What’s the Most Popular Star Wars Episode in Your State?
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May the Fourth be with you! It’s been a big month for Star Wars fans. The trailer for The Last Jedi released April 14th and has already been seen 31 million times, the Star Wars Celebration delighted fans in mid-April, and now Reviews.org has compiled a list determining which Star Wars movie is most popular in each U.S. state. The results … well, the results were interesting.
METHODOLOGY
We plugged each of the eight full-length Star Wars movies into Google Trends and collected data from 2004 to the present to see which movie is most-searched in each state. This allowed us to look at search volume for each film on Google’s scale. Note the last three Star Wars movies came out after our time frame began, so they’ve had less time to grow popular and may be at a disadvantage in the rankings
HOT TAKES
- The originals have aged well. A New Hope won 19 states nationwide, with Return of the Jedi coming in at second with 11 states.
- Utah topped the rankings for an incredible five of the eight Star Wars movies. Could this be because Utah looks like a different planet? Or is this just a symptom of Utah being the nerdiest state in the Union?
- Speaking of Utah, it was the only state where The Empire Strikes Back was a top search priority. Utahns may be nerdy, but at least they’re classy about it.
- Virginia is not for Star Wars lovers. The state ranked dead last for five of the eight movies. The Force is not strong with them.
- Those awful prequels actually won several states. What’s wrong with you, Arizona, Maine, and Virginia? The Phantom Menace wins out in those states, leaving most Star Wars fans shaking their heads in bewilderment. We’re not sure if Idaho is better or worse for preferring Attack of the Clones.
- Among the prequels, Revenge of the Sith won the most states. This correlates strongly with the amount of screen time for Jar Jar Binks.
- Is there a link between Star Wars film preference and population density or voting patterns? Probably not, but it’s notable that Return of the Jedi ranks first in several blue-state strongholds like California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and Vermont.
Where do you fall on our table below? Are you within the norm for your state, or is your love of a particular Star Wars movie as forbidden as Anakin and Padmé’s?
| STATES | Most Popular | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
| Alabama | A New Hope | The Phantom Menace | Revenge of the Sith |
| Alaska | Return of the Jedi | The Phantom Menace | Revenge of the Sith |
| Arizona | The Phantom Menace | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi |
| Arkansas | A New Hope | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi |
| California | Return of the Jedi | Attack of the Clones | Revenge of the Sith |
| Colorado | Return of the Jedi | A New Hope | Attack of the Clones |
| Connecticut | A New Hope | The Phantom Menace | Attack of the Clones |
| Delaware | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi | The Force Awakens |
| Florida | The Force Awakens | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi |
| Georgia | A New Hope | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi |
| Hawaii | A New Hope | Revenge of the Sith | The Force Awakens |
| Idaho | Attack of the Clones | The Phantom Menace | The Force Awakens |
| Illinois | Return of the Jedi | Revenge of the Sith | A New Hope |
| Indiana | A New Hope | Revenge of the Sith | Return of the Jedi |
| Iowa | The Force Awakens | A New Hope | Revenge of the Sith |
| Kansas | Revenge of the Sith | The Phantom Menace | Return of the Jedi |
| Kentucky | Return of the Jedi | A New Hope | The Phantom Menace |
| Louisiana | Revenge of the Sith | Return of the Jedi | A New Hope |
| Maine | The Phantom Menace | Attack of the Clones | A New Hope |
| Maryland | Return of the Jedi | Revenge of the Sith | A New Hope |
| Massachusetts | A New Hope | Attack of the Clones | Return of the Jedi |
| Michigan | The Force Awakens | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi |
| Minnesota | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi | The Phantom Menace |
| Mississippi | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi | The Empire Strikes Back |
| Missouri | Return of the Jedi | Revenge of the Sith | A New Hope |
| Montana | Rogue One | The Force Awakens | Attack of the Clones |
| Nebraska | Revenge of the Sith | The Phantom Menace | Attack of the Clones |
| Nevada | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi | Attack of the Clones |
| New Hampshire | Revenge of the Sith | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi |
| New Jersey | A New Hope | The Phantom Menace | Revenge of the Sith |
| New Mexico | The Force Awakens | The Phantom Menace | Return of the Jedi |
| New York | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi | Revenge of the Sith |
| North Carolina | A New Hope | The Empire Strikes Back | Return of the Jedi |
| North Dakota | The Force Awakens | A New Hope | Rogue One |
| Ohio | Revenge of the Sith | Return of the Jedi | Attack of the Clones |
| Oklahoma | A New Hope | Attack of the Clones | The Force Awakens |
| Oregon | Return of the Jedi | A New Hope | The Force Awakens |
| Pennsylvania | A New Hope | Revenge of the Sith | Return of the Jedi |
| Rhode Island | A New Hope | Revenge of the Sith | Attack of the Clones |
| South Carolina | A New Hope | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi |
| South Dakota | Revenge of the Sith | Return of the Jedi | The Force Awakens |
| Tennessee | A New Hope | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi |
| Texas | The Force Awakens | A New Hope | Return of the Jedi |
| Utah | The Empire Strikes Back | The Force Awakens | Return of the Jedi |
| Vermont | Return of the Jedi | A New Hope | The Empire Strikes Back |
| Virginia | The Phantom Menace | A New Hope | Revenge of the Sith |
| Washington | Return of the Jedi | Revenge of the Sith | A New Hope |
| West Virginia | The Force Awakens | A New Hope | The Phantom Menace |
| Wisconsin | Return of the Jedi | Revenge of the Sith | The Phantom Menace |
| Wyoming | Rogue One | Return of the Jedi | The Force Awakens |