Most valuable state brands include United Airlines in Idaho

Each of these highly valued brands got their start in one of the 50 states.

And now they represent the most valuable brand founded in each state, according to a new study from OnDeck, an online small-business lender. The financer made the determination using data from Brand Finance‘s Top 500 Brands ranking.

Brand value represents the hypothetical worth of a company’s brand power, meaning how much a company might be willing to pay for its “brand” if it didn’t already own it.

Most Idahoans may be surprised to learn that United Airlines flies above all others in the Gem State. The airline traces its roots back to Varney Air Lines, which got its wings in Boise in 1926.

Varney operated its first privately contracted airmail flight in U.S. history on April 6, 1926, a date officially recognized as the birth date of what is now the Boise Airport, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Five years later, 1931, Varney was consolidated with multiple other carriers to form what is today known as United Airlines.

Along with United Airlines, two other transportation brands also made the list, including Union Pacific in Nebraska, and fellow flight competitor Delta Air Lines in Louisiana.

The study found the retail industry to be the most common with seven states represented in the category. Most prominently making the cut were Walmart, founded in Arkansas, The Home Depot (Georgia), Nike, which got its start in Eugene, Oregon, in 1964, and Publix, the longtime supermarket chain and largest employee-owned company nationwide, which began operating in Florida in 1930.

In terms of overall value, Apple, in Cupertino, California, claimed the top spot for the most valuable U.S. brand with an estimated value of $522 billion, outpacing Microsoft (New Mexico) by nearly $100 billion.

Google, also a California-based operation, registered a brand value of $365 billion, slightly ahead of Amazon, in Washington, at $338 billion.

Visit  https://www.ondeck.com/resources/most-valuable-brands to view the full study.