Misc
Mapped: Top Trending Searches of 2021 in Every U.S. State
The Trending Searches in 2021
Google’s data editor Simon Rogers once said, “You’re never as honest as you are with your search engine. You get a sense of what people genuinely care about and genuinely want to know.”
This look at trending searches for every U.S. state is a window into the topics people were truly curious about in 2021. From political tensions to meme stocks, and from Elon Musk to a devastating tornado, we saw a wide range of trending searches throughout the year.
In the above animated video, Reddit user u/V1Analytics pulls together the top trending search terms from Google’s 2021 Year in Search summary (for the period before mid-November 2021) and Google’s Daily Search Trends page (from mid-November to December 20th) to illustrate the daily trends for each state.
It’s fascinating to see what Americans were looking up this year.
Trending Searches Offer a Glimpse of American Psyche
In the year when COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, many Americans turned to the world’s most popular search engine to figure out how to come back to a life of normalcy.
In 2021, the search entries spoke to people’s interest in alternative assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs, as well as persistent economic insecurity, evidenced by questions about when they would get their stimulus checks.
Entertainers and billionaires trended throughout the year, and so did topics of significant cultural impact at those moments in time.
Here is a look at the trending searches of 2021 and when they were searched most:
Topic | Trending Months | Category |
---|---|---|
Biden | January | Political Figure |
Capitol | January | Monuments |
Mega Millions | January | Culture |
GME | January | Gaming |
Dogecoin | January, April, May | Cryptocurrency |
The Weeknd | February | Entertainment |
Valheim | February | Gaming |
Power Outage | June, July, August | Society |
Stimulus Check | March | Society |
Lil Nas X | March | Entertainment |
DMX | April | Entertainment |
Prince Philip | April | Famous Personalities |
Jake Paul | April, August | Content Creator |
AMC Stock | May, June, August | Entertainment |
Jeff Bezos | July | Businessman |
Simone Biles | July | Athlete |
Afghanistan | August, September | Country |
Hurricane Ida | August | Climate Change |
Gabby Petito | September | Crime |
Squid Game | October | TV Shows |
Alec Baldwin | October | Actor |
Travis Scott | November | Entertainment |
Kyle Rittenhouse | November | Crime |
Adele | November | Entertainment |
Tornado | December | Climate Change |
Elon Musk | December | Businessman |
Notable Trending Searches in 2021
Here’s a look at a few of the notable searches that trended across the U.S. in 2021:
President Biden and Capitol
Unsurprisingly, the year started with news of the presidential election and the U.S. Capitol riot, as President Biden was set to take office.
In six states, however, the top trending search was still related to the Mega Millions jackpot, even as individuals stormed the Capitol Building.
Valheim
One of the most sought-after games of the year, Valheim, came on the market in February, 2021. By August, it had garnered over 8 million users. The developing company’s new Hearth and Home patch has skyrocketed the game’s appeal even more.
Stimulus Check
In March, the U.S. government unveiled their plan to distribute the third stimulus check to Americans.
People started looking for more information about when they would be getting their checks and if there had been any changes in the amount they would receive.
Dogecoin
Created in 2013 as a parody of Bitcoin, Dogecoin saw record trading levels in May 2021. This was in part due to Elon Musk supporting the cryptocurrency.
The Dogecoin market capitalization surged to a peak of $88 billion, worth more than three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500.
AMC Stock
After suffering significant losses due to the pandemic-related shuttering of theaters across the country, AMC Entertainment became a fan favorite of Reddit-based retail traders who drove the share price up beyond what most analysts considered reasonable.
AMC’s stock price rose by 95% in a couple of days, reaching a record high of $63 per share. This was the latest phase of the meme stock frenzy.
Afghanistan
President Biden decided to completely withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11th, 2021, ending the longest war the country has ever fought.
As an immediate consequence of the withdrawal, the Taliban militia took over the country and the government. The event, which was broadcast in near real-time, caused widespread panic among the citizens as some attempted to flee the country.
What’s in Store for 2022
It’s going to be everyone’s best guess as to what the trending searches for 2022 will be. Based on the events that dominated the news throughout the year, a few predictions could be made.
Experts predict that we will be moving to an endemic stage of the pandemic, which is bound to profoundly impact how we live in 2022.
New trends, movies, TV shows, and even newer gadgets will surely catch everyone’s attention next year. It will be fascinating to see what’s on the minds of people in the coming 12 months.
Automotive
The Most Fuel Efficient Cars From 1975 to Today
This infographic lists the most fuel efficient cars over the past 46 years, including the current leader for 2023.

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars From 1975 to Today
When shopping for a new car, what is the most important factor you look for? According to Statista, it’s not design, quality, or even safety—it’s fuel efficiency.
