Arizona Has More Boats Per Capita Than Any State

Reality or Myth?

Ever since I moved to Arizona in 1979 I have heard the comment over and over again that Arizona boasts more boats on a per capita basis than any other state. Even though I heard it, and I read it, I have always wondered about it. How could Arizona have more boats per capita than, say, Michigan or Florida? Granted, we have many man-made lakes. I still don't believe it. So let's investigate. Does Arizona have more boats per capita than any other state?

Who Said So?

As of this writing (August 2006) the statement that Arizona has more boats on a per capita basis than any other state appears on the following web sites. I know, I know--the encyclopedia is never wrong, and the local newspaper is never wrong. Well, maybe not never....

Here are just 4 otherwise reputable sources of information that make the claim:

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Arizona Chamber of Commerce
• Mesa Community College
• AZCentral.com (Arizona Republic)

(Note: If you follow the link and the statement isn't there, that means it has been removed since this article was written.) Many sites, the most notable being realtor web sites, perpetuate the myth, but cite one of the above resources as the source of the information.

Who Keeps Track?

I have never seen any documentation associated with any of the claims about the number of boats in Arizona. I spoke to an individual at Arizona Game and Fish, who chuckled, and agreed that he'd heard that statistic many times, too. He told me that there was no way that Arizona can make a claim to have more boats, either on an absolute basis, or more boats, on a relative population basis. He advised me that the U.S. Coast Guard keeps track of boat registrations per state.

What is a Boat?

First let's discuss what a boat is. Since states register watercraft, states define which types of watercraft must be registered. This already creates a problem. In some states, only boats with motors must be registered. That's the minimum required by federal law. That includes anything that is propelled by a motor. In other states, rowboats, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks must be registered. Some states require registration of 12-foot sailboats, and some states don't. About 7 % of registered boats in the U.S. in 2004 were not motorized.

When Did Arizona Have More Boats?

Whenever I have heard the claim that Arizona has more boats per capita than any other state, it is never accompanied by a date or a year.

The Bottom Line

In my opinion, the statement that Arizona has more boats per capita than any other state is false. It's a myth. I don't believe it ever was true. The term per capita means per person (or literally, per head). That means that on a percentage basis, Arizona would have the highest percentage of boat registrations relative to population size. It simply isn't true. In 2004, Arizona ranked 30th among the states with respect to the number of boats registered in the state. As a percentage of it's population, it ranked 43rd out of 50, with only 2.56% of the population owning boats. If we were to find statistics for 20 years ago, I still don't believe it could be true. Even considering a statistical variation for different types of boats being registered in different states I don't believe it. (Actually, that would make our ranking even lower, since in Arizona just about all watercraft are registered.) If the people making the claim believe that unregistered boats make a difference, I still don't believe it--and where would they get that number anyway?

The Numbers Don't Lie

The following numbers were obtained from the U.S. Coast Guard. As far as I can determine, these are the only official statistics maintained on boat ownership in the U.S.