Updated Feb. 1 The number of hate groups operating in Florida increased slightly from 2019 to 2020 and topped all but one other state, according to an annual count released Monday by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The nonprofit organization tracked 68 hate groups in Florida last year, it said, one more than in 2019. It tracked 72 in California, 54 in Texas and 37 in New York. Among the most populous states, Florida also had the highest per-capita number of hate groups (less-populated states including Montana, Nebraska and Arkansas led per-capita rankings on the whole). Floridaâs standing in this accounting increased even as the SPLC noted decreases elsewhere: The overall number of hate groups working in the U.S. dropped from 940 in 2019 to 838 in 2020, it said. It found fewer active hate groups in other large southern states â Texas, Georgia, North Carolina â compared to the previous year.