Well is seems that those Facebook demographic analysis that our own Brett Schenker has been delving into, can be used for just about anything. Estately has used FB demos to come up with The Nerdiest States In America – to do it they analyzed the percentage of users in 12 foundational categories:
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Cosplay
Harry Potter
Star Wars
Anime Movies
Dungeons & Dragons
LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing)
Doctor Who
Fantasy Lit
Lord of the Rings
Magic: The Gathering
Comic Books
As you can see from the above chart, Utah is overwhelmingly the nerdiest state—perhaps explaining the massive turnout for the Salt Lake City Comic Con—ranking #1 or #2 in eight different categories.
There are some interesting trends at a glance — for instance Vermont ranks #25 overall but #2 in Horry Potter and #5 in Lord of the Rings. Alaska and Wyoming, the most remote states, are #1 and #2 in Magic the Gathering, conjuring a Hopper-like painting of silent lonely tundras punctuated only by the slap of cards on a table.
If you’re wondering about comics, the top five states are
New Mexico
Kentucky
Arizona
Utah
Colorado
The least nerdy area? Washington DC followed by Mississippi.
[Photo: cosplayers Renna Mira, Shelby Shoaf, Susan Stoffer Sorensen and Eric Sorensen at Salt Lake Comic Con]
Via Robot 6
I looked at it for comics a while ago using Facebook data and my info matches up similar to this, though it was a while ago, http://graphicpolicy.com/2013/08/19/facebook-fandom-spotlight-comic-fans-by-state-8192013/
“Alaska and Wyoming, the most remote states, are #1 and #2 in Magic the Gathering”
Perfect for a place where outside weather can be pretty nasty for several months of the year. I’m surprised that wargaming isn’t on this list.
Also shocked DC is that low on the list, though I wonder what it counts as DC. The city itself has 2 or 3 comic shops, at least 1 game shop, include the subsurbs and the number exponentially increases. Not only does it have Awesome Con, but there’s MagFest, Katsucon, Animefest, the NOVA Open, and SPX, plus a bunch I know I’m forgetting. Then the city is also getting Otakon in a few years too. Possibly due to the nature of business, folks in DC leave off their nerdy leanings?
I don’t know whether to take it as pride that Kentucky ranks so high overall and #2 in Comics or a snub that we’re not #1! ;-)
(Save your jokes about my beloved home state’s reading/intelligence levels please)
Regardless this shows that Kentucky had LONG been underserved by the convention industry. Luckily, this has changed in the last few years with multiple medium sized shows in Louisville, another in Lexington and some good shows just across the river from Northern Kentucky in Cincinnati as well as the Superman convention just across the river from Paducah, KY in Metropolis, IL.
Comments are closed.