Not only are we in the middle of National Ice Cream Month but it is National Ice Cream Day on Sunday. This extensive celebration of frozen cream comes to us thanks to President Ronald Reagan (clearly a puppet of big ice- cream) who signed these observances into public law in 1984.
America may be divided on lots of things, but when it comes to ice-cream, there is at least some national unity: 96% of Americans say they eat ice-cream, according to new data from YouGov.
Familiar divisiveness, though, is more apparent once you get into America’s favorite flavor. Topping the charts nationally is chocolate, followed closely by vanilla. Butter pecan comes in third. But there are pronounced regional differences: in the west, people are more than twice as likely as people in other parts of the US to pick rocky road as their favorite flavor, whereas in the south, butter pecan was as popular as chocolate and vanilla.
While people across the political spectrum seem to generally like the same ice cream flavors, Republicans are three more likely to have rocky road as their favorite flavor than people who identify as Democrats.
It seems our tastes change as we age. Millennials are much more likely to prefer cookies’n’creme (14%) and chocolate chip cookie dough (13%) than older people. Those aged 55 and up are significantly more likely to prefer butter pecan (17%) and vanilla (16%).
Mint chocolate chip seems to divide people down gender and race lines. Ten percent of white people surveyed liked it the most, compared with only 2% of black people and 4% of Hispanic people. It seems the profile of a mint chocolate chip lover is a middle-age white female living in the north-east in a domestic partnership earning over $80K.
There are also racial differences when it comes to butter pecan. Twenty percent of black people surveyed said it was their preferred flavor, compared with 11% of white people and 7% of Hispanic people.
If all of this has left you hungry for more ice-cream statistics, the entire survey is online here. Fill your boots.
