Key Takeaways
Americans who play Wordle spend an average of 12 minutes a day playing it.
Baby boomers are the best Wordle players, with an average win percentage of 81%.
iPhone users play more and better than Android users.
36% of Americans who play Wordle use hard mode, and 12% of them think you’re cheating if you don’t.
The No. 1 change Wordle fans want to see is the ability to play more than one game a day.
Carrying the Torch: Who Plays Wordle the Most?
For our first set of statistics, we drew on a little insider information from Google Trends. Let’s find out which states and cities are making the most Wordle-related searches online.
Based on the number of online searches, Nevada is the most curious about Wordle lately. Large cities are also responsible for more Wordle-related searches than small ones. And that’s not just because of their size; New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle all made the most searches per 100,000 residents.
Our study also revealed that there were more women Wordle wizards than men and that baby boomers have played the most while Gen Z played the least. Fortunately, Gen Z has plenty of time to get with the program as there are enough five-letter words in the English language to supply over 40 years of Wordle answers.
When it came to device choice, the preferred medium appeared to be the iPhone, though Wordle is accessible on pretty much any device with a browser. As far as who plays the most, users with graduate or professional degrees proved to be the biggest Wordle fans. And, apparently, employment doesn’t get in the way of Wordle fans’ puzzle time. Players with full-time jobs actually played the most.
Which Groups Have the Most Wordle Jedis?
Okay, so now that we know who is playing the most, it’s time to find out which group’s Wordle skills reign supreme. Here’s a breakdown of the top players across the same demographics.
In the battle of the sexes, players identifying as women had a higher percentage of wins, though their male counterparts had a lower guess average and spent fewer minutes playing. Generationally, baby boomers scored the top win percentage and tied with Gen X with the lowest average playtime. But don’t worry millennials and Gen Zers; you had the lowest number of average guesses, which is impressive in its own right.
iPhone users had a leg up on Android users, while players of all education levels had the same number of average guesses. However, we found that players with graduate degrees had higher average win percentages and spent the shortest amount of time playing. Even though players not currently in the workforce could arguably spend more time playing (depending on their reasons), they spent the least time playing and scored the highest percentage of wins compared to employed players.
How Do You Play Wordle?
Let’s talk strategy. Next, we looked into the top starter words used by players and delved into the time-honored hard-mode debate.
It’s probably no surprise that most players use Wordle starting words with common consonants and vowels. But which starting words result in the highest wins? Feast your eyes on the average win percentage associated with each of these top 10 most popular starting words:
ADIEU 85%
AUDIO 87%
RAISE 92%
CRANE 86%
STARE 95%
CRATE 87%
TRAIN 90%
SLATE 92%
HEART 86%
ARISE 89%
To play in hard mode, or not to play in hard mode — that is the question we asked our Wordle enthusiasts. We discovered that some groups were more likely to embrace the hard-mode challenge, including:
Men
Millennials and baby boomers
iPhone users
Players with graduate or professional degrees
Full-time employees
When it comes to hard-mode shaming, players with graduate or professional degrees were the most likely to feel everyone should opt for the challenge. And of the two generations most likely to play in hard mode, baby boomers proved more generous; they were less likely to demand everyone choose the hard-mode path.
Who Cheats at Wordle the Most?
Much like any great game, Wordle has its fair share of cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eaters. Here’s a peek at the confessions of Wordle cheaters and how they go about it.
Of all our cheaters, most admitted to using Google as their weapon for help nailing those delicious green squares. Others turned to sources ranging from old-school dictionaries to anagram solvers for clues. Geographically, our survey revealed that Wordle cheating via Google is the most common in Vermont (the top state) and New York City (the top city).
Men also proved to be shiftier than women in this regard, while Gen Z admitted to being the most likely generation to cut corners. Those with graduate or professional degrees were also unmasked as the most likely to be behind such shenanigans. Android users also had more Wordle integrity than iPhone users, and those not currently in the workforce triumphed compared to the employed.
Wordle’s Foreseeable Future
As you can see, Wordle has earned plenty of fans from all walks of life. Let’s find out what motivates them to keep coming back and what changes they’d like to see in the future.
A solid 63% of players said they turn to Wordle to help keep their minds sharp. It’s true that word puzzles can improve brain function, including memory, attention, and information processing. Others reported playing simply for the thrill and enjoyment of the five-letter hunt.
When asked what they would change, nearly half of our respondents said the No. 1 thing they want from Wordle is more Wordle. While the game obviously has plenty of upsides, the one drawback is that you can currently only play once a day. Luckily, there are plenty of games like Wordle that offer a similar fix. Who knows — branching out may help improve your skills and increase the chances of the U.S. overtaking Sweden’s Wordle sorcery.
The Continuing Reign of Wordle
Though Wordle began as a pandemic trend, it’s clear that the internet’s favorite word game isn’t going to lose popularity any time soon. No matter which side of the hard-mode debate you come down on, there’s nothing like taking 12 minutes a day to test your smarts against Wordle’s dastardly puzzles. And what’s more impressive than being the only person at a dinner party who can name 20 different five-letter words with four vowels? Conversation starter for the win!
Methodology
To find which cities and states are still interested in Wordle, we analyzed Google Trends search volume data from February 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023. Search volume was collected for the term “Wordle” for all 50 states and the 50 most populous cities in the country.
To find out the demographic trends of Wordle, we surveyed 1,013 American Wordle players. Among them, 51% were women, 47% were men, and 2% were nonbinary or gender non-conforming. Additionally, 8% were baby boomers, 24% were Gen Xers, 55% were millennials, and 13% were Gen Zers.
For our device-use breakdowns, 32% played on an Android phone, 41% played on an iPhone, and 27% played on their laptop or computer. For the highest level of education completed, 25% had a high school diploma, 10% had an associate’s degree, 43% had a bachelor’s degree, and 22% had a graduate or professional degree.
Finally, for employment status, 61% worked full-time, 20% worked part-time, and 19% were not in the workforce. For numerical answers, any outliers were removed from the analysis.
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