This Country Is the Best at Wordle, According to One Study

Wordle has taken over the world and there’s one country that’s better than the rest at solving it. Any guesses which country it could be? Here’s a hint: it’s a six-letter word that starts with the letter S.

According to a study by search tool WordTips, Sweden is the top nation at solving Wordle puzzles, able to get the correct answer in 3.72 guesses on average. Included in the top five are Switzerland (3.78), Poland (3.79), and Australia and Belgium (3.80). America, though it only finished 18th in the world, still has a respectable 3.92 national average.

Taking a closer look at cities, Australia’s urban areas dominate, with Canberra having the highest Wordle average of 3.58 guesses, while Perth, Melbourne, and Adelaide, are included in the top 10. Other best-performing cities are Jerusalem, Malmö, Durban, Paris, Manila, and Geneva — all of which have scores no higher than 3.72.

The study also focuses on U.S. states. North Dakota is country’s top state when it comes to Wordle, with a 3.65 score. The second- and third-placers? Delaware and New Hampshire with 3.70 and 3.73, respectively (though another study found that Granite Staters cheat more than any other state). Other states didn’t do too bad, having scored 3.79 (South Dakota), 3.83 (Vermont and Minnesota), and 3.84 (New York), to name a few.

The U.S. states that are worst at Wordle? Nebraska and Alaska with a 4.22 average.

As for American cities, St. Paul in Minnesota is the best at Wordle with a score of 3.51 —though St. Paul isn’t included in the top cities list from earlier because it’s a small metro compared to the likes of Melbourne and Paris. 

And while Wordle might now be owned by the New York Times, the Big Apple struggles quite a bit with the puzzle. The study reported: “New York’s average score is 3.81, ranking the city #26 out of the 116 U.S. cities with available data.”