The Top 9 States Most Obsessed With Turkey in the US

Thanksgiving is here once again and that means it’s the time of year for us to honor the best holiday dish: turkey. Turkeys are native to North America so there’s a long history attached to this humble bird.

We’ve been eating turkey for a long time in this country, starting with the Native Americans. Benjamin Franklin may even have wanted it to be the national bird instead of the bald eagle. He compared them, saying: “The turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America”.

Online searches for "Turkey" reach their peak in November every year.

Trends for the keyword “turkey” in the United States, from 2012 to the present from Google Trends Search

One of the hottest searches this year is how to cook a turkey in an air fryer. We’re all searching for what to do with those turkey leftovers too.

Top 9 States Obsessed With Turkey

Google Trends data shows that searches for “turkey” vary by region. The most turkey-manic state is Vermont. The other spots in the top five states go to New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Top 9 Cities Obsessed With Turkey

When it comes to cities, Knoxville, Tennesse is the most turkey-crazy. Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Wilkes Barre-Scranton in Pennsylvania round out the top three.

We have a writer named Sarah Josepha Hale to thank for the modern holiday. Thanks to her obsession (maybe she was a big turkey fan?) she advocated for 30 years for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday. In the 19th century, small localized Thanksgiving celebrations started becoming more popular. 

The official holiday was proclaimed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. The stories of the Pilgrims and their feast became attached to the celebrations and Thanksgiving became a unique American observance. People called the day “Turkey Day”.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at SlotSource!

Turkey Methodology

We looked at Google Trends for past 30 days in early November, analyzing the search term “turkey” and “thanksgiving turkey” and their popularity in different areas of the country and metro areas.

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