Going to concerts and seeing an artist or band you love perform their music live is a one-of-a-kind experience—that is if you’re able to snag tickets. Depending on where you live, it can either be a walk in the park or a ride on the struggle bus to get seats. To shed more light on this, a new ranking from Just Gamblers reveals the best and worst states for getting concert tickets.
According to the study, “Each state was assigned a score out of 40 for ticket likelihood based on the number of venues visited across 20 of this year’s biggest tours, average venue capacity, how often an act stops in each state, and local ticket demand.” The rankings also looked at who was touring, including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Coldplay, and Blink-182. They found the total number of venues each artist visited and where exactly they stopped throughout the tour. Curious if your state made the list? Read on for the 20 best and worst states.
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The 10 Worst States
Shutterstock / Melinda NagyCertain states gave concert-goers a much harder time acquiring tickets for this year's tours. The data compared venue capacity to state population and looked at how often an artist stops there. Some states were skipped entirely, even if it was a bigger artist touring.
10 | South Dakota
iStockOverall Score out of 40: 8
South Dakota isn't necessarily lacking in live music venues, but even one of the state's largest arenas can’t hold more than 12,000 people. Therefore, most major artists don’t stop here for a tour, so South Dakota gets smaller concerts with fewer available seats, ultimately making getting tickets a struggle.
9 | Hawaii
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 8
Hawaii is an outlier state in this study, as it’s more difficult to travel to than other states. Venues are mainly smaller theaters, and there aren’t any big arenas or stadiums.
“It’s clear that some states are at a greater disadvantage than others based on variables like local competition, venue availability, and how frequently a state hosts a show—and, surprisingly, some states are ignored by artists altogether,” said a spokesperson for Just Gamblers.
8 | Arkansas
rjjones/ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 8
According to Arkansas’ travel website, the state is well known for its visual arts scene. While they host live music from time to time, you’re more likely to see galleries, art exhibitions, or museums.
It seems like popular artists and tours do not make the trek to Arkansas. “This research can help fans decide whether they’re better aiming for tickets in their home state, or if they’re best off considering a road trip—and for some, the answer is obvious," says a Just Gamblers spokesperson.
7 | New Mexico
Underawesternsky/ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 8
New Mexico has music festivals and performances from locals quite often. But you're not likely to find many big concerts in the state, as they don't have the venue capacity to hold larger crowds.
6 | Vermont
LEXPIX / ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 8
Vermont is the first of four New England locales to make the list of worst states. Most of the music scene happens in Burlington or South Burlington, but even these cultural hubs don't have the venue space for big-name artists, which makes getting tickets more difficult.
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5 | Connecticut
iStockOverall Score out of 40: 7
The Mohegan Sun casino is the biggest concert venue in Connecticut, but it only holds 10,000 people. The state is fine for lower-key shows, but they likely won’t be getting anyone like Beyoncé or Harry Styles thanks to the lack of venue size.
4 | North Dakota
iStockOverall Score out of 40: 6
The North Dakota State Fair is really where this state's live music shows up. It's likely the biggest musical gathering in the state, and they're known for quaint, small venues. Therefore, it makes sense why they're one of the worst states to get concert tickets. Unfortunately, none of the artists that were looked at in the study made their way to Nebraska.
3 | Delaware
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 5
Delware's biggest venue for live music only holds 4,000 people, according to an article from Delaware Today. Their overall score is very low and it places this small state in the third worst spot to get tickets.
2 | New Hampshire
Wangkun Jia/ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 5
New Hampshire folks don't typically have a lot of luck with artists coming their way and are likely to see more shows if they travel out of state.
1 | Rhode Island
iStockOverall Score out of 40: 3
Rhode Island, the smallest state in the U.S. by land area but the second-most densely populated—officially comes in as the worst state for getting concert tickets.
