Labor Day weekend is over, and summer is in the rearview mirror for another year. You know what that means: school. And as you rush your kids out the door to the bus or carpool, it’s likely with a bowl of cereal in their bellies.
My mom didn’t let us have “sugar cereals,” as she called them, so whenever I got the chance (at a friend’s house, usually), I’d devour Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch like I’d been starving in the desert for weeks. Then it was back to Cheerios—though I’ve moved on to cereals with even less sugar these days. Getting old is fun!
As cereal season gets underway for another year, we thought it would be fun to take a look at which cereals are the most popular around the country. And lucky for us, CSP Global, which offers accredited nursing programs in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, had already done the heavy lifting.
Ahead, I’ll take you state by state through their delicious survey results filled with cereals you remember as a kid and eat now as an adult. Read on to get a bowlful of knowledge about this breakfast favorite.
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How did the report determine the most popular cereal in each state?
We do a lot of Googling these days, so instead of mining grocery stores for sales data or calling people on their phones (who answers those calls, anyway?), CSP Global analyzed Google Trends data to find out exactly which cereals Americans were hungry for.
Why did they do this, you might ask? Because they’re a nursing school, CSP Global wanted to get a sense of state and regional trends to start a conversation about nutrition and health. Cereal aisles across the country look pretty much the same, but when you really drill down on what people are searching for, some definite trends emerge.
What is the most popular cereal in each state?

When you take a look at this list, it’s apparent there’s not a lot of turnover in the cereal world. These are the same old classics we’ve been eating for decades. My mother would definitely not approve of most of them, but they sure sound delicious to me right about now.
Here are the most popular cereals in each state:
- Alabama: Froot Loops
- Alaska: Corn Pops
- Arizona: Honey Bunches of Oats
- Arkansas: Honeycomb
- California: Honey Bunches of Oats
- Colorado: Froot Loops
- Connecticut: Cheerios
- Delaware: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Florida: Froot Loops
- Georgia: Froot Loops
- Hawaii: Cocoa Puffs
- Idaho: Rice Krispies
- Illinois: Cookie Crisp
- Indiana: Golden Crisp
- Iowa: Cap’n Crunch
- Kansas: Trix
- Kentucky: Froot Loops
- Louisiana: Froot Loops
- Maine: Raisin Bran
- Maryland: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Massachusetts: Trix
- Michigan: Froot Loops
- Minnesota: Wheaties
- Mississippi: Apple Jacks
- Missouri: Froot Loops
- Montana: Rice Krispies
- Nebraska: Lucky Charms
- Nevada: Cocoa Pebbles
- New Hampshire: Cheerios
- New Jersey: Cookie Crisp
- New Mexico: Honey Bunches of Oats
- New York: Cheerios
- North Carolina: Froot Loops
- North Dakota: Special K
- Ohio: Golden Crisp
- Oklahoma: Froot Loops
- Oregon: Froot Loops
- Pennsylvania: Cheerios
- Rhode Island: Fruity Pebbles
- South Carolina: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- South Dakota: Rice Krispies
- Tennessee: Cookie Crisp
- Texas: Froot Loops
- Utah: Rice Krispies
- Vermont: Cheerios
- Virginia: Froot Loops
- Washington: Trix
- Washington, D.C.: Trix
- West Virginia: Corn Flakes
- Wisconsin: Rice Krispies
- Wyoming: Frosted Mini-Wheats
Which cereal earned the No. 1 spot in the most states?
Froot Loops took the cereal crown with wins in 13 states and was by far the most searched cereal in the entire country. And it wasn’t even close: The tropical-fruit-flavored sugar bomb’s closest competition, Cheerios (yes!) and Rice Krispies, each won only 5 states apiece.
What regional trends emerged?
The cereal analysts also broke out the searches regionally, and it looks like the South gave Froot Loops its dominating win. The Northeast and the Midwest (my old stomping ground) went for the basic grains. Out in the sunny West, Honey Bunches of Oats came in first.
- Northeast: Cheerios
- South: Froot Loops
- West: Honey Bunches of Oats
- Midwest: Rice Krispies
Were there any big surprises?
My beloved old home state of Minnesota was the only state to pick Wheaties … which actually isn’t too much of a surprise, now that I think of it. A Minneapolis radio station aired the very first cereal jingle in 1926, and it was for, yep, Wheaties.
What is surprising is that wheat, in general, turns out to be an unpopular cereal grain, at least as far as searches go. Raisin Bran won only one state, Maine, and Frosted Mini-Wheats also came out on top in a single state, Wyoming.
Here’s another head-scratcher: When is the last time you ate Apple Jacks? I didn’t even know it was still around, but Mississippi loves it. Finally, my old neighbor Iowa is the only state pulling for Cap’n Crunch (but not the clearly superior Peanut Butter version). Funny, I would have thought they’d be all-in for Corn Pops.
Sources:
- CSP Global: “Every State’s Favorite Cereal”
- University of Maryland: “Have you tried Wheaties? The Lost Art of Jingle Writing”
The post This Is the Most Popular Cereal in Each State—Did Your Breakfast Favorite Make the List? appeared first on Reader's Digest.
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