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Soda, Pop or Coke? The Map of How America Orders a Fizzy Drink

The most famous dialect divide in America, and a genuine three-way split rather than the usual coast-versus-middle. Soda leads in 23 states, pop in 17 and coke in 11 — and in the South, coke means any fizzy drink, so a waiter will ask which kind you want.

Alaska: soda 41.3%, pop 32.6%, coke 10.9%AKMaine: soda 86%, pop 5%, coke 1%MEVermont: soda 93.4%, pop 1.3%, coke 1.3%VTNew Hampshire: soda 73%, coke 2.7%, pop 1.8%NHWashington: pop 65.2%, soda 22.9%, coke 3.2%WAIdaho: pop 59.9%, soda 31.1%, coke 3%IDMontana: pop 76.5%, soda 16.6%, coke 1.1%MTNorth Dakota: pop 77.2%, soda 15.8%, coke 1.8%NDMinnesota: pop 80%, soda 14.6%, coke 2%MNIllinois: pop 51.2%, soda 34.5%, coke 6.4%ILWisconsin: soda 54.6%, pop 37.5%, coke 0.9%WIMichigan: pop 81.4%, soda 13.8%, coke 0.9%MINew York: soda 81.6%, pop 11.9%, coke 1.3%NYRhode Island: soda 93.8%, coke 2.1%, pop 1%RIMassachusetts: soda 75.6%, coke 2.8%, pop 1.7%MAOregon: pop 46.6%, soda 39%, coke 4.4%ORNevada: soda 63.1%, coke 15.4%, pop 7.7%NVWyoming: pop 68.1%, soda 23.2%, coke 2.9%WYSouth Dakota: pop 84.5%, soda 10.1%, coke 1.9%SDIowa: pop 79.9%, soda 14.3%, coke 1%IAIndiana: pop 40.3%, coke 26.8%, soda 19.1%INOhio: pop 70%, soda 18.8%, coke 4.1%OHPennsylvania: soda 73.5%, pop 20.3%, coke 1.6%PANew Jersey: soda 95.8%, coke 1.6%, pop 0.5%NJConnecticut: soda 95.3%, pop 1.6%, coke 1.6%CTCalifornia: soda 68.7%, coke 11.3%, pop 5.8%CAUtah: soda 45%, pop 33.8%, coke 7.5%UTColorado: pop 49%, soda 35.5%, coke 5%CONebraska: pop 75.5%, soda 16.2%, coke 2.4%NEMissouri: soda 45%, pop 36.5%, coke 11.5%MOKentucky: coke 43.8%, pop 16.2%, soda 15.8%KYWest Virginia: pop 49.2%, soda 29.2%, coke 11.7%WVVirginia: soda 60.9%, coke 19.5%, pop 4.9%VAMaryland: soda 81.9%, coke 8.9%, pop 2.4%MDDelaware: soda 95.5%, coke 2.3%, pop 0%DEArizona: soda 63.7%, pop 14%, coke 12.9%AZNew Mexico: coke 43.8%, soda 35.7%, pop 7.1%NMKansas: pop 55.8%, soda 22.9%, coke 13.5%KSArkansas: coke 54.9%, soda 25.6%, pop 6%ARTennessee: coke 62.3%, soda 12%, pop 3.4%TNNorth Carolina: soda 38.1%, coke 25.5%, pop 3.9%NCSouth Carolina: coke 44.1%, soda 35.3%, pop 1.5%SCWashington, D.C.: soda 68.3%, pop 6.1%, coke 4.9%DCOklahoma: coke 33.3%, pop 32.9%, soda 22.7%OKLouisiana: coke 59.2%, soda 12.7%, pop 3.5%LAMississippi: coke 73.7%, soda 7.9%, pop 6.1%MSAlabama: coke 61.8%, soda 18%, pop 1.8%ALGeorgia: coke 60.6%, soda 19.8%, pop 2%GAHawaii: soda 94.6%, pop 0%, coke 0%HITexas: coke 58.6%, soda 25.4%, pop 2.4%TXFlorida: soda 55.1%, coke 27.9%, pop 3.8%FL
Each square is one state, placed roughly where it sits on the map and coloured by the answer that leads there. Survey question: “What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?”

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State by state

Share of respondents in each state giving each answer. Percentages do not sum to 100: the survey offered answers this map does not name, and they are left out rather than folded into one of the three.

Soda, Pop or Coke? The Map of How America Orders a Fizzy Drink — Harvard Dialect Survey.
Statesodapopcoke
Alabama18%1.8%61.8% ◀
Alaska41.3% ◀32.6%10.9%
Arizona63.7% ◀14%12.9%
Arkansas25.6%6%54.9% ◀
California68.7% ◀5.8%11.3%
Colorado35.5%49% ◀5%
Connecticut95.3% ◀1.6%1.6%
Delaware95.5% ◀0%2.3%
Florida55.1% ◀3.8%27.9%
Georgia19.8%2%60.6% ◀
Hawaii94.6% ◀0%0%
Idaho31.1%59.9% ◀3%
Illinois34.5%51.2% ◀6.4%
Indiana19.1%40.3% ◀26.8%
Iowa14.3%79.9% ◀1%
Kansas22.9%55.8% ◀13.5%
Kentucky15.8%16.2%43.8% ◀
Louisiana12.7%3.5%59.2% ◀
Maine86% ◀5%1%
Maryland81.9% ◀2.4%8.9%
Massachusetts75.6% ◀1.7%2.8%
Michigan13.8%81.4% ◀0.9%
Minnesota14.6%80% ◀2%
Mississippi7.9%6.1%73.7% ◀
Missouri45% ◀36.5%11.5%
Montana16.6%76.5% ◀1.1%
Nebraska16.2%75.5% ◀2.4%
Nevada63.1% ◀7.7%15.4%
New Hampshire73% ◀1.8%2.7%
New Jersey95.8% ◀0.5%1.6%
New Mexico35.7%7.1%43.8% ◀
New York81.6% ◀11.9%1.3%
North Carolina38.1% ◀3.9%25.5%
North Dakota15.8%77.2% ◀1.8%
Ohio18.8%70% ◀4.1%
Oklahoma22.7%32.9%33.3% ◀
Oregon39%46.6% ◀4.4%
Pennsylvania73.5% ◀20.3%1.6%
Rhode Island93.8% ◀1%2.1%
South Carolina35.3%1.5%44.1% ◀
South Dakota10.1%84.5% ◀1.9%
Tennessee12%3.4%62.3% ◀
Texas25.4%2.4%58.6% ◀
Utah45% ◀33.8%7.5%
Vermont93.4% ◀1.3%1.3%
Virginia60.9% ◀4.9%19.5%
Washington22.9%65.2% ◀3.2%
Washington, D.C.68.3% ◀6.1%4.9%
West Virginia29.2%49.2% ◀11.7%
Wisconsin54.6% ◀37.5%0.9%
Wyoming23.2%68.1% ◀2.9%

The same question, worldwide

This map is the United States only. DialectGuessr asks the same question of everyone who takes the quiz, which is how the answer looks outside America too.

Soda, Pop or Coke? What English Speakers Call a Fizzy Drink →

Where this data comes from

The map above is drawn from the Harvard Dialect Survey, collected by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2002–2003. It asked 122 questions and recorded, for each one, the share of respondents in every US state who gave each answer. It is a large self-selected sample rather than a census, and it is now two decades old — treat it as a well-supported picture of how people spoke then, not a measurement of today.

Data used under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence: attribution and share-alike, non-commercial. DialectGuessr’s own survey data is separate and is described on the about page.

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