With Christmas approaching, Newsweek has mapped which festive movies are most popular in each state.
According to data gathered by Today’s Homeowner, an outlet offering home-improvement advice, 11 movies account for the favorites across all 50 states, with one movie alone being the top choice for almost half of the country. The films were selected in a 2019 poll of 4,580 Americans, which asked respondents to select their favorite films from Rotten Tomatoes’ list of top 50 Christmas movies.
The most popular Christmas movie in the country was A Christmas Story, which was first released in 1983. As the top choice in 23 states, including populous ones such as Texas and New York, the survey suggests A Christmas Story is the favorite for most Americans.
The second most popular film was Elf. The 2003 Will Ferrell feature was the top pick in 11 states, including Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin and Colorado.
The 1990 comedy Home Alone took the top spot in four states: California, Louisiana, Idaho and Maryland. With a 1946 release, It’s a Wonderful Life is the oldest film on the list. It’s also the favorite in Wyoming, Illinois and South Carolina.
Die Hard, which frequently finds itself at the center of discourse over what qualifies as a Christmas film, was the most popular film in Vermont and Kansas.
Several states were unique in their choice of Christmas film. For example, Tennessee was the only state to choose The Nightmare Before Christmas—one of two animated movies on the list—as its favorite. The other animated classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, was the top choice in New Mexico.
Hawaii was the only state to pick the Dickensian classic A Christmas Carol in its survey, which also made it the only state to choose a film not set in the U.S. Montana selected How the Grinch Stole Christmas as its top Christmas film.
In Nebraska, Christmas Vacation was the favorite, while the top choice in Delaware was Miracle on 34th Street.
President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to return to the White House less than a month after Christmas, has appeared in a Christmas film, making a cameo in 1992’s Home Alone II: Lost in New York.
While New York serves as the setting for several films on the list, the state chose a movie set in Indiana as its favorite.
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