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Utah Ranked Nerdiest State In America

blog.estately.com

Based on the research of Facebook pages from around the country, real estate website Estately shows Utah as the nerdiest state in the nation.

Utah beat out Alaska, Wyoming and Idaho for the top spot. According to the study, Utah and much of the Western U.S. comprises “Nerd-topia,” an area of nerdly acceptance, while the South makes up “Wedgie-Land,” where nerd culture is not really the norm.

Ryan Nickum, a blogger for Estately, said this could be due to the West’s accepting attitude.

"Just culturally, they're a little more, a little bit freer," Nickum said. "There's not an established, there's just a little bit more opportunities for individuality. That's always a desire in terms of how people think of the West, sort of an individual heading West."

To get the results, Estately researchers analyzed Facebook profiles that listed “nerdy” interests, such as “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Harry Potter,” “Dr. Who” and “Lord of the Rings.” These were then ranked on a per-capita basis by state, and Utah won out.

Nickum said little things that don’t get much press or attention are things people think about when they move.

"I think if you're probably a nerd and thinking about moving West, you probably could look at this study and think that you might be very comfortable, have an easy time making friends with similar interests if you move to Utah," he said.

Nickum said they might come back to the study later and expand the criteria and see how states change over time.

-Eric Jungblut is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism at Utah State University.