State with Most Vegans

In the United States, larger states with larger populations tend to have more vegans in absolute numbers. States such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida have been considered hotspots for veganism due to their size and diverse populations. However, this does not necessarily mean they have the highest percentage of vegans compared to their total population.

It's worth mentioning that veganism has gained momentum globally, and there may be a shift in the distribution of vegans since my knowledge cutoff. Additionally, more recent data or surveys focusing specifically on the vegan population in each state would provide more accurate information.

1. Vegan Population per Capita

To assess the vegan population of a state, we looked at online search trends published by Google. We measured the average monthly search volume for the phrase “vegan restaurants” for each state, as this is the clearest indication of how interested the local population is in vegan dining.

The final step in this research involved weighing the search volume of each state on a per 1 million people basis to achieve a data set that allowed for clear comparison and ranking.

2. Number of Vegan Restaurants

The second most important data point in this research involved gathering details about the total number of dedicated vegan restaurants in each state. Our team approached this using online resources to gather details from Google Maps, HappyCow.com, and Yelp.com.

The critical part of this research was that we strictly focused on vegan restaurants and excluded vegetarian ones where we would have had to make subjective decisions about how vegan each restaurant was.

Weighing the number of restaurants against the population provided a clear objective ranking.

3. Number of Vegan Meetup Groups

The third part of our research data looked at how many vegan meetup groups are registered in every state to gauge how active the vegan population is in promoting this lifestyle.
We were able to quantify this data by using online resources at Meetup.com and Google search, which proved to be the most reliable sources. In order to be able to compare states of different sizes, we also weighted the data per 1 million people.

4. Number of Animal Welfare Groups

And finally, we looked at how many animal welfare groups were registered in each state as an indicator of people’s support for animal rights. Google Maps proved to have the most reliable information about animal welfare groups and shelters. The final step was again to weigh this number per 1 million people to make a comparison between states possible.

Which States are the Most Vegan?

When looking at Google Trends to study the search frequency of the term “Vegan Restaurants” over the last five years, the term has enjoyed a general incline in interest but has absolutely skyrocketed in the last few weeks.

It’s a safe assumption that not every state in our great country embodies an equal enthusiasm for this new trend. Let’s see which states’ inhabitants are the most interested (which will be represented by the red diamonds in the following graphic).

States in dark red are relatively over-populated with vegan restaurants, in comparison to their Google search frequency. Northern states in the non-coastal west (Montana, Wyoming, etc.) and the north east (Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire) all fall in the category of having more vegan restaurants than their residents show an online interest for. States in dark green are relatively underpopulated with vegan restaurants, and have a much higher proportional amount of Google searches directed to “Vegan Restaurants.”

Some surprising states in this list, such as Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama happen to be members of the Barbecue Belt (a term I literally just made up). States in lighter shades, such as Pennsylvania, Oregon, and whatever that state is to the southern border of Minnesota (just kidding, Iowa…yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s Iowa), all have a close-to-matching amount of online interest with the actual physical representation of vegan restaurants.

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