The Daddest States: Where Dad Jokes Abound

How do you measure a dad? By number of children? Is it in dad jokes cracked? Or maybe it’s just how white their New Balances are.

We spent a great deal of time deliberating on this highly serious question.

There are a lot of things that make dads, well, dads. It’s not only fathering a child, but it’s parenting a child- and the weird set of daddisms that seems to go with it.

In honor of Father’s Day, we set out to find the “daddest” states.

You can see our very serious, solemn methodology, along with how dad your state is below:

Our Most Interesting, Fatherly Findings

Iowa is the daddest state in the US, while Florida is the least.
In fact, the Midwest is a hotbed of dadness where New Balances shine bright white and asking for your steak well-done gets a firm “no” in response.
Meanwhile, the west coast is a pretty un-dad-like.
Where are the biggest grill daddies at? Montana.
North Carolinian dads spend the most on their kids, on average a whopping $17,666 per year.
Wyoming is home of the dad joke, while barely anyone is laughing in Rhode Island.

The Daddest States

The Least Dad States

Scroll to the bottom to see the most dad states, the least, and those waffling in the middle.

How We Figured This Out

We looked into four dad factors in each state:

Average amount spent yearly on child in each state
BBQ obsession
Interest in New Balance
Popularity of dad jokes

The first factor we took into account was the average amount of money spent yearly per child in each state, using data from Opploan. After all, a big part of dad-ing is taking care of your children financially. Or, as my dad grumbled, being a walking wallet.

From there, we set out to examine the social markers of fatherhood. Namely, BBQing, attire (New Balances), and dad jokes. For these categories, we added together relevant Google search trends to uncover which state is dadding the hardest.

Keep reading to see where your state landed when it comes to dadness.

“If you love dad jokes but don’t have kids, what does that make you?”

A Faux Pa.

But no shame in being a faux pa, let your New Balance’s be blindingly white and tell everyone about your favorite dry rub. Shoot, while you’re at it, go ahead and

The Daddest States, Ranked

Rank	State
1	Iowa
2	Nebraska
3	Missouri
4	Vermont
4	Kansas
6	North Carolina
7	Delaware
8	New Hampshire
9	Tennessee
10	South Carolina
11	North Dakota
12	Illinois
12	Kentucky
14	Arkansas
15	Oklahoma
16	Wyoming
16	Alabama
18	Texas
19	Pennsylvania
20	Alaska
21	Maryland
21	Georgia
21	Maine
24	Colorado
25	Michigan
26	Ohio
27	New York
28	Indiana
29	South Dakota
30	New Jersey
30	Wisconsin
30	Louisiana
33	Connecticut
33	Washington
35	Oregon
35	Virginia
37	Massachusetts
38	Arizona
38	Idaho
38	Montana
41	Minnesota
42	Nevada
42	New Mexico
44	California
44	Rhode Island
44	Utah
47	West Virginia
48	Mississippi
49	Hawaii
50	Florida

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Kathy Morris

Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.

Create Resume