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What is a Swiftie Anyway: Social Explorer Unveils “The Swiftie Index”

WEDNESDAY, FEB 14, 2024

This Super Bowl, NFL fans had to choose between Taylor Swift and the city of San Francisco. If you’ve been wondering: what is the demographic profile of a “Swiftie,” and how does that compare to the typical NFL fan, we have answers.

At Social Explorer, we specialize in using demographic data and our powerful mapping application to help companies identify and analyze markets. Since this weekend is Super Bowl weekend pitting the San Francisco 49ers against the Kansas City franchise, there’s likely to be few bigger markets to analyze than the crossover NFL fans, and the fans of pop singer Taylor Swift, whose boyfriend Travis Kelce plays tight-end for Kansas City.

And so as a public service, we decided to see if we could identify areas of the country with both high concentrations of Swift fans – “Swifties,” as they’re known – and NFL fans, who are known as … NFL fans, we guess.

via GIPHY

 

According to a 2023 poll by Morning Consult, the typical Taylor Swift fan is a white Millennial, and more likely than not, female. And so using the 2018-22 American Community Survey, Social Explorer identified a dozen U.S. counties with more than 75 percent of white, non-Hispanic residents; 30+ percent of people between the ages of 25 and 44; and majority female (ACS tables B01001 and B03002, if you’re into that sort of thing). We call this combination of factors “The Swiftie Index.”

 

We used the same data to identify hotspots of NFL fandom, isolating counties with more than 77 percent of white, non-Hispanic residents, where the county’s men outnumber women by 55% to 45%, and where 71 percent or more of those men are older than 35.

Ultimately, we identified a dozen U.S. counties, including five with more than a half-million people, that could be considered prime turf for a past, present, or future Taylor Swift tour, and another 42 counties where your stereotypical NFL fan is likely to be missing in action on a Sunday afternoon.

And where did the Swiftie and NFL fan hotspots converge?

Nowhere, it turns out!

First, the five best counties for meeting (or avoiding) Swifties:

  • Arapaho County, Colo., population 654,453: 72.4 percent white, 30.3 percent Millennial, 50 percent female

  • Hennepin County, Minn., population 1,270,787: 72 percent white, 30.6 percent Millennial, 50.2 percent female

  • Multnomah County, Ore., population 808,098: 76.9 percent white, 35.2 percent Millennial, 50.1 percent female

  • Washington County, Ore., population 599,541: 75.9 percent white, 31 percent Millennial, 50 percent female

  • Williamson County, Texas, population 617,396: 74.6 percent white, 30.7 percent Millennial, 50.3 percent female

Given that two of the most likely places to encounter statistical Swifties are in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, you’d also think the pop star would have added a tour date. Unfortunately for Rose City residents, the closest site for Swift’s much-hyped Eras Tour will be across the border, in Vancouver, B.C. in December. “Tickets will, theoretically, be available via Ticketmaster,” the Oregonian newspaper reported in late 2023. “And yes, you might want to prepare now for either desperate sadness or destitution.”

(To be fair, Swift played to a sold-out audience at the Moda Center in August 2013. So you had your chance, Portland.)

Of the next most-populous areas, only Swifties in Arapaho County, CO, outside of Denver, and those in Hennepin County, MN, near the Twin Cities had the chance to attend nearby shows, with the two Minneapolis shows in July described by a local news site as “some of the best concerts to grace the Twin Cities in 2023.”

(Swifties in Austin – a city with a long legacy of popular music – were disappointed that Swift’s tour only went to Houston and the Dallas suburb of Arlington. “I'm currently green with envy,” a fan wrote on Reddit. “Do you really mean to tell me that the ‘live music capital of the world’ couldn't even get her for one night?”)

Seven smaller counties – none of which landed tour dates – also met the Social Explorer criteria for hotbeds of Swift fans:

  • Skagway Municipality, Alaska, population 1,303: 78.4 percent white, 34.2 percent Millennial, 58.8 percent female

  • Atkinson County, Ga., population 8,265: 74.6 percent white, 30.6 percent Millennial, 50.6 percent female

  • Camas County, Idaho, population 1,133: 93.1 percent white, 30.6 percent Millennial, 50.7 percent female

  • Dallas County, Iowa, population 100,367: 88.3 percent white, 30.7 percent Millennial, 50.2 percent female

  • Liberty County, Mont., population 1,993: 97.7 percent white, 31.1 percent Millennial, 54.4 percent female

  • Thomas County, Neb., population 592: 90.7 percent white, 32.3 percent Millennial, 52.5 percent female

  • Bailey County, Texas, population 6,902: 87.7 percent white, 30.5 percent Millennial, 52.4 percent female

If we look at the counties identified as statistical hotspots for NFL fandom, we find no options with a venue large enough for a Taylor Swift concert – or, an NFL game, oddly enough. The most populous county where you’re most likely to find a statistical NFL fan in 2022 was in Fremont County, Colo.

Here’s how the top five NFL counties shook out:

  1. Fremont County, Colo., population 49,107: 78.2 percent white, 60.9 percent men older than 35, 58.2 percent male

  2. Wakulla County, Fla., population 33,732: 77.8 percent white, 60.9 percent men older than 35, 55.3 percent male

  3. Dixie County, Fla., population 16,737: 83.1 percent white, 62.9 percent men older than 35, 55.7 percent male

  4. Wayne County, Tenn., population 16,325: 88.9 percent white, 59.6 percent men older than 35, 55.9 percent male

  5. Lawrence County, Ill., population 15,302: 84.8 percent white, 56 percent men older than 35, 56.3 percent male

However, just because there are no counties with a perfect match between the star-crossed markets, all is not lost. Marketers interested in either segment can still use our maps. And anyway, the NFL hotspot of Fremont County, Colo., is within driving distance of a Swiftie Stronghold. 

So if the romance between Taylor and Travis continues, maybe there's an opportunity for a stadium halfway between.

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