Which Emojis Are Most
Associated With Which Cities?
It’s the question we’ve all been asking since the dawn of emoji. So in order to celebrate #WorldEmojiDay the team at Talkwalker took a look at the data.
A note on methodology: These results are recreatable to anyone with access to Talkwalker’s Quick Search, and should also be replicable on other social listening platforms. The search formula is this:
City Name + Common Misspellings + Common Nicknames or Sobriquets + Maximum of 3 Landmark Attractions in that City
Finally – did you know the most popular emoji is the 😂 followed closely by ❤️. Yes, we are all 😂’ing our way to carpal tunnel syndrome. In fact it was the most popular emoji for the majority of cities we searched for. We have excluded those two emoji from our results in order to show a greater variety between the cities.
Before we proceed, special props should be given to the good citizens of Denver (most popular: 🚨) and Chicago (most popular: 💜) for bucking the “crying tears of joy” trend.
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Boston
It’s lit in Boston! The most popular emoji is the 🔥 emoji. Boston is suffering through a particularly average sports season, with only two championships in the last 13 months. The Celtics didn’t live up to expectations and the Red Sox are only half-defending their World Series crown, otherwise we could expect the ☘️ and ⚾ to hold more prominent positions. As TB12 looks to his retirement and Canton, I wonder if we’ll see more 🏈 and 👤 coming out of the Hub.
New York
As the only city in the US with an emoji for one of it’s most iconic destinations, it’s no surprise you can equate NYC with 🗽. A small 🍎 stands in for the Big 🍎. Elsewhere we see the 💜 had a spike of usage on May 22nd – Fleet Week. We’ll see this emoji again. No 🍕 or 🐀 to describe New York though? Maybe you haven’t been recently.
Philadelphia
Philly’s most identifiable emoji is also the 🔥, right next to the 💯 so we can assume it’s lit and ‘delphians are keeping it real. The 🦅 made it, representing the city’s team, but it’s surprising not to see a 🔔. Maybe Philly’s residents need to lobby for a cheesesteak emoji if they don’t like their bell.
Miami
The 🌴 immediately catches the eye. Very appropriate. The ☀️, the 🔥, the 🚨 (Bad Boys anyone?) all seem like they belong too. But where’s the Cuban sandwich? South Beach gets itself in the conversation with 🍾. It’s surprising there’s no love for the UMiami 🐊. Or do you think U Miami fans are very discerning about their emoji and refuse to use 🐊 because it’s technically a crocodile?
Nashville
There it is, honky-tonk in an emoji word cloud. Who even knew that was possible? Doesn’t Nashville look like fun? Surprising that Nashville Hot Chicken only made it in the form of 🔥 not 🐔 or 🍗.
New Orleans
How convenient that the New Orleans Saints logo is also an emoji: ⚜️. The 🏈 is used less often which we can take to mean that ⚜️ is all the context you need to describe the team. Elsewhere the 🎉 and 🔥 indicate the kind of fun you’d expect from Bourbon Street but weirdly the 🥃 didn’t make the cut. Shout out to New Orleans for their love of drama and street parades: 🎭 shows up frequently around Mardi Gras.
Chicago
The first thing to note is that Chicago got the 🍕 in there. Is it really a victory if you always have to always clarify that it’s Chicago style pizza? No one else’s pizza needs that disclaimer. Also, the city has not one but two ☂️ emoji! Like the umbrella wasn’t enough – Chicago wants us to know it can be wet too ☔! Lastly, the purple heart in the middle – that comes from Soldier Field, home of the Bears.
The 💜 is widely used across the country to mean soldiers, but maybe we as a society could give them some acknowledgement before they earn a Purple Heart?
Austin, TX
🔥 🚨 feels very Texan. If you don’t think so, maybe the hook ‘em horns 🤘 will change your mind. Austin’s reputation as a city for concerts, events and festivals shines here with three different types of 📸 emoji. Lastly, there’s no barbeque emoji, and you really feel its absence here.
Denver
💰 and 💵 reflect Denver’s booming economy and 🚨, Denver’s most popular emoji, is being used to make lots of announcements about new businesses and housing openings. 🔥 shows approval of these spaces. Elsewhere, the Nuggets get some love with a 🏀 and lots of people in the Mile High City seem to be suffering from altitude sickness and just want to go ⬇️.
Las Vegas
Vegas, baby! Sin 😈 City. 🔥 leads to the full range of emotions. When you’re up 🎰 you make plans to move to Vegas and do this everyday 😍. And then the pendulum swings back around and you are just another loudly crying face in the crowd 😭.
Los Angeles
The weather’s always 🔥 in LA right? The ☀️ and 🌴 attest to that. ✨ makes a strong showing, a reflection of the stars in Hollywood or how superficial everyone is? The 🇺🇸 flag is also prominent, maybe you think it’s related to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA”. After more digging it is not about her song, but the sentiment in the song: I made it to Tinseltown and I need to announce my arrival! Everyone from French tourists to Manchester United uses the flag to announce their arrival at LAX.
San Francisco
😭 Someone left their heart in San Francisco, but with three emoji coming through with hearts (including the excluded ❤️!) maybe the Summer of Love 2.0 is here. 🌈 agrees. Elsewhere we have the 🌉 and 🌁 which are technically “bridge at night” and “foggy” but we all know what they’re referencing.
Seattle
Seattle does a good job of masking its reputation as a rainy city with ☀️ and ❄️. Chicago should take note. The most popular emoji is ✨- sparkles. That’s appropriate for the so-called Emerald City.
😎 😎 😎
