Today is National Pickle Day, and Americans have opinions about their favorite types of pickles. According to ongoing CivicScience data from more than 12K respondents, 53% of U.S. adults (with an opinion on the matter) say dill pickles are their favorite, followed by bread and butter pickles (22%), and much smaller shares favor sour pickles (10%) or gherkins (9%).
Adults 45 and older drive much of the nation’s love for dill—the majority of this age group says dill pickles are their top choice. Younger adults under 45 also prefer dill pickles, but they double the percentage of sour pickle fans who are 45+. Regionally, dill favorability is highest in the Midwest and West, while adults in the Northeast tend to lean more toward bread-and-butter pickles, and those residing in the South are more likely to favor gherkins.
But demographics aren’t the only thing setting pickle fans apart. Here are key insights comparing dill vs. bread and butter pickle fans:
Desire to Leave the House: Dill pickle fans are more likely to say their desire to leave the house has increased over the last six months, while bread and butter pickle fans lead in saying their desire has decreased.
Sports & Esports: Bread and butter fans are more likely to follow NCAA women’s basketball and esports at least somewhat closely compared to dill pickle fans.
Public Transportation: Bread and butter fans also take the lead in using public transportation monthly (28% vs. 7% of dill fans).
Parenting & Screens: Dill pickle fans are six percentage points more likely to limit their kids’ screen time and only allow screens on weekends.
Cars: Dill fans are seven points more likely to drive an American-made car, while bread and butter fans are more likely to drive Japanese-made vehicles.
Pickle preferences aren’t just about taste—they reflect lifestyle differences spanning sports fandom, transportation choices, parenting styles, and even the cars people drive. Whether you’re team dill or team bread and butter, the flavors say more than you might think.
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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.