Each State’s Favorite Luxury Hobby
For a growing number of Americans, luxury isn’t about what you own anymore, but what you do. Experiences have steadily overtaken material goods as the ultimate status symbol, with recent surveys showing that roughly 3 in 4 Americans now prioritize spending on experiences over physical items.
That shift is reshaping how people aspire to live – from bucket-list travel and private яхting to time-intensive passions like golf or wine collecting. Luxury today is less about display and more about access, skill, and lifestyle.
We analyzed Google Trends search data across nine popular high-end hobbies – sailing, golf, wine tasting, horse racing, art collecting, luxury travel, polo and skydiving – to find out which one each state dreams about most.
Key Takeaways
- Golf dominates the country, ranking as the top-searched luxury hobby in 31 states – a commanding grip on the nation’s aspirational leisure.
- Sailing leads in 11 states, concentrated along coastlines but with a few surprising inland entries.
- Horse racing claims the top spot in 5 states, most powerfully in the heartland and Appalachia.
- Alaska posted the study’s highest single-hobby share: sailing at 66%
- Despite some interest nationwide, the rest of the hobbies ranked low across the board, with not a single state choosing them as its top-searched luxury hobby.
1. Golf – 34 States
Top state: South Carolina, 62%
Golf claimed the top spot in a staggering 31 states, making it by far the most widely coveted luxury hobby in the country. From the manicured courses of the Southeast to the mountain links of the Rockies, the sport’s blend of social prestige and outdoor beauty.
South Carolina led all golf states with a 62% search share, followed by Utah (60%) and a three-way tie between North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Arizona (each at 56%).
What explains golf’s dominance? The sport sits at a unique cultural crossroads: expensive enough to signal affluence, accessible enough that millions aspire to play it. A round at a premium private club or a destination course in Scottsdale or Pinehurst represents exactly the kind of attainable-but-elevated experience that defines modern luxury.
Top states: South Carolina (62%), Utah (60%), Michigan (57%), North Carolina / Pennsylvania / Arizona (56%)
2. Sailing – 11 States
Top state: Alaska, 66% – the highest single-hobby share in the entire study
Sailing topped the search charts in a geographically diverse cluster of states, led powerfully by Alaska at 66% – the highest single-hobby share in the entire dataset. Rhode Island followed at 57%, with Hawaii (52%), Vermont (51%), and the District of Columbia (47%) rounding out the top five sailing states.
The coastal states make intuitive sense. Rhode Island’s history as a yachting capital, Hawaii’s year-round sailing conditions, and Maine’s rugged seafaring culture all feed a deep regional connection to life on the water. Alaska’s dominance reflects a broader love of dramatic, untamed outdoor pursuits – sailing there isn’t a pastime, it’s an adventure.
But what about Vermont? Landlocked and covered in snow for much of the year, Vermont’s love of sailing appears more aspirational than practical. New Mexico, another landlocked state, similarly cracked the sailing top tier, suggesting that distance from the ocean only sharpens the longing.
Massachusetts and Maryland, both states with deep maritime heritage and access to prime sailing waters, round out the list, reflecting cultures where seafaring has long been bound up with wealth and tradition.
Top states: Alaska (66%), Rhode Island (57%), Hawaii (52%), Vermont (51%), Maine (46%)
3. Horse Racing – 5 States
Top state: Iowa, 57% – tied for second-highest share in the entire study
Horse racing claimed the top spot in Iowa (57%), West Virginia (51%), Kansas (40%), Louisiana (38%), and Kentucky (38%). These are states where the sport is woven into local identity, agricultural heritage, and community tradition.
Iowa’s 57% search share is remarkable, the second-highest single preference in the entire dataset. For a state that hosts county fairs and agricultural expositions, the horse racing connection runs deep – it’s luxury, yes, but a homegrown, deeply American version of it.
Kentucky’s presence is no surprise. As the home of Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby, and a centuries-old thoroughbred breeding industry, horse racing isn’t just a hobby here, it’s basically a civic religion. Louisiana, with its history at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, and West Virginia, home to one of the oldest racetracks in the country at Charles Town, both reflect this same regional pride.
Top states: Iowa (57%), West Virginia (51%), Kansas (40%), Louisiana & Kentucky (38%)
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Methodology
To identify each state’s favorite luxury hobby, we analyzed Google search interest data across 50 states from April 2021 to April 2026 for the following hobbies:
- Golf
- Sailing
- Horse racing
- Wine tasting
- Art collecting
- Luxury travel
- Skydiving
- Scuba diving
- Polo
Search interest values were normalized using Google Trends’ methodology, with 100 representing peak interest for any topic in a given region and 0 indicating insufficient data. Each state’s results were converted into proportional shares (summing to 100%).
The luxury hobby with the highest share of search interest was designated that state’s “favorite.”
