Each State’s Favorite Romantic Movie

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, many couples have begun the chaotic search for arranging the perfect romantic plans.

Take your partner out of a fancy candle-lit sushi dinner? Go on a convenient mini-vacation to a rental cabin in the woods? Maybe even float across the horizon in a hot-air balloon while sipping on white wine?

There are many strategies for putting a smile on your significant other’s face this Valentine’s Day. However, one foolproof way to make the evening lovey-dovey is cozying up on the couch with some popcorn and a romantic movie.

If that sounds like your ideal Valentine’s Day, check out each state’s favorite romance flick below to find the perfect date night feature.

Most Interesting Findings

• The Southern belles of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee are the biggest fans of the classic movie Gone With The Wind 83 years after its release.

• The lively romantic musical West Side Story is fittingly the favorite flick of New Yorkers. Although New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Utah also can get down to some “I Feel Pretty.”

• Alaska is the state that’s most obsessed with the 1997 film Titanic – perhaps Alaskan couples are the best able to empathize with ice-based tragic love. That would also explain why the Midwest has a disproportionate rate of Titanic fans.

• North Carolina, Mississippi, and West Virginia searched for 2004 instant classic The Notebook at higher rates than any other states. Of course, North Carolinians are The Notebook’s biggest fans, seeing as the movie is set there.

• The sci-fi romance movie Her is most loved by South Dakota by far, but Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, and California are also on board for falling in love with robots.

• The classic romantic comedy, Annie Hall, is mostly a favorite in the South, but Arizona and Maryland are also big fans of the RomCom that set the standard for the genre.

• Before Sunrise is popular in every corner of the country, from Maine to Hawaii.

• Casablanca isn’t just considered one of the best pieces of cinema ever made – it’s also the movie that folks in Florida watch to get in the mood on Valentine’s Day.

• More modern films, like Call Me By Your Name and The Shape Of Water, tend to be more popular in the northeast and northwest corners of the country.

How We Figured This Out

To determine each state’s favorite romance movie this Valentine’s Day season, we first compiled a list of the top 10 most popular romance movies. We included a healthy dose of all-time classics and modern masterpieces, based on their domestic box office revenue and notoriety.

Our list of the top ten romance movies (in no particular) order includes:

1. Casablanca (1943)

2. The Shape of Water (2017)

3. Call Me By Your Name (2017)

4. West Side Story (2021)

5. Her (2014)

6. Annie Hall (1977)

7. Gone With The Wind (1939)

8. Before Sunrise (1995)

9. Titanic (1997)

10. The Notebook (2004)

With this list of popular romance movies in hand, we headed to Google Trends. Here, we determined which states had been searching for a particular sappy romance movie the most in 2022. The states with the most search interest in a specific movie were listed as the biggest fans of the film.

For example, Wyoming showed the most interest in the classic romance movie Casablanca, with a search score index of 100. Alternatively, folks in Mississippi were much less interested in the movie, with an unenthused search interest rating of 18 (or about a fifth as much interest per capita as Wyoming).

With these levels of relative interest in hand, we were able to figure out what romantic movie each state’s residents are searching for at disproportionately high rates in the lead-up to Valentine’s day.

Each State’s Favorite Romance Movie to Watch on Valentines Day

1. Casablanca (1943)

   Domestic Box Office: $10,462,500 (Worth $168,610,747.11 today with adjustments for inflation)

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Wyoming

   2. Delaware

   3. Wisconsin

   4. Missouri

   5. Florida

2. The Shape of Water (2017)

   Domestic Box Office: $63,859,435

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Oregon

   2. Connecticut

   3. Idaho

   4. Colorado

3. Call Me By Your Name (2017)

   Domestic Box Office: $18,065,180

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Montana

   2. Vermont

   3. Massachusetts

   4. Indiana

4. West Side Story (2021)

   Domestic Box Office: $32,819,804

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Utah

   2. New Jersey

   3. New York

   4. New Hampshire

   5. Pennsylvania

5. Her (2014)

   Domestic Box Office: $25,568,251

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. South Dakota

   2. Rhode Island

   3. California

   4. Nebraska

   5. Nevada

   6. New Mexico

6. Annie Hall (1977)

   Domestic Box Office: $38,251,425 ($175,983,065 adjusted for inflation)

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Arkansas

   2. Maryland

   3. Louisiana

   4. Arizona

   5. Kentucky

7. Gone with the Wind (1939)

   Domestic Box Office: $198,680,470 ($914,067,861.34 adjusted for inflation)

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Georgia

   2. South Carolina

   3. Alabama

   4. Tennessee

   5. Ohio

8. Before Sunrise (1995)

   Domestic Box Office: $5,274,005

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Washington

   2. Maine

   3. Virginia

   4. Illinois

   5. Hawaii

   6. Texas

   7. Minnesota

9. Titanic (1997)

   Domestic Box Office: $659,363,944

   Favorite romance film, in order, in:

   1. Alaska

   2. North Dakota

   3. Iowa

   4. Michigan

   5. Oklahoma

   6. Kansas

10. The Notebook (2004)

    Domestic Box Office: $81,001,787

    Favorite romance film, in order, in:

    1. North Carolina

    2. Mississippi

    3. West Virginia

References:

1. Rotten Tomatoes. “TOP 100 ROMANCE MOVIES”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

2. Google Trends. “Casablanca Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

3. Google Trends. “The Shape of Water 2017 Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

4. Google Trends. “Call Me By Your Name Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

5. Google Trends. “West Side Story 2021 Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

6. Google Trends. “Her Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

7. Google Trends. “Annie Hall 1997 Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

8. Google Trends. “Gone With The Wind Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

9. Google Trends. “Before Sunrise 1995 Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

10. Google Trends. “Titanic 1997 Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

11. Google Trends. “The Notebook 2004 Film”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

12. The Numbers. “Casablanca (1943)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

13. The Numbers. “The Shape of Water (2017)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

14. The Numbers. “Call Me By Your Name (2017)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

15. The Numbers. “West Side Story (2021)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

16. The Numbers. “Her (2014)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

17. The Numbers. “Annie Hall (1977)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

18. The Numbers. “Gone With The Wind (1939)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

19. The Numbers. “Before Sunrise (1995)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

20. The Numbers. “Titanic (1997)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

21. The Numbers. “The Notebook (2004)”. Accessed on January 15, 2022

Author

Sky Ariella

Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.