The dog days of summer may be upon us, with the bleating days of 90-plus-degree heat beating down on the Carolinas and the dew point ratcheting higher by the day, but that also means we’re closing in on the foliage of fall.
That realization means that few states are better positioned to capitalize on the proverbial changing of the seasons than the Tar Heel State, which boasts one of the best regions in the country for fall foliage, thanks to the rugged Appalachian Mountains on the western flank of North Carolina.
At BetCarolina.com - home to everything North Carolina sports betting - we wanted to see how excited states are for the autumn season. It’s been a hot summer here in North Carolina, so it should be no surprise that the state ranks high in interest for “fall,” according to Google Trends. The search was conducted between August 13 – 20, 2024. We then ranked the states based on search interest scores compared to other topics.
Rank | State | Search Interest Score |
1 | Rhode Island | 100 |
2 | Massachusetts | 94 |
3 | West Virginia | 84 |
4 | Tennessee | 71 |
5 | Kentucky | 70 |
6 | Indiana | 69 |
7 | Utah | 66 |
8 | North Carolina | 64 |
9 | Wisconsin | 63 |
10 | Nebraska | 62 |
While the Tar Heel State may not tout the “leaf peeping” cred of states in places like New England, it still features some of the best fall colors of any state in America, which ultimately helped spur North Carolina’s standing nationally.
Overall, North Carolina’s search interest score of 64 for autumnal topics ranked eighth nationally, between No. 7 Utah (66 search interest score) and No. 9 Wisconsin (63 search interest score), but well behind national leader Rhode Island, which notched a perfect score of 100.
Overall, Rhode Island beat out other fall favorites like Massachusetts (94 search interest score), West Virginia (84 search interest score), Tennessee (71 search interest score) and Kentucky (70 search interest score), while Indiana was the next closest state with a total of 69.
North Carolina did manage to beat out two states in the national fall excitement top 10, with those being Wisconsin and Nebraska, which finished with search interest scores of 63 and 62, respectively.
When it comes to fall, it seems like the Tar Heel State is no slouch whatsoever, with North Carolina residents expressing as much excitement online as any in America about the changing of the seasons in the weeks ahead.
Also of interest: Top 15 Best States for Foodies.
USA Today photo by Greg Derr.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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