Iowa Just Took Shocking Lead Over The Minnesota State Fair

I had to double-check to make sure I was seeing this right. In a national voting competition for the best state fair, the Iowa State Fair is somehow beating the Minnesota State Fair in the polls.

A Surprising Leaderboard

USA Today is holding its annual Reader’s Choice Awards, asking the public to vote for the best state fair in the country. When I looked at the current leaderboard, I was genuinely shocked.

Not only is the Minnesota State Fair not in the top spot, it's currently locked in a three-way battle with two rival state fairs. And with just over two weeks of voting left, every vote matters.

READ MORE: Popular Minnesota Pizzeria Profiled By Guy Fieri Now Opening New Location

Minnesota Slips to Second

At the moment, the Wisconsin State Fair is in third place, the Minnesota State Fair is sitting in second, and—believe it or not—the Iowa State Fair is in first. Yes, the Iowa State Fair.

Get our free mobile app

But Let’s Talk Numbers

To be fair, the Iowa State Fair does have some solid stats. It ranks sixth in the nation for total attendance and third for number of daily visitors. But even with those numbers, it doesn’t come close to what the Minnesota State Fair brings in.

Known as "The Great Minnesota Get-Together," our state fair ranks second in total attendance, just behind Texas, which has the advantage of running for 24 days. More impressively, Minnesota ranks first for average daily attendance. In 2019, the fair set a new overall attendance record with 2.1 million visitors. Last year alone, five new daily records were broken.

Compare that to Iowa, which set its own attendance record last year with 1,182,682 people. Not bad, but Minnesota had its biggest year since 2019, drawing 1,925,904 people through the gates.

Time to Rally, Minnesota

So now it’s up to us. Minnesota, we need to rally the troops and vote. The Minnesota State Fair deserves to be at the top, and we can’t let Iowa walk away with the crown, not when it comes to the best state fair in the U.S.