Wisconsin ranks No. 2 as the state with the most Christmas cheer. Take that, Illinois.
Apparently, Wisconsin is the state equivalent to Buddy the Elf — and our neighbors to the south are (unsurprisingly) a bunch of Grinches and Scrooges.
Wisconsin was ranked No. 2 as the state with the most Christmas cheer ... and Illinois came in at No. 22, according to a recent study on "States with the most Christmas spirit in 2022" by CenturyLink, an internet service provider.
"We rank all 50 states for Christmas cheer by factors including evergreen farm numbers, charitable giving, and how often residents online shop, stream, and tweet Christmas content," the report said.
Plenty of Christmas movies and songs are known for being pretty darn cheesy. And we are "The Cheese State," so it checks out.
Wisconsin was third place in 2020, but fell to No. 16 in 2021. Will this be considered one of the state's greatest comebacks of all time? I think we can place it among these, yeah.
And New Hampshire, be warned: We're coming for you. For the second year in a row, its Christmas spirit was ranked No. 1, the report said.
Believe it or not, New Hampshire was in the same position as Illinois back in 2020, coming in at No. 22. But, don't think we have to worry about the land of the Bears pulling THAT off.
If you're looking to avoid Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins, stay clear of Washington, D.C. It came in last place for Christmas cheer ... for the third year in a row, the report said.
While this was CenturyLink's fifth annual report on Christmas cheer in America, this year's also included a "stocking stuffer": A new survey on America’s holiday spirits in 2022.
More:13 holiday cookie recipes from Milwaukee home cooks
More on the methodology of the Christmas spirit report
According to the Christmas spirit report, CenturyLink compiled 10 data metrics into two main categories: Christmas-themed online activity within the last 12 months and Christmas-related cultural markers. The metrics were custom-weighted in percentages "to assign final rankings."
Christmas-themed online activity was weighted at 78.5% of the total ranking. It was made up of Google searches for two key terms, weighted at 14.5% each: "Christmas movies" and "gingerbread houses"; Google shopping trends for four key terms at 7% each: "wrapping paper," "Christmas cards," Christmas ornaments" and "Elf on a Shelf"; Christmas music streaming (14.5%); and tweets about Christmas during the month of Dec. 2021 (7%).
Christmas-related cultural markers included the number of Christmas tree farms per capita (7%) and charitable giving in the last documented tax year (14.5%).
In September 2022, CenturyLink used Pollfish to survey 1,000 Americans on their attitudes and habits around celebrating Christmas this season, the report said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin ranked No. 2 state for most Christmas cheer
