Bethesda-based Honest Tea Inc. just concluded its month-long social experiment to see how honest people are, and D.C. residents passed the test with flying colors.
Like last year, the bottled tea maker set up unmanned racks of cold tea in D.C. (and 59 other locations in all 50 states) with a $1 price tag paid on the honor system. Honest Tea says 96 percent of D.C. residents who took a bottle paid for it, up from 80 percent in D.C. when it did the same thing last year.
That makes D.C. residents the most improved city for honesty.
Overall, 95 percent of Americans were honest, up from 92 percent in 2013.
Honolulu participants were 100 percent honest for two years in a row. Minneapolis and Providence, Rhode Island, tied for the biggest dip in honesty from a year ago, each falling 12 percentage points to 81 percent and 80 percent respectively.
By state, Hawaii, Alabama, Alaska and Tennessee were the most honest, at 98 percent each.
Rhode Island was the least honest state, with just 83 percent of observed participants paying for the tea.
Honest Tea also says women were slightly more honest than men, at 95 percent versus 93 percent.
