Utah Number One in April Fools Pranks. Where Does Pa. Rank? and What is the Top Prank?

It’s the one day a year where we greet anything remotely unusual with an air of caution, expecting someone to yell out “April Fools’” at any given moment. April Fools’ is an annual custom that is lodged firmly in the spirit of our society and before this year’s hoaxes and pranks begin, we wanted to take a deeper look at America’s pranking habits.

Ranking of States

We analyzed each state’s intent to play a prank on April Fools’ Day and then ranked them in order, with the results revealing that the people of Utah are America’s biggest pranksters. They were closely followed by Vermont in second, and Wisconsin in third. If you want to avoid April Fools’ shenanigans then you’d be wise to visit Mississippi, with the state ranking last, just behind Georgia.

Our survey revealed that 64% of Americans plan to play a prank on April Fools’ but what pranks will we be playing exactly? There was a three-way tie for the most popular prank with mind games, scare tactics, and telling some sort of a lie all capturing 17% of the vote. Prank phone calls are still popular, as is messing with people’s food.

Common Reactions

It seems our motto for being on the receiving end of a prank is “accept it or get even”. These were the two most overwhelmingly popular reactions to April Fools’ pranks, with 45% of people saying that they react by smiling and saying “that was a good one” while 31% said their reaction is to prank them back. At the other end of the spectrum, 2% of people said they are likely to terminate the friendship and never talk to that person again.

When it comes to who we choose to prank, there was a two-way tie between our spouse or significant other and our friends. We are more likely to prank mom than our dad and we are least likely to prank our enemy.

Overall, Americans are feeling pretty good about April Fools’ Day, with 83% of people expressing some kind of positive emotion towards the tradition. On the other hand, 3% of people said that they hate it.

Methodology

TOP Data surveyed 1,000 Americans on their April Fools’ plans, habits, and attitudes.