BOSTON – Residents of the U.S. capital and southern boys rose to the challenge during a recent compilation of penis size data undertaken by gay social-networking site Manhunt.net. Turns out the biggest pricks really are in Washington, DC, followed closely by New York, California, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Minnesota and West Virginia.With five of the top-ten-ranked states in the South, maybe the Confederates knew of what they spoke when they asserted “the South will rise again.”

Texas, where one might expect to find oversized equipment to go with larger-than-life everything else, tied with Ohio and Missouri for 12th place. With an average length of 7.3 inches, men in the “Show-Me State” still have plenty to display. Alaska men—dead last with an average length of 6.34 inches—have more than former governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin about which to worry. Like the gun-crazy ex-gov, they may be packing heat, but evidently not meat.

The state-by-state comparison was an inevitable result of Manhunt’s recent addition of self-reported penis sizes to the site’s user profiles.

“…[W]e couldn’t resist getting a feel for the our members’ packages,” spokesman Andy reported on the Manhunt blog.

Andy, presumably a resident of Manhunt’s 15th ranked home state of Massachusetts, took up for the Alaskans…after a fashion.

“…[K]eep in mind that at least a half inch can be chalked up to internet exaggeration,” he wrote on the blog. “So, the picture in Alaska may be picturesque, but it certainly isn’t big. Also we have to remember the shrinkage factor because of the cold. And besides, good things often come in small packages, or on them.”

According to Jonathan Crutchley, chairman of Manhunt parent company Online Buddies Inc., exaggeration may indeed be at work in the self-reporting—and that in itself points out another potential inference from the statistics.

“Manhunt didn’t verify the claims made by our members in their profiles,” Crutchley said. “The survey does tell us that Washington, DC, men have the biggest egos, and New Yorkers are a close second.”

How the states stacked up:

District of Columbia, 7.59
New York, 7.50
California, 7.45
Florida, 7.44
Kentucky, 7.42
Georgia, 7.41
North Carolina, 7.39
Pennsylvania, 7.39
Rhode Island, 7.38
Minnesota, 7.34
West Virginia, 7.32
Illinois, 7.31
Arizona, 7.31
South Dakota, 7.31
Texas, 7.30
Ohio, 7.30
Missouri, 7.30
Nevada, 7.29
Kansas, 7.29
Mississippi, 7.28
Oregon, 7.27
Tennessee, 7.27
Massachusetts, 7.27
Maryland, 7.27
Hawaii, 7.24
South Carolina, 7.24
Colorado, 7.23
Louisiana, 7.22
North Dakota, 7.22
Michigan, 7.20
Connecticut, 7.20
Wisconsin, 7.19
Idaho, 7.19
Vermont, 7.16
Nebraska, 7.15
Washington, 7.15
Utah, 7.14
Virginia, 7.12
Montana, 7.10
New Jersey, 7.10
New Hampshire, 7.08
Indiana, 7.08
New Mexico, 7.06
Alabama, 7.05
Maine, 6.98
Iowa, 6.96
Oklahoma, 6.96
Arkansas, 6.96
Delaware, 6.94
Wyoming, 6.92
Alaska, 6.34