The holiday season is upon us, and one of the best ways to get in the spirit of the season is to curl up and read a classic Christmas story.
We all have our personal favorites, whether it’s Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the 80’s favorite The Polar Express, the all-time classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or something else.
There are dozens of Christmas stories that many of us cherish, but did you know your favorite holiday book might actually be influenced by where you live?
With the help of the data analysis firm Mindnet Analytics, we decided to do a deep dive into the data to see if we could determine what the most popular Christmas book is in each state across the country.
Noteworthy Findings
- A few books were tied for first place, each topping the rankings in 4 states: A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Gift of the Magi, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, The Polar Express, The Snowman, and Twas the Night Before Christmas.
- Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol;Â The Chimes;Â The Cricket on the Hearth) and Hans Christian Andersen (The Little Match Girl; The Steadfast Tin Soldier)Â both have multiple Christmas books that earned spots on our list.
- The New England area loves A Christmas Carol as it was the most popular book in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
The Christmas Book Each State Loves the Most
Here are the findings of our analysis in list form:
| Book | State |
| A Christmas Memory | Alabama |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Alaska |
| The Little Match Girl | Arizona |
| The Polar Express | Arkansas |
| The Little Match Girl | California |
| The Nutcracker and the Mouse King | Colorado |
| The Snowman | Connecticut |
| The Snowman | Delaware |
| The Greatest Gift | District Of Columbia |
| The Greatest Gift | Florida |
| The Gift of the Magi | Georgia |
| The Greatest Gift | Hawaii |
| Twas The Night Before Christmas | Idaho |
| The Steadfast Tin Soldier | Illinois |
| Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer | Indiana |
| Twas The Night Before Christmas | Iowa |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Kansas |
| The Best Christmas Pageant Ever | Kentucky |
| The Chimes | Louisiana |
| A Christmas Carol | Maine |
| The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | Maryland |
| A Christmas Carol | Massachusetts |
| Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer | Michigan |
| Twas The Night Before Christmas | Minnesota |
| Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer | Mississippi |
| The Elves and the Shoemaker | Missouri |
| The Polar Express | Montana |
| Twas The Night Before Christmas | Nebraska |
| The Little Match Girl | Nevada |
| A Christmas Carol | New Hampshire |
| The Nutcracker and the Mouse King | New Jersey |
| The Polar Express | New Mexico |
| The Cricket on the Hearth | New York |
| The Gift of the Magi | North Carolina |
| Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer | North Dakota |
| The Nutcracker and the Mouse King | Ohio |
| The Elves and the Shoemaker | Oklahoma |
| The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | Oregon |
| The Nutcracker and the Mouse King | Pennsylvania |
| A Christmas Carol | Rhode Island |
| The Gift of the Magi | South Carolina |
| The Gift of the Magi | South Dakota |
| The Polar Express | Tennessee |
| The Elves and the Shoemaker | Texas |
| The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey | Utah |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Vermont |
| The Snowman | Virginia |
| The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | Washington |
| The Best Christmas Pageant Ever | West Virginia |
| The Snowman | Wisconsin |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Wyoming |