As the saying goes, there “ain’t no thing like a chicken wing.” Whether you like bone-in or boneless, hot or mild, or ranch or blue cheese, there’s nothing quite like digging into a plate of wings. And because National Chicken Wing Day is July 29th, we wanted to find out just what are America’s favorite wings.
We conducted a survey of over 2,500 Americans asking them about their favorite sauce or seasoning, preference of wing type, and whether they’d rather have ranch or blue cheese — basically all the go-to questions from your waiter or waitress. We left the celery and carrots out, though.
Keep reading to see our full results and what the favorites are in your state.
Main Findings
Let’s get to the really important stuff first: which sauce is boss? In this case, we asked for respondents to give their preference from a list of 16 sauces or seasonings. While we know 16 isn’t enough to cover everyone’s favorite, we felt these were staples of most wing joints. What we found is that America likes a lot of different sauces!
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There was no clear winner here. Honey BBQ had a plurality of states at 14, followed by hot buffalo sauce at 9 states and Parmesan garlic with 7. It cascaded down from there with spicy garlic (6 states), lemon pepper (5), and sweet barbecue (5).
Teriyaki, salt and vinegar,, honey mustard, and Caribbean jerk each had one state a piece.
Here’s a list of every state and their preference:
| State | Wing Sauce |
| Alabama | Hot Buffalo |
| Alaska | Spicy garlic |
| Arizona | Hot Buffalo |
| Arkansas | Hot Buffalo |
| California | Parmesan garlic |
| Colorado | Hot Buffalo |
| Connecticut | Hot Buffalo |
| Delaware | Hot Buffalo |
| Florida | Honey BBQ |
| Georgia | Lemon pepper |
| Hawaii | Hot Buffalo |
| Idaho | Parmesan garlic |
| Illinois | Honey BBQ |
| Indiana | Sweet BQ |
| Iowa | Honey BBQ |
| Kansas | Sweet BBQ |
| Kentucky | Sweet BBQ |
| Louisiana | Lemon pepper |
| Maine | Parmesan garlic |
| Maryland | Hot Buffalo |
| Massachusetts | Honey BBQ |
| Michigan | Honey BBQ |
| Minnesota | Honey BBQ |
| Mississippi | Honey BBQ |
| Missouri | Lemon pepper |
| Montana | Salt and vinegar |
| Nebraska | Honey BBQ |
| Nevada | Honey BBQ |
| New Hampshire | Lemon pepper |
| New Jersey | Honey BBQ |
| New Mexico | Lemon pepper |
| New York | Spicy garlic |
| North Carolina | Honey BBQ |
| North Dakota | Parmesan garlic |
| Ohio | Honey BBQ |
| Oklahoma | Honey mustard |
| Oregon | Spicy garlic |
| Pennsylvania | Sweet BBQ |
| Rhode Island | Hot Buffalo |
| South Carolina | Spicy garlic |
| South Dakota | Sweet BBQ |
| Tennessee | Parmesan garlic |
| Texas | Spicy garlic |
| Utah | Teriyaki |
| Vermont | Caribbean Jerk |
| Virginia | Honey BBQ |
| Washington | Honey BBQ |
| West Virginia | Parmesan garlic |
| Wisconsin | Parmesan garlic |
| Wyoming | Spicy garlic |
When it came to preference of wing type (traditional bone-in or boneless), there’s a much clearer winner. Bone-in is the preference in 36 states and boneless in 14.
When looking at the overall national results, 56% of American’s prefer traditional wings to 44% who prefer boneless.
Here’s the results for preference on wing type by state:
| State | Wing Type Preference |
| Alabama | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Alaska | Boneless |
| Arizona | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Arkansas | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| California | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Colorado | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Connecticut | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Delaware | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Florida | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Georgia | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Hawaii | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Idaho | Boneless |
| Illinois | Boneless |
| Indiana | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Iowa | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Kansas | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Kentucky | Boneless |
| Louisiana | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Maine | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Maryland | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Massachusetts | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Michigan | Boneless |
| Minnesota | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Mississippi | Boneless |
| Missouri | Boneless |
| Montana | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Nebraska | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Nevada | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| New Hampshire | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| New Jersey | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| New Mexico | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| New York | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| North Carolina | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| North Dakota | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Ohio | Boneless |
| Oklahoma | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Oregon | Boneless |
| Pennsylvania | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Rhode Island | Boneless |
| South Carolina | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| South Dakota | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Tennessee | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Texas | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Utah | Boneless |
| Vermont | Boneless |
| Virginia | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Washington | Boneless |
| West Virginia | Boneless |
| Wisconsin | Bone-In (Traditional) |
| Wyoming | Bone-In (Traditional) |
And finally, the ever important question: Ranch or blue cheese? American has spoken and we prefer ranch. Similar to preference on wing type, ranch is the clear winner with 40 states. Only 10 preferred blue cheese.
On a national level, 58% of Americans prefer ranch to 42% who say they prefer blue cheese.
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| State | Dressing |
| Alabama | Ranch |
| Alaska | Ranch |
| Arizona | Ranch |
| Arkansas | Ranch |
| California | Ranch |
| Colorado | Blue Cheese |
| Connecticut | Blue Cheese |
| Delaware | Ranch |
| Florida | Ranch |
| Georgia | Ranch |
| Hawaii | Blue Cheese |
| Idaho | Blue Cheese |
| Illinois | Ranch |
| Indiana | Ranch |
| Iowa | Ranch |
| Kansas | Ranch |
| Kentucky | Ranch |
| Louisiana | Ranch |
| Maine | Ranch |
| Maryland | Ranch |
| Massachusetts | Ranch |
| Michigan | Ranch |
| Minnesota | Ranch |
| Mississippi | Ranch |
| Missouri | Blue Cheese |
| Montana | Ranch |
| Nebraska | Ranch |
| Nevada | Ranch |
| New Hampshire | Blue Cheese |
| New Jersey | Ranch |
| New Mexico | Ranch |
| New York | Ranch |
| North Carolina | Ranch |
| North Dakota | Ranch |
| Ohio | Ranch |
| Oklahoma | Ranch |
| Oregon | Ranch |
| Pennsylvania | Ranch |
| Rhode Island | Blue Cheese |
| South Carolina | Ranch |
| South Dakota | Blue Cheese |
| Tennessee | Ranch |
| Texas | Ranch |
| Utah | Ranch |
| Vermont | Ranch |
| Virginia | Ranch |
| Washington | Blue Cheese |
| West Virginia | Blue Cheese |
| Wisconsin | Ranch |
| Wyoming | Ranch |
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that Americans have some clear similarities when it comes to chicken wings but also some clear differences. But, as they say, spice is the variety of life. Overall, no matter what type of wings you like, if you get the chance to enjoy some this week for National Chicken Wing Day, you’re in for a treat.
Methodology
Grill Cook Bake surveyed 2,550 Americans in July 2020. The respondents were a mix of ages and genders. We estimate the margin of error is less than 3.2% with a confidence level of 90%.
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