NEW YORK—At this point in 2020, who doesn’t want to talk about something sweet and cheery? How about ice cream and which flavors are most popular in the United States? We thought you would agree.

The polling group YouGov – in preparation for National Ice Cream Day back on July 19 – asked nearly 20,000 Americans what their favorite flavor of ice cream is. The top pick among U.S. adults is a classic: chocolate ice cream. Close to one in five (17 percent) Americans give the nod to chocolate as their favorite flavor. (More details on the YouGov poll are accessible here. 

So, not surprisingly, vanilla (15 percent) is also a popular choice, also, coming in ahead of strawberry (8 percent), mint chocolate chip (8 percent), butter pecan (8 percent), chocolate chip cookie dough (6 percent), and cookies n cream (6 percent).

Additional polling from YouGov found that the most popular topping is hot fudge, with 31 percent saying this is their favorite ice cream topping. Another 17 percent chose caramel, while 8 percent selected sprinkles.
As for cup vs. cone, Americans are torn: 36 percent say they usually order a cup, but an equal number (36 percent) typically order ice cream in a cone. About a quarter (26 percent) say they sometimes order a cone and sometimes order a cup.

National Ice Cream Day is typically celebrated on the third Sunday in July. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a presidential proclamation to establish July as Ice Cream Month.