Every state's most-searched Christmas movie: analysis

(KSWB) – ‘Tis the season for cozy socks and holiday movies, which begs the question: Which is your favorite Christmas flick?

For many of us, it’s an impossible question to answer. Sometimes, we’re in the mood for a festive comedy like “Elf” or “Christmas Vacation,” but other times, we’re partial to more romantic fare, à la “Love Actually” or “The Holiday.”

And then, there are nights when we feel like watching “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which is basically an animated movie musical with overt elements of horror. For children.

To get a sense of which films are actually the most popular among Americans, a group of researchers with CenturyLinkQuote, a residential home internet service provider, did some data-digging to figure out which Christmas movies each state was Googling the most in 2023.

In conducting their analysis, CenturyLinkQuote’s research team made a list of the 50 “best” Christmas movies based on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores, while also factoring in best-of lists from sites including Screen Rant and Time Out. That list was then narrowed down even further, to just the top 18 films with the highest search volume over the last year.

The top Christmas movie in the nation for 2023, according to CenturyLinkQuote’s list, was “Elf.” The Will Ferrell film was also the most popular Christmas flick in seven states: Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

There was a three-way tie for the next-most popular Christmas film, in terms of statewide search: “Four Christmases,” “Love Actually” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” each claimed the spotlight in five states, respectively.

Other films that topped states’ searches were “Die Hard” (the most-Googled holiday film in four states), “A Christmas Carol” (three states), “Serendipity,” (three states) and “The Polar Express” (three states), among others.