Food and Drink These Are the Most Popular Ice Cream Flavors in Each State Is your favorite flavor the same as your state's? By Alison Fox Alison Fox Alison Fox is a Travel + Leisure contributor. She has also written for Parents.com, The Wall Street Journal, and amNewYork. When she’s not in New York City, she can be found at the beach or on the slopes. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 27, 2022 Fact checked by Elizabeth MacLennan Share Tweet Pin Email Vanilla may be the most popular ice cream flavor in America, but those looking to branch out are filling their carts with Moose Tracks, Rocky Road, green tea, coffee, and birthday cake, according to a 2021 study from Instacart. The sweet survey, which the food delivery company shared in July 2021, found those five flavors to be the most popular — aside from plain Jane vanilla, which accounts for more than 26% of all ice cream sales in the United States. Instacart "Americans' love for ice cream runs deep, and with thousands of different ice cream options available for purchase through Instacart, we thought it would be fascinating to dig into the data to uncover the most uniquely popular flavors in each state," Laurentia Romaniuk, Instacart's trends expert, told T L. "It turns out that people across the country have a hankering for vanilla, peanut butter cups, and fudge since 'Moose Tracks' is the top unique flavor in 12 states." In general, Americans tend to prefer chocolate ice cream — 24 states picked a flavor with chocolate as the base as their favorite. But not every state followed the trend: Buyers in Hawaii stuck with tropical flavors, picking mango ice cream above most else, while those in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut all chose pistachio. Most ice creams appeared on the list more than once as a state's top pick, but Delaware (which picked cherry), Pennsylvania (which picked mint chip), and New Mexico (which picked chocolate, chocolate chip) each forged their own path by opting for a unique flavor. To determine each state's favorite flavor, Instacart looked at ice cream sales and compared it to the national average. These are the most popular flavors in each state, plus Washington D.C. Alabama: Moose Tracks Alaska: Green Tea Arizona: Rocky Road Arkansas: Rainbow Sherbet California: Rocky Road Colorado: Green Tea Connecticut: Pistachio Delaware: Cherry Florida: Rum Raisin Georgia: Rum Raisin Hawaii: Mango Idaho: Green Tea Illinois: Moose Tracks Indiana: Moose Tracks Iowa: Moose Tracks Kansas: Rainbow Sherbet Kentucky: Chocolate Chip Louisiana: Birthday Cake Maine: Coffee Maryland: Cookie Dough Massachusetts: Coffee Michigan: Moose Tracks Minnesota: Moose Tracks Mississippi: Birthday Cake Missouri: Cookie Dough Montana: Rainbow Sherbet Nebraska: Moose Tracks Nevada: Rocky Road New Hampshire: Coffee New Jersey: Pistachio New Mexico: Chocolate Chocolate Chip New York: Pistachio North Carolina: Birthday Cake North Dakota: Moose Tracks Ohio: Chocolate Chip Oklahoma: Cookie Dough Oregon: Green Tea Pennsylvania: Mint Chip Rhode Island: Coffee South Carolina: Moose Tracks South Dakota: Birthday Cake Tennessee: Moose Tracks Texas: Rainbow Sherbet Utah: Rocky Road Vermont: Coffee Virginia: Birthday Cake Washington: Green Tea Washington, D.C.: Mango West Virginia: Moose Tracks Wisconsin: Moose Tracks Wyoming: Rocky Road Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit