The Top Searched Crime Podcast by State

Security is a serious business. Maintaining safety and preventing crime are bedrock requirements of a civil society. Averting these threats requires understanding and countering the psychology of nefarious intent – the criminal mind.

Criminal behavior is fascinating, not only for a security company, but for the broader public in general. There is a reason the Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, published in 1866, is still considered one of the greatest novels of the modern era – it’s a captivating look inside corrupt logic of the offender’s conscience. The public continues to have a fascination with crime and the justice system. Stories of criminals being caught and punished have been the basis for TV series, movies, books, and of course, podcasts.

True Crime podcasts have become immensely popular over the past few years. From classics like “Serial” to the shorter stories about specific crimes like “Dirty John” and “Doctor Death”, these podcasts delve into mysteries and the cause and effect of different crime types.

We’re fans of these True Crime podcasts, not only because the subject is related to our industry, but because we find them seriously compelling! So, we decided to see which crime podcasts are most popular in each state based on search volume. Our team compiled a list of all of the crime podcasts we could find on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and evaluated the search volume for each of them by state. If you’re wondering which crime podcast your state is obsessed with, you can check out the results below!

There was a great deal of variation in the podcast search volume. Even the better-known podcasts, such as “Serial” and “My Favorite Murder”, didn’t dominate more than a few states. People’s crime interests seem to vary widely, from podcasts about specific crimes like “The Man in the Window” to “The Shrink Next Door” as well as weekly podcasts about a specific type of crime like “Morbid” or “Crime in Sports”.

In many cases, the podcasts discuss serial killers or sudden death, but there are a few that discuss different types of crimes. “The Dropout” examines fraud and business crime. “Dr. Death” explores both issues in the healthcare system and the question of whether a doctor can be prosecuted for the way he practices medicine. All in all, it seems like the public doesn’t discriminate when it comes to crime podcasts – all they want to hear is an interesting story with reliable information. (Us too!)

The topical preferences of favorite crime podcast varied across regions. The Northeast loved “Dirty John”, the story of a sociopathic con man. The Midwest loved “In the Dark”, an investigative journalism podcast that explores a different violent crime each season. The South loves “Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia”, the story of a cult turned murderous, and the West is more partial to “Morbid”, which does a variety of subjects on all things spooky and scary.

The nationwide winner for most prominent crime podcasts was “Generation Why”. This is one of the first major crime podcasts to become popularized, and it has over 300 episodes, so there’s plenty of content for people to dig into! Seven states had “Generation Why” as their most popular podcast based on search volume. In each episode, the hosts Aaron and Justin discuss theories on unsolved murders, controversies, and mysteries, and they’ve been doing it since 2012. Just behind “Generation Why” was “Morbid”, which had the highest search volume in six states.

Finally, there was a five-way tie for third place with 3 states apiece. “Dr. Death”, “Dirty John”, “Root of Evil”, “Room 20”, and “In the Dark”. Although most of these podcasts covered violent crime, there are a few popular podcasts that look at business crime, such as “Swindled” or “The Dropout”.

Speaking of business crime, crime is in fact our business – well, preventing it anyway. No matter what type of business you’re in, you want to be sure that your office, property, and employees are protected from any “bad guys” who might try to exploit weaknesses in your security. That’s why we’re here!

If you’re looking for a security system, be it access control, video surveillance, or identity management for your business, contact us here. Our team would love to help!



