Americans Are Split On Their Favorite Junk Food

Jul 22, 2026 | 0 comments

 

Like it or not, junk food is a substantial part of the American culinary experience. And with National Junk Food Day on July 21st, there is no better time to dive into Americans’ top pick when they need a satisfying treat. CivicScience data show that chips take the top spot, with 25% of Americans preferring them as their junk food of choice. Following closely behind are ice cream (23%), French fries (16%), and cookies (15%)–demonstrating a mix of sweet and savory crowd pleasers.
While Gen Z Americans outpace all others in their love of chips by at least four percentage points, Baby Boomers have a 7-point lead over younger generations in their love of ice cream. Income may also play a role, as chip and ice cream fans skew middle income, while high-income earners slightly outpace all others with their love of French fries.

Demographics are just the tip of the iceberg in CivicScience data highlighting how junk food fans stand out and how each type of fan has a consumer profile all their own. Here’s what the data show:

Beach Preferences: While 24% of chip fans say California has the best beaches in the U.S., just 10% of ice cream fans say the same. 

Online Clothing Purchases: Those who prefer cookies are nine percentage points more likely than those who prefer French fries to purchase clothes and accessories online. 

Takeout Motivation: French fry fans are seven percentage points more likely than chip fans to order takeout from their favorite local place for dinner after having a stressful day at work (35% vs 28%). 

Grocery Delivery: Ice cream fans are 17 percentage points more likely than chip fans to use a grocery retailer’s delivery service (47% vs 30%). 

Surfing Experience: While 31% of cookie fans have gone surfing before, just 21% of ice cream fans say the same. 

 

Where do you stand? Take this poll now and see how your preference compares with other Americans:

 

Although a preference for a specific junk food may seem irrelevant at first, upon closer look, it’s clear that those preferences ripple out to impact a variety of other consumer choices far beyond meal time.

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This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.

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