“The state’s most in-demand artist that has toured recently came out as Taylor Swift, but despite hosting her annual Fourth of July party at her Rhode Island beach house this year, the multi-award-winning singer didn’t include ‘The Ocean State’ as a stop on The Eras Tour,” the study shared.
It’s recommended that live music enthusiasts head to a nearby state like New York since they’ll have a better chance of obtaining tickets.
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The 10 Best States
iStockThe states that make up the top 10 are places with larger populations, exciting city life, and plenty of space to allow for a big tour production. It also seems that the states in which it's easier to get tickets are home to the most diehard football fans. While the data is varied, states in the Midwest and East Coast come out at the top.
10 | Georgia
Davel5957/iStockOverall Score out of 40: 16
Atlanta alone has two of the largest concert halls in the U.S., so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they make the best states ranking.
Downtown Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium holds over 50,000 people, so any artist stopping there is likely to use the stadium for more than one night, which gives more people the chance to snag tickets.
9 | Tennessee
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 17
It’s no wonder that Tennessee, with its musical hotspots like Nashville and Memphis, takes a spot as one of the best places to get concert tickets. Not only are its venue sizes appealing, but many artists want to play there due to the history and culture of the state.
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8 | New York
iStockOverall Score out of 40: 17
New York is actually the recommended place to buy tickets for anyone living in Rhode Island since they’ll have a much higher chance than Vermont, Massachusetts, or Connecticut. In addition to Georgia, New York is one of the only two East Coast states to have a decent score.
7 | Michigan
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 18
Michigan is the first of three midwest states to be ranked in the top 10—and for good reason. They do have the appeal of big stadiums, but they also have several arenas or smaller theaters that can satisfy live music lovers. Artists from the study who visited Michigan in the past year included Taylor Swift, Blink-182, Metallica, Drake, and Janet Jackson.
6 | Pennsylvania
iStockOverall Score out of 40: 18
With all the large sporting venues in the state, Pennsylvania definitely can accommodate bigger tours. With places like Wells Fargo Arena or Lincoln Financial Field in the heart of Philadelphia, it's easy to secure those coveted seats.
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5 | Texas
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 19
Texas is the lucky Lone Star State. They have stadiums and accessibility both in Arlington and Houston, as well as other venues that can house bigger crowds. Like Pennsylvania, Texas has many sports teams, so it makes sense that people would have an easier time acquiring tickets.
WFAA reported that Taylor Swift would be performing on six different nights, three in AT&T Stadium and the other three in NRG Stadium.
4 | Florida
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 20
"There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the difficulty of securing tickets for tours, especially given complications with platforms like Ticketmaster and the rising prevalence of scalpers,” noted a JustGamblers spokesperson. But Florida still prevailed.
The Sunshine State is home to big cities like Orlando, Miami, and Jacksonville, which are all relatively spread out. So, it's likely that people will be fighting less over tickets for one singular venue.
3 | Minnesota
ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 22
Minnesota rounds out the top three states and is only one point behind the first and second states.
“Overall, the state that boasts the best venues for attending a tour came out as Minnesota, as the average 39,412 capacity reported across the five visited venues can accommodate a higher proportion of the local population—more so than in any other area,” according to the study.
2 | Illinois
Luis Boucault/ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 23
Illinois was "a stop on every analyzed tour," according to the study. While the state's overall score does tie for first place, the study notes that "ticket demand" was its biggest issue.
"No state scored higher than 23 out of 40, meaning that nowhere can guarantee attendance to the most coveted concerts—although it can help fans decide whether to try for local tickets or whether to attend a show in a nearby state instead," the study adds.
1 | California
IM_photo/ShutterstockOverall Score out of 40: 23
California takes the top spot as the best place for securing concert tickets—mainly due to how often artists stop in the state as well as the high number of venues they visit.
According to the data, “Every artist analyzed stopped in ‘The Golden State’ at least once on their most recent tours, meaning fans don’t have to worry about whether they’ll have to travel to see their favorite artist—instead, their biggest obstacle is competing with other fans for a chance to attend.”
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