Here are the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes in every region of America

Thanksgiving Dinner — (Image credit: bhofack2/Getty Images)

Thanksgiving turkeys are fairly universal in America, but favorite side dishes vary a lot by region, FiveThirtyEight poll results reveal. The Northeast and Midwest opt for vegetables — squash and green beans, respectively — while the Southeast, the Great Lakes area, and Texas and its neighbors reach for various carbs.

The West Coast is the big outlier, picking salad. Yes, salad.

Dessert preferences also vary by region. Everyone eats pumpkin pie, but you're more likely to find apple pie on the East Coast, cherry in the West and Midwest, and pecan and sweet potato in southern climes.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.