Because of this, automakers are always looking for clever ways to improve gas mileage in their cars. Beating the competition by even the slimmest of margins can give valuable bragging rights within a segment.
In this infographic, we’ve used data from the EPA’s 2022 Automotive Trends Report to list off the most fuel efficient cars from 1975 to today.
Editor’s note: This is from a U.S. government agency, so the data shown skews towards cars sold in North America.
Data Overview
All of the information in the above infographic is listed in the table below. Data was only available in 5-year increments up until 2005, after which it switches to annual.
Model Year | Make | Model | Real World Fuel Economy (mpg) | Engine Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1975 | Honda | Civic | 28.3 | Gas |
1980 | VW | Rabbit | 40.3 | Diesel |
1985 | Chevrolet | Sprint | 49.6 | Gas |
1990 | Geo | Metro | 53.4 | Gas |
1995 | Honda | Civic | 47.3 | Gas |
2000 | Honda | Insight | 57.4 | Hybrid |
2005 | Honda | Insight | 53.3 | Hybrid |
2006 | Honda | Insight | 53 | Hybrid |
2007 | Toyota | Prius | 46.2 | Hybrid |
2008 | Toyota | Prius | 46.2 | Hybrid |
2009 | Toyota | Prius | 46.2 | Hybrid |
2010 | Honda | FCX | 60.2 | FCEV |
2011 | BMW | Active E | 100.6 | EV |
2012 | Mitsubishi | i-MiEV | 109 | EV |
2013 | Toyota | iQ EV | 117 | EV |
2014 | BMW | i3 | 121.3 | EV |
2015 | BMW | i3 | 121.3 | EV |
2016 | BMW | i3 | 121.3 | EV |
2017 | Hyundai | Ioniq Electric | 132.6 | EV |
2018 | Hyundai | Ioniq Electric | 132.6 | EV |
2019 | Hyundai | Ioniq Electric | 132.6 | EV |
2020 | Tesla | 3 | 138.6 | EV |
2021 | Tesla | 3 | 139.1 | EV |
From this dataset, we can identify three distinct approaches to maximizing fuel efficiency.
Downsizing
Prior to 2000, the best way for automakers to achieve good fuel efficiency was by downsizing. Making cars smaller (lighter) meant they could also be fitted with very small engines.
For example, the 1985 Chevrolet Sprint was rated at 49.6 MPG, but had a sluggish 0-60 time of 15 seconds.
Hybrids
The 2000s saw the introduction of mass-market hybrid vehicles like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius. By including a small battery to support the combustion engine, automakers could achieve good MPGs without sacrificing so heavily on size.
While the Insight achieved better fuel economy than the Prius, it was the latter that became synonymous with the term “hybrid”. This was largely due to the Prius’ more practical 4-door design.
The following table compares annual U.S. sales figures for both models. Insight sales have fluctuated drastically because Honda has produced the model in several short spans (1999-2006, 2009-2014, 2018-2022).
Year | Insight Sales | Prius Sales |
---|---|---|
2005 | 666 | 107,155 |
2006 | 722 | 106,971 |
2007 | 3 | 181,221 |
2008 | - | 158,884 |
2009 | 20,572 | 150,831 |
2010 | 20,962 | 140,928 |
2011 | 15,549 | 136,464 |
2012 | 6,619 | 236,655 |
2013 | 4,802 | 234,228 |
2014 | 3,965 | 207,372 |
2015 | 1,458 | 184,794 |
2016 | 67 | 136,629 |
2017 | 3 | 108,661 |
2018 | 12,513 | 87,590 |
2019 | 23,686 | 69,718 |
2020 | 15,932 | 43,525 |
2021 | 18,685 | 59,010 |
2022 | 7,628 | 33,352 |
Source: goodcarbadcar.net
The Prius may have dominated the hybrid market for a long time, but it too has run into troubles. Sales have been declining since 2014, even setting historic lows in recent years.
There are several reasons behind this trend, with one being a wider availability of hybrid models from other brands. We also can’t ignore the release of the Tesla Model 3, which began shipping to customers in 2017.
Electric Vehicles
We’re currently in the middle of a historic transition to electric vehicles. However, because EVs do not use fuel, the EPA had to develop a new system called MPGe (miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent).
This new metric gives us the ability to compare the efficiency of EVs with traditional gas-powered cars. An underlying assumption of MPGe is that 33.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity is comparable to the energy content of a gallon of fuel.
The most fuel efficient car you can buy today is the 2023 Lucid Air, which achieves 140 MPGe. Close behind it is the 2023 Tesla Model 3 RWD, which is rated at 132 MPGe.
Check out this page to see the EPA’s top 10 most efficient vehicles for 2023.
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