The Most Popular Places in America
Live data · updated regularly
Anonymized WiFi observations matched to real venues in IPinfo's Places data. Switch the lens to rank states by their busiest venue, their dominant brand, a head-to-head brand matchup, or a single venue category.
For more on some of these findings, read the companion post: The United States of Walmart, According to WiFi Data
Standout stat
Hy-Vee — 11.1% of Iowa — the largest win over Walmart
Surprising winners
The venues and brands that broke the pattern, or dominated their home state to a degree nothing else in the country matches.
13.3%
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport owns Washington
A single airport carries 13.3% of every place observation in the state — the most lopsided win in America.
4.1%
Twin River Events Center takes Rhode Island
The only state in the country whose most popular venue is an entertainment venue.
3
Campuses take 3 states
In 3 states the most popular venue is a university — led by Kansas State University, with 2.1% of Kansas.
11.1%
Hy-Vee holds Iowa
The biggest upset over Walmart: Hy-Vee carries 11.1% of the state's place observations.
Winners by category
Each category's share of national place observations and its most common brand.
| Category | Nat. share | Most common brand |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel & resort | 25.6% | Hampton 5.0% |
| Restaurant | 17.1% | McDonald's 12.9% |
| Retail | 16.7% | Sam's Club 13.8% |
| Grocery store | 12.8% | Walmart 29.3% |
| Airport | 6.1% | — |
| Business services | 3.8% | H&R Block 1.1% |
| Gym | 3.5% | Planet Fitness 30.7% |
| Community center | 2.8% | American Legion 3.3% |
| University | 2.7% | — |
| Bar | 2.6% | — |
| Home improvement | 2.5% | Menards 23.4% |
| Home services | 2.5% | Geek Squad 1.4% |
Methodology
Every figure on this page comes from the same monthly snapshot, measured the same way.
- The data
- Anonymized, privacy-preserving WiFi observations from opted-in devices, matched to real venues in IPinfo's Places dataset. Refreshed monthly from the live dataset.
- The measure
- Popularity is a venue's share of its state's total place observations: a measure of network presence, not foot traffic. No individual devices or people are identified.
- The coverage
- Rankings cover all 50 states across every venue category in the dataset, from airports to aquariums.
What's in Places?
Places maps public WiFi IPs to the real venues where they originate, with building-level precision. Every place IP carries exactly one venue category, and sensitive venue types such as hospitals, schools, and places of worship are excluded.
Already Built Into Your API
Places is included in IPinfo Core and Max, so venue context is returned in the same API call you already make. The granularity of the venue detail depends on the product.
Sample response
See what's included in each
Pick a product to see exactly what its response carries, all in the same API call.