The sun may be out in full force, but not everyone gets to enjoy Summer Fridays. Like much of the working class, our freezers are clocking overtime. After all, it is peak ice cream season, which means, when you aren't funding your local ice cream parlor, you're most likely taking a peek at the many pints you have packed away at home.
Ever wonder how your ice cream preferences stack up with the rest of your state? You might be a die-hard chocolate fan, while your neighbors are cookie dough loyalists. Or maybe, you're all about the mix-ins in a state that's strictly vanilla. Either way, the country is surprisingly divided by the scoop.
Using Google Trends data, Innerbody Research analyzed search patterns for ice cream across all 50 states and D.C. to identify the most popular flavors and brands in each state in 2026.
When it comes to the names printed on the pint, a few clear frontrunners dominate the freezer aisle. The top ice cream brand, health-conscious option Halo Top, suggests that this summer, Americans are trying to have their cake and eat it too.
Outside the low-calorie ice cream category, classic staples took the remaining top spots. Runners-up Cold Stone Creamery and Breyers managed to outpace premium offerings like Talenti and Häagen-Dazs across the map.
Forget the age-old chocolate vs. vanilla debate. Surprisingly, strawberry beats them both as the most popular ice cream flavor in the United States. The fruit-forward flavor not only topped the list in two of the largest states, California and Texas, but also in the Midwest and East Coast, from Michigan to Rhode Island.
When Americans didn't choose strawberry, they favored chocolate-centric scoops over other fruit flavors. Mix-ins proved to be the move in many states, with cookie dough taking the top spot in Massachusetts, chocolate chip leading the pack in Pennsylvania, and both beating plain chocolate and vanilla nationwide. Plain chocolate only managed to hold its ground in Illinois and Wisconsin, while vanilla found its safest haven out West in Wyoming and Utah.
As for America's ice cream capital, New Jersey, which searched for ice cream the most, the consensus is once again chocolate chip.
For several states, the specific flavor mattered less than the logo on the lid. Homegrown loyalty overrode flavor trends in places like Texas, where searchers stuck to Blue Bell, and Vermont, where residents rallied behind hometown heroes Ben & Jerry's. Oregonians kept their spoons in Tillamook, and Pennsylvanians consistently reached for Turkey Hill.
A few states rejected the mainstream menu to do their own thing. Unlikely trendsetters gravitated towards botanical and beverage profiles — Oregon leaned into lavender, Kansas went earthy with matcha, and Florida cooled down with boba. Other spots prefer to stick with what they know, like Maine predictably backing blueberry, Hawaii crowning coconut, and South Carolina picking peach.
Ironically, the most ice cream-obsessed Americans don't live in the "Dairy Belt." While major milk-producing states like Minnesota and Wisconsin landed near the bottom of the list, the Northeast, from Massachusetts to Delaware, took the top five spots, proving that cold weather doesn't do much to slow down an ice cream craving.
In the end, the country's ice cream trends are less about sticking to a single flavor and more about stacking scoops. From pumpkin sundaes in West Virginia to a bowl of chocolate chip in a chilly New Jersey January, the way we fill our bowls is anything but consistent.