The States That Can’t Get Enough of Minecraft

By Hristina Byrnes Published Oct 27, 3:00PM EDT

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The States That Can’t Get Enough of Minecraft — © Christian Petersen / Getty Images News via Getty Images

The average video game has a shelf life of less than two years. However, one game continues to grow in users over a decade after its release. Minecraft is not only the most popular video game in the world, with an average of 140 million monthly players – it is also the best-selling video game of all time, with over 238 million copies bought worldwide. (Prefer table-top entertainment? These are the best selling board games in America.)

Minecraft is a so-called open-world sandbox game – one in which players can explore an infinite terrain for resources with complete freedom of movement then create their own worlds. There are no set objectives besides what the player determines, and the game encourages creativity, resourcefulness, and exploration. Its lack of gore or extreme violence makes it suitable for children, but its complexity can keep adults of all ages engaged.

Although there are Minecraft players in every country, Americans are the most active. The U.S. accounts for over 21% of daily users – about 3.5 times the number of users in the next highest playing country, Brazil – but the game is substantially more popular in some states than others. (These are the most followed video game franchises in the U.S.)

To determine the states most obsessed with Minecraft, 24/7 Tempo reviewed research conducted by autoclicker.io, a site owned by the developer of software that automates mouse clicks. The site analyzed all 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranking them based on the number of times people in each state Googled terms related to an interest in Minecraft over the past 12 months. A total of 47 relevant search terms were used in the study, including “Minecraft”, “Minecraft pocket edition”, “Minecraft classic”, “Minecraft dungeons”, and “Minecraft movie.” The sum of the number of searches for each term was compared to each state’s population to calculate the number of searches per 100,000 people.

51. Mississippi
> Searches per 100,000 people: 873
> Total search volume: 25,680 – 15th lowest
> Population: 2,940,057

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50. Louisiana
> Searches per 100,000 people: 984
> Total search volume: 45,168 – 22nd lowest
> Population: 4,590,241

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Alabama (CC BY-SA 2.0) by GPA Photo Archive

49. Alabama
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,012
> Total search volume: 51,372 – 25th lowest
> Population: 5,074,296

48. Delaware
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,030
> Total search volume: 10,493 – 6th lowest
> Population: 1,018,396

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47. Montana
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,031
> Total search volume: 11,577 – 8th lowest
> Population: 1,122,867

46. South Carolina
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,072
> Total search volume: 56,613 – 25th highest
> Population: 5,282,634

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45. Arkansas
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,090
> Total search volume: 33,202 – 18th lowest
> Population: 3,045,637

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44. Rhode Island
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,106
> Total search volume: 12,093 – 9th lowest
> Population: 1,093,734

43. South Dakota
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,107
> Total search volume: 10,071 – 5th lowest
> Population: 909,824

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42. Wyoming
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,110
> Total search volume: 6,455 – the lowest
> Population: 581,381

41. Vermont
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,134
> Total search volume: 7,337 – 2nd lowest
> Population: 647,064

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40. Iowa
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,169
> Total search volume: 37,405 – 19th lowest
> Population: 3,200,517

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39. Wisconsin
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,169
> Total search volume: 68,909 – 22nd highest
> Population: 5,892,539

38. Pennsylvania
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,175
> Total search volume: 152,413 – 7th highest
> Population: 12,972,008

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37. Tennessee
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,191
> Total search volume: 83,999 – 16th highest
> Population: 7,051,339

36. Maine
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,194
> Total search volume: 16,537 – 10th lowest
> Population: 1,385,340

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35. Ohio
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,196
> Total search volume: 140,548 – 8th highest
> Population: 11,756,058

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34. Connecticut
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,196
> Total search volume: 43,357 – 21st lowest
> Population: 3,626,205

33. Missouri
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,197
> Total search volume: 73,927 – 20th highest
> Population: 6,177,957

