Using LINQ to return a list from comparing two lists, one of properties with default values

I have defined my StateRegions properties with default values e.g.:

 public string Vermont
        {
            get
            {
                return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_region) ? "NorthEast" : _region;
            }

            set { _region = value; }
        }

        public string NewHampshire
        {
            get
            {
                return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_region) ? "NorthEast" : _region;
            }

            set { _region = value; }
        }

        public string Massachusetts
        {
            get
            {
                return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_region) ? "NorthEast" : _region;
            }

            set { _region = value; }
        }

        public string RhodeIsland
        {
            get
            {
                return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_region) ? "NorthEast" : _region;
            }

            set { _region = value; }
        }

        public string NewYork
        {
            get
            {
                return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_region) ? "NorthEast" : _region;
            }

            set { _region = value; }
        }

        public string Pennsylvania
        {
            get
            {
                return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_region) ? "NorthEast" : _region;
            }

            set { _region = value; }
        }

Now I want to build a list of regions based on the states in the DB. This is the basic code/pseudocode:

       // 1) What states have customers?
        List<string> states = GetStatesHavingCustomers();

        // 2) What are the regions that correspond to US States?
        List<StateRegions> regions = new List<StateRegions>();


        // Lets get the get the states in the DB an开发者_如何学运维d 
        // put the corresponding regions in a list

Any ideas how to do this in LINQ?

I don't quite understand the stateRegion string properties, or their purpose. If you could substitute them for a dictionary, you'd have little trouble implementing this.

// assuming this returns a List<string> containing state names such as "Vermont"
var states = GetStatesHavingCustomers(); 

var stateRegions = new Dictionary<string, string>();
stateRegions["Vermont"] = "NorthEast";
stateRegions["Massacheusetts"] = "NorthEast";
//etc..

// Returns an IEnumerable<string>, with distinct entries
var dbRegions = (from entry in stateRegions where states.Contains( entry.Key ) select entry.Value).Distinct();