Why Massachusetts Is King Of St. Patrick’s Day Spirit In U.S.

St Patrick’s day is fast approaching, and while from the outside of Massachusetts sportsbooks it does not appear to be anything sports related, many cities, teams and sports franchises have long held the holiday in high esteem.

BetMassachusetts.com decided to look at what states have the most St. Patrick’s Day spirit in 2023. We utilized Google Trends to see the search volume in each of the U.S. metros for terms like “St. Patrick’s Day,” “St. Patrick’s Day Events,” etc. Once receiving the results, we averaged out the ranking across the terms. We also used World Population Review’s research on the “Cities With Highest Percentage Of Irish Ancestry” from 2023 to average out the rankings.

In a result that should come as no surprise to anyone, Boston ranks at the top as the city with the most holiday spirit. Boston's sports teams play a part in this ranking, as the Bruins and Celtics both have celebrations and jerseys dedicated to the day. The Celtics clearly have the most influence, as their team name and logo are both clear nods to Boston's historically Irish population.

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Cities With The Most St. Patrick's Spirit

Rank	City
1	Boston, MA
2	Chicago, IL
3	Pittsburgh, PA
T4	Philadelphia, PA
T4	Buffalo, NY
6	New Orleans, LA
7	Baltimore, MD
8	Kansas City, MO
9	New York, NY
10	Louisville, KY
T11	Seattle, WA
T11	Cleveland, OH
13	Savannah, GA
14	Portland, OR
15	San Francisco, CA

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Leader In The Clubhouse

The Irish community planting roots in Boston played a big role in the naming of the Celtics, and that community also played a massive role in Boston receiving the top spot in the rankings. American census data has confirmed that just under 20% of the state of Massachusetts claims Irish ancestry, which is almost double the national average. It’s no surprise that the most Irish population in the nation is the most zealous when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day.

Of course, Boston isn’t the only spot in the States looking forward to March 17. Taking the second spot in the rankings is the city of Chicago. This tracks with the percentage of the population that is Irish, as Chicago ranks as the second most Irish population in the country. Being a much larger city, there are more Irish people in Chicago than anywhere else in America, including Boston, but on a per capita basis they still trail the capital of Massachusetts.

Eastern cities rule the rankings, as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Buffalo round out the top five. In fact, the first city out west to even register is Seattle, sitting just outside the top ten.

St. Patrick’s Day is loved and celebrated by many in the States, but Boston, and to a lesser extent Chicago, rule the country when it comes to their Irish spirit.

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Author

Cecil Peters

@CecPetes

Cecil Peters is a Senior Betting Analyst for BetMassachusetts.com. A professional sports bettor in Canada, Cecil specializes in analyzing the latest odds impacting professional sports teams across North America.