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32. Hawaii
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,202
> Total search volume: 17,315 – 12th lowest
> Population: 1,440,196

31. Indiana
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,207
> Total search volume: 82,469 – 17th highest
> Population: 6,833,037

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30. New Jersey
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,211
> Total search volume: 112,199 – 13th highest
> Population: 9,261,699

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29. Minnesota
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,218
> Total search volume: 69,630 – 21st highest
> Population: 5,717,184

28. New Mexico
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,220
> Total search volume: 25,783 – 16th lowest
> Population: 2,113,344

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27. New Hampshire
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,227
> Total search volume: 17,123 – 11th lowest
> Population: 1,395,231

26. Kentucky
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,235
> Total search volume: 55,712 – 26th highest
> Population: 4,512,310

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Michigan (CC BY 2.0) by minka6

25. Michigan
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,244
> Total search volume: 124,868 – 12th highest
> Population: 10,034,113

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24. Illinois
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,248
> Total search volume: 157,006 – 5th highest
> Population: 12,582,032

23. North Dakota
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,258
> Total search volume: 9,807 – 3rd lowest
> Population: 779,261

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22. Massachusetts
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,259
> Total search volume: 87,910 – 15th highest
> Population: 6,981,974

21. Nebraska
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,266
> Total search volume: 24,904 – 14th lowest
> Population: 1,967,923

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20. Oklahoma
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,269
> Total search volume: 50,999 – 24th lowest
> Population: 4,019,800

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19. Kansas
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,278
> Total search volume: 37,538 – 20th lowest
> Population: 2,937,150

18. North Carolina
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,291
> Total search volume: 138,134 – 9th highest
> Population: 10,698,973

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17. West Virginia
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,307
> Total search volume: 23,203 – 13th lowest
> Population: 1,775,156

16. Maryland
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,334
> Total search volume: 82,224 – 18th highest
> Population: 6,164,660

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15. Idaho
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,347
> Total search volume: 26,117 – 17th lowest
> Population: 1,939,033

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14. Alaska
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,356
> Total search volume: 9,950 – 4th lowest
> Population: 733,583

13. New York
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,370
> Total search volume: 269,672 – 4th highest
> Population: 19,677,151

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12. Colorado
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,380
> Total search volume: 80,613 – 19th highest
> Population: 5,839,926

11. Arizona
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,415
> Total search volume: 104,140 – 14th highest
> Population: 7,359,197

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10. Georgia
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,433
> Total search volume: 156,343 – 6th highest
> Population: 10,912,876

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9. California
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,454
> Total search volume: 567,381 – the highest
> Population: 39,029,342

8. Virginia
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,463
> Total search volume: 127,013 – 11th highest
> Population: 8,683,619

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The Venetian (CC BY-SA 2.0) by wikiphotographer

7. Nevada
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,527
> Total search volume: 48,540 – 23rd lowest
> Population: 3,177,772

6. Texas
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,575
> Total search volume: 473,081 – 2nd highest
> Population: 30,029,572

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5. Oregon
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,586
> Total search volume: 67,249 – 23rd highest
> Population: 4,240,137

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4. Florida
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,596
> Total search volume: 355,049 – 3rd highest
> Population: 22,244,823

3. District of Columbia
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,600
> Total search volume: 10,748 – 7th lowest
> Population: 671,803

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2. Washington
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,744
> Total search volume: 135,752 – 10th highest
> Population: 7,785,786

1. Utah
> Searches per 100,000 people: 1,839
> Total search volume: 62,179 – 24th highest
> Population: 3,380,800

About the Author Hristina Byrnes →

Hristina Byrnes is the editor of 247Tempo.com, where she handles the site's assignments and editing. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, which she earned in 2012, and she specializes in translating complex health data research into engaging, accessible stories for a general audience.

When she's not poring over the latest data sets or brainstorming story ideas, you can find Hristina watching tennis, playing tennis with her son, or trying to get her daughter into tennis.