
28 | Rhode Island | 34.998 |
29 | Kentucky | 34.799 |
30 | Washington | 33.001 |
31 | Georiga | 30.832 |
32 | Indiana | 29.783 |
33 | Kansas | 28.751 |
34 | Maryland | 27.505 |
35 | Virginia | 26.67 |
36 | Connecticut | 24.076 |
37 | Pennsylvania | 23.184 |
38 | New York | 21.457 |
39 | Utah | 21.385 |
40 | Texas | 19.802 |
41 | Massachusetts | 18.639 |
42 | Arizona | 18.077 |
43 | West Virginia | 17.293 |
44 | Illinois | 16.886 |
45 | Colorado | 16.347 |
46 | California | 16.337 |
47 | New Mexico | 14.601 |
48 | New Jersey | 14.368 |
49 | Nevada | 13.408 |
50 | Hawaii | 8.49 |
For most Wisconsinites, they can only use their boats at most eight to nine months a year, as the water freezes over in the winter months. However, in some unique cases, a body of water in Wisconsin can have both ice fishing and water skiing at the same time.
Wisconsin also has the fifth most boat registrations in the country, placing behind Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and California.