As the saying goes, everybody poops, although not everybody poops at the same rate. While some people may find themselves needing to go number two multiple times a day, others may only need to poop once every two or three days. With such a big difference in pooping habits from one person to the next, the team at All American Waste Services Inc. surveyed people across the country about their daily bowel movements to determine which state poops the most.
The AAWSI team surveyed 1,277 people from around the United States, asking them two questions: “How often do you poop?” and “In which state do you live?”, to determine which state's residents are visiting the porcelain throne the most often. Explore our map of adorable dookies below to see which U.S. state came out on top of the pile with the highest average number of poops each day.
The state that poops the most is Michigan, with the people from Michigan pooping an average of 2.182 times each day. With Michigan known for its Coney Island Hot Dogs, Cornish Pastries, and Mackinac Island fudge; it’s no wonder the people there are pooping a lot! When it comes to going number two, Idaho just barely falls short of Michigan coming in at number two with an average of 2.177 poops per day. An interesting trend we noticed across the map of American poop rates is that states in the northern half of the country tend to poop more than the southern states.
According to the results of our poop survey, the state that poops the least is Missouri with an average of 1.131 poops a day. That means the people of Missouri poop nearly half as often as the people of Michigan do each day. Missouri’s official state dessert is the ice cream cone, could this dairy delight be the reason people there are pooping less than the rest of America?
If you’ve ever wondered how many times should you poop each day to be considered healthy, you’ll be happy to know there is no set number. The healthy range for pooping each day can extend from three times a day to just once every three days. Every human body is different and factors like the type of food eaten or digestive issues can play a part in the rate of speed at which food is digested and eliminated from the body. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common digestive disorder affecting 10-15% of Americans that can play a large part in how often someone has to go poop. While Americans with a diet full of fiber-rich foods tend to hit the bathroom more often than those with poorer diets.
With millions of Americans pooping one to two times each day, where does all of the fecal waste go? Once flushed, poop and wastewater flow through the pipes that make up your city’s sewage system. These pipes lead to a sewage treatment plant where the wastewater is treated with chemicals to remove harmful bacteria and foreign materials. Once it has been cleaned to the point that it will not cause environmental issues, the treated sewage water is released into local waterways such as a river or the ocean. Don’t worry though, these waterways are regularly tested for water pollution brought on by sewage water that has not been properly treated. Some U.S. states even allow recycled and treated sewage water to be used for agricultural irrigation.
As you can see from the results of our survey, Americans poop a fair amount each day. Keep this in mind when it comes to planning and executing any event to ensure you have enough of the proper facilities in place for when people need to answer nature’s call. Whether it’s standard Port-A-Potties for a public event or an aesthetically pleasing Mobile Restroom Trailer for something classier, All American Waste Services Inc. has a wide variety of mobile restroom options to make your event a success - without a long wait for the bathroom!
Rank | State | Average number of poops per day |
---|---|---|
1 | Michigan | 2.182 |
2 | Idaho | 2.177 |
3 | New Jersey | 1.960 |
4 | Iowa | 1.938 |
5 | Vermont | 1.903 |
6 | Illinois | 1.896 |
7 | Arizona | 1.893 |
8 | Wyoming | 1.798 |
9 | Virginia | 1.776 |
10 | Maine | 1.768 |
11 | Texas | 1.766 |
12 | Kentucky | 1.755 |
13 | Alaska | 1.750 |
14 | West Virginia | 1.743 |
15 | Washington | 1.701 |
16 | North Dakota | 1.700 |
17 | Kansas | 1.698 |
18 | Nebraska | 1.697 |
19 | California | 1.672 |
20 | New Hampshire | 1.661 |
21 | Tennessee | 1.597 |
22 | Connecticut | 1.591 |
23 | Oregon | 1.577 |
24 | Maryland | 1.552 |
25 | New Mexico | 1.545 |
26 | Colorado | 1.541 |
27 | Pennsylvania | 1.539 |
28 | Nevada | 1.529 |
29 | Minnesota | 1.516 |
30 | Arkansas | 1.512 |
31 | Alabama | 1.508 |
32 | Delaware | 1.503 |
33 | Georgia | 1.503 |
34 | Mississippi | 1.503 |
35 | Utah | 1.497 |
36 | Massachusetts | 1.485 |
37 | Wisconsin | 1.485 |
38 | South Dakota | 1.481 |
39 | Hawaii | 1.429 |
40 | Florida | 1.416 |
41 | New York | 1.411 |
42 | North Carolina | 1.406 |
43 | Oklahoma | 1.398 |
44 | Rhode Island | 1.357 |
45 | Louisiana | 1.348 |
46 | Ohio | 1.340 |
47 | South Carolina | 1.279 |
48 | Indiana | 1.252 |
49 | Montana | 1.233 |
50 | Missouri | 1.131 |
All American Waste Services Inc. surveyed 1,277 people from around the United States, asking them two questions: “How often do you poop?” and “In which state do you live?”
Due to state averages having been rounded, some states appear to be tied. Here are the true figures for those states: