Elements are the very building blocks of the world around us—without them, we wouldn’t exist! From the oxygen that we breathe to the gold jewelry we wear, the periodic elements are everywhere. To celebrate the importance of these essential parts of life, we found out what every state’s favorite periodic element is. Check out the map below to learn which element is the favorite in your state!
Map Findings
- There were only four elements that were the favorite in more than one state
- Carbon (2 states)
- Magnesium (2 states)
- Sodium (2 states)
- Thulium (2 states)
- 17 states had favorite elements that were from the transition metals group (in periwinkle on the map)—more than any other element group
- Two states had favorite elements that were named after them
- Californium was named after California
- Tennessee lends its name to Tennessine
Methodology
We looked at the search volume for all 118 periodic elements in Google Trends and analyzed the data for each state to find out which element is every state’s favorite. For any states that had a tie between two or more elements, we used the element with the highest search volume according to Ahrefs.
| Number On Map | State | Favorite Element |
| 47 | Alabama | Magnesium |
| 1 | Alaska | Lithium |
| 36 | Arizona | Thulium |
| 39 | Arkansas | Argon |
| 26 | California | Californium |
| 28 | Colorado | Ytterbium |
| 24 | Connecticut | Lanthanum |
| 35 | Delaware | Einsteinium |
| 43 | District of Columbia | Platinum |
| 50 | Florida | Flerovium |
| 48 | Georgia | Gallium |
| 51 | Hawaii | Mercury |
| 7 | Idaho | Silicon |
| 11 | Illinois | Sodium |
| 20 | Indiana | Seaborgium |
| 19 | Iowa | Technetium |
| 38 | Kansas | Sodium |
| 31 | Kentucky | Fluorine |
| 45 | Louisiana | Sulfur |
| 2 | Maine | Arsenic |
| 34 | Maryland | Terbium |
| 14 | Massachusetts | Nickel |
| 12 | Michigan | Dubnium |
| 10 | Minnesota | Manganese |
| 46 | Mississippi | Magnesium |
| 30 | Missouri | Curium |
| 8 | Montana | Silver |
| 29 | Nebraska | Cobalt |
| 16 | Nevada | Thulium |
| 5 | New Hampshire | Nihonium |
| 23 | New Jersey | Zinc |
| 37 | New Mexico | Chromium |
| 13 | New York | Gold |
| 41 | North Carolina | Fermium |
| 9 | North Dakota | Bismuth |
| 21 | Ohio | Roentgenium |
| 44 | Oklahoma | Rhenium |
| 15 | Oregon | Bohrium |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | Copernicium |
| 25 | Rhode Island | Barium |
| 42 | South Carolina | Scandium |
| 18 | South Dakota | Potassium |
| 40 | Tennessee | Tennessine |
| 49 | Texas | Palladium |
| 27 | Utah | Carbon |
| 4 | Vermont | Boron |
| 33 | Virginia | Indium |
| 6 | Washington | Carbon |
| 32 | West Virginia | Chlorine |
| 3 | Wisconsin | Europium |
| 17 | Wyoming | Oxygen |