Most Popular Fast Food Fried Chicken by State

How we ran this poll

Every study on this site is a fresh poll. Here’s exactly how this one was run.

To determine the most popular fast food fried chicken chain in each state, Holiday Calendar employed a dual-methodology approach combining foot traffic analysis with survey research. First, we partnered with a mobile analytics firm to analyze anonymized GPS location data from approximately 12 million American smartphone users over the period of January 1st through June 30th, 2024. Visits to the seven largest national fried chicken chains—Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, KFC, Raising Cane's, Wingstop, Zaxby's, and Church's Chicken—were tracked and mapped to users' home states. Visit frequency was used as a proxy for preference. Second, we conducted an online survey of 3,000 Americans between June 15th and June 28th, 2024, asking respondents to rank their favorite fried chicken chain from among the same seven brands. The GPS foot traffic data was weighted at 60% and the survey results at 40% in the final composite score, reflecting the higher reliability of observed behavioral data. State-level winners were determined by the highest composite score. The survey component has a margin of error of ±1.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.