With Star Wars Day (May 4th) on the horizon, our exclusive study at CasinoApps reveals which U.S. states are home to the biggest fans of the iconic film series. We’ll also explore each state’s favourite character and their most-loved film from Episodes I to IX.
Star Wars remains hugely popular in the United States due to its rich storytelling, iconic characters, and deep cultural impact that spans generations of fans. Read on to see who each state favours and much more.
Data highlights:
- Missouri leads as the state most enthralled by Star Wars, trailed closely by Minnesota, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, and Oregon.
- Yoda emerges as the nation’s top character, claiming the favourite spot in 19 states, far surpassing Darth Vader, who leads in 12 states.
- While 36 states show a preference for Light Side characters, only 14 support the Dark Side, where Darth Vader reigns as the leading antagonist.
- “A New Hope” stands as the most cherished film, topping the list in 22 states.
| State | Fav Character | Fav Film | Avg IOT |
| Alabama | Yoda | A New Hope | 29 |
| Alaska | Yoda | The Phantom Menace | 43 |
| Arizona | Yoda | A New Hope | 37 |
| Arkansas | Darth Vader | A New Hope | 30 |
| California | Obi Wan Kenobi | The Force Awakens | 36 |
| Colorado | Han Solo | A New Hope | 49 |
| Connecticut | Darth Vader | A New Hope | 37 |
| Delaware | Princess Leia | The Phantom Menace | 35 |
| Florida | Han Solo | A New Hope | 45 |
| Georgia | Han Solo | A New Hope | 35 |
| Hawaii | Darth Vader | A New Hope | 34 |
| Idaho | Darth Vader | Revenge Of The Sith | 50 |
| Illinois | Luke Skywalker | A New Hope | 33 |
| Indiana | Darth Vader | A New Hope | 38 |
| Iowa | Darth Vader | A New Hope | 37 |
| Kansas | Yoda | Revenge Of The Sith | 50 |
| Kentucky | Yoda | A New Hope | 47 |
| Louisiana | Yoda | A New Hope | 34 |
| Maine | Yoda | The Phantom Menace | 50 |
| Maryland | Luke Skywalker | A New Hope | 38 |
| Massachusetts | Yoda | A New Hope | 44 |
| Michigan | Yoda | A New Hope | 48 |
| Minnesota | Yoda | A New Hope | 51 |
| Mississippi | Yoda | A New Hope | 37 |
| Missouri | Yoda | A New Hope | 52 |
| Montana | Darth Vader | Revenge Of The Sith | 46 |
| Nebraska | Darth Vader | Revenge Of The Sith | 43 |
| Nevada | Darth Vader | Revenge Of The Sith | 45 |
| New Hampshire | Yoda | The Phantom Menace | 45 |
| New Jersey | Luke Skywalker | A New Hope | 32 |
| New Mexico | Luke Skywalker | Revenge Of The Sith | 45 |
| New York | Han Solo | The Force Awakens | 32 |
| North Carolina | Han Solo | The Force Awakens | 37 |
| North Dakota | Luke Skywalker | The Force Awakens | 46 |
| Ohio | Han Solo | The Empire Strikes Back | 41 |
| Oklahoma | Yoda | The Force Awakens | 45 |
| Oregon | Yoda | Empire Strikes Back | 50 |
| Pennsylvania | Luke Skywalker | Return Of The Jedi | 39 |
| Rhode Island | Darth Vader | Revenge Of The Sith | 42 |
| South Carolina | Yoda | Return Of The Jedi | 36 |
| South Dakota | Luke Skywalker | The Empire Strikes Back | 30 |
| Tennessee | Yoda | A New Hope | 28 |
| Texas | Yoda | The Rise Of Skywalker | 27 |
| Utah | Yoda | A New Hope | 45 |
| Vermont | Luke Skywalker | The Last Jedi | 31 |
| Virginia | Princess Leia | Return Of The Jedi | 35 |
| Washington | Emperor Palpatine | Return Of The Jedi | 44 |
| West Virginia | Darth Vader | Revenge Of The Sith | 40 |
| Wisconsin | Darth Vader | Return Of The Jedi | 40 |
| Wyoming | Count Dooku | Revenge Of The Sith | 44 |
Every U.S. State’s Most Popular Star Wars Character
Our data reveals some fascinating trends in how Star Wars fandom varies across the U.S. From beloved characters to film preferences and allegiances to the Light or Dark Side, each state brings its own unique force to the galaxy.
That said, legendary Jedi Master YODA emerged as the most popular character in 19 U.S. states. Fans are drawn to his wisdom and the pivotal role he plays throughout the film series. He was a clear winner, seven states clear of 2nd place Darth Vader.
- Yoda: 19 states
- Darth Vader: 12 states
- Luke Skywalker: 8 states
- Han Solo: 6 states
- Princess Leia: 2 states
- Obi Wan Kenobi: 1 state
- Count Dooku: 1 state
- Emperor Palpatine: 1 state
It’s also interesting noting that 36 states sided with characters from the Light Side compared to 14 on the Dark Side. See more on that data below.
We also discovered that A New Hope was the favourite Star Wars film in 22 states, while only nine states chose Revenge of the Sith as their top pick.
14 States Opt for the Dark Side Over The Light
Of all 50 states, only 14 picked a Dark Side character as their favourite. This suggests that while a villain like Darth Vader has a strong following, most Americans still side with the heroes of the galaxy.
- Arkansas (Darth Vader)
- Connecticut (Darth Vader)
- Hawaii (Darth Vader)
- Idaho (Darth Vader)
- Indiana (Darth Vader)
- Iowa (Darth Vader)
- Montana (Darth Vader)
- Nebraska (Darth Vader)
- Nevada (Darth Vader)
- Rhode Island (Darth Vader)
- Washington (Emperor Palpatine)
- West Virginia (Darth Vader)
- Wisconsin (Darth Vader)
- Wyoming (Count Dooku)
You can see the methodology on our findings below after revealing Darth Vader was the most popular Dark Side character by quite some way…
Methodology
To determine each U.S. state’s level of interest in various Star Wars topics, we used Google Trends to analyse search activity from April 2024 to April 2025.
We conducted over 1,000 individual Google Trends searches to identify:
- The most Star Wars-obsessed U.S. state
- The most searched-for character (both hero and villain) in each state
- The most popular film from the Skywalker Saga (Episodes I-IX) in each state
For favourite characters, we compiled a list of popular figures from the series and split them into heroes or villains based on Star Wars canon. We then compared their search trends across all 50 states.
Film preferences were determined solely from the Skywalker Saga (Episodes I-IX), with search trends analysed on a state-by-state basis.
Each search result provided an “Interest Over Time” (IOT) indicator, ranking from 0-100, allowing for consistent comparison across topics and locations.
All data is based on search activity compiled from April 2024 to April 2025.
Commentary
Liam Solomon, spokesperson of CasinoApps had his say on the data: “The recent re-release of Revenge Of The Sith has been a huge success and with May 4th (Star Wars Day) just around the corner, we felt it would be the perfect time to conduct such study. On the date itself, Yoda being the most popular character didn’t come as much of a surprise given his significance to the series and the majority of states leaning with the Light Side also made a lot of sense.”
