These Are the Most Popular Investment Apps in Every State (According to Google)

Investment apps and services have become more common and accessible in recent years, allowing motivated users to take greater control of their investing decisions. Apps of this kind, such as Robinhood, even played a starring role in one of the major financial news stories of the last year, the WallStreetBets subreddit/GameStop saga.  

In fact, Robinhood’s involvement in that story helped the company add over 6 million users in the first two months of 2021, an enormous increase given that the company was averaging just 200,000 new monthly users prior.

Robinhood isn’t the only investment app to receive a boost from the increased cultural interest in investing either. Another popular app, Acorns, grew their user base to more than 9 million people after adding 600,000 new accounts in the first six weeks of 2021. According to their founder, that growth rate represents the company’s biggest growth quarter on record.

Based on the level of demand these numbers indicate, it is no surprise more companies than ever before have been introducing and improving their investment platforms in recent years. Between existing platforms and companies looking to launch digital and app-based services, there have never been more choices available for interested investors. Some of these options are more popular than others, for any number of reasons. From the ease of use to user-friendly fees to greater investment possibilities, there are plenty of reasons to choose one app over another.

To better understand the investment app landscape in America, our team turned to Google Trends to find which of these platforms are most popular in every state.

The most popular investment app in every state

State	Most popular investment app
Alabama	TD Ameritrade
Alaska	M1 Finance
Arizona	JP Morgan Chase
Arkansas	Acorns
California	E-Trade
Colorado	Vanguard
Connecticut	Webull
Delaware	Stash
District of Columbia	Charles Schwab
Florida	Twine
Georgia	Acorns
Hawaii	Robinhood
Idaho	Stash
Illinois	M1 Finance
Indiana	JP Morgan Chase
Iowa	TD Ameritrade
Kansas	TD Ameritrade
Kentucky	Acorns
Louisiana	JP Morgan Chase
Maine	Acorns
Maryland	Robinhood
Massachusetts	Fidelity
Michigan	Acorns
Minnesota	Robinhood
Mississippi	Stash
Missouri	Twine
Montana	TD Ameritrade
Nebraska	TD Ameritrade
Nevada	E-Trade
New Hampshire	Fidelity
New Jersey	E-Trade
New Mexico	Robinhood
New York	JP Morgan Chase
North Carolina	Robinhood
North Dakota	Ally Invest
Ohio	JP Morgan Chase
Oklahoma	Stash
Oregon	Acorns
Pennsylvania	Vanguard
Rhode Island	Merrill Edge
South Carolina	Stash
South Dakota	Robinhood
Tennessee	Acorns
Texas	Robinhood
Utah	SoFi Invest®
Vermont	Vanguard
Virginia	E-Trade
Washington	tastyworks
West Virginia	Fidelity
Wisconsin	Ellevest
Wyoming	Acorns

We wouldn’t have been surprised if Robinhood had been the most popular investment app after the company’s high-profile involvement in the Gamestop saga. But another app that seeks to simplify investing snuck by them to take the crown in our analysis. That app is Acorns, the top-searched investment app in eight states, while Robinhood took the top spot in just six states.

While Robinhood became a household name and a trending topic for several weeks in January of 2021, Acorns’ success came via consistency. Acorns earned a more steady proportion of search volume over the course of the last year as opposed to getting a major but temporary boost in searches. This helped Acorns to earn the top spot in so many states. But while some negative publicity has seen search interest in Robinhood drop, it is still trending well ahead of 2020 in terms of average search popularity and may dominate these rankings in a year’s time.

Two other apps were most popular in at least five states, with the offerings from TD Ameritrade and JP Morgan Chase meeting that benchmark. Several other apps fell just short of the five-state threshold, as Stash and E-Trade were most popular in four states each. All told, 22 different investment apps were most popular in at least one state.

The most popular investment app in different regions of the country

Region	Most Popular App
Midwest	TD Ameritrade
Northeast	Vanguard
South	Acorns
West	E-Trade

We also used our data to determine which investment app is most popular in different regions of the country. We used standard classifications from the U.S. Census to determine which states belong in each of the four regions, and then found which app was most popular in the highest number of states in each region.

When looking at the data this way, we found a true diversity of opinion when it comes to investment app preferences around the country. Each region of America crowned a different app as most popular, with TD Ameritrade taking the Midwest and Vanguard the Northeast. Acorns was tops in the South, while E-Trade proved most popular in the West.

Evaluating top investment apps

Knowing which investment apps are most popular in different states is one thing. Understanding why these apps are popular is something else. Luckily, our team at FinanceBuzz has reviewed a number of the country’s most popular and best investment apps and can share insights into the pros and cons of each.

Acorns Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Great for new investors
• Does not require a large initial investment
• Automates investing
• Can automatically invest your spare change

Cons:

• You can pick how aggressive you want your investments to be but cannot choose specific stocks to invest in or avoid

Read our full Acorns review

Robinhood Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Offers commission-free trades
• Allows buying and selling of cryptocurrency
• No minimum investment level required to open an account
• Allows for options investing
• A good choice for new investors

Cons:

• Only available to investors in the United States
• Large investments may take several days to process before you can use funds for trading
• Certain kinds of stocks are not available on the platform

Read our full Robinhood review

Stash Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Offers helpful, educational material to users¹ <p> </p><p>Paid non-client endorsement. The paid partner received cash compensation of up to $150.00 (per cost per action) for providing this endorsement. Compensation creates an incentive for the individual to recommend Stash. Endorsements are not representative of the experience of all clients and are not guarantees of future performance or success. For a representative sample of client testimonials, refer to Apple App Store or Google Play reviews To begin investing on Stash, you must be approved from an account verification perspective and open a brokerage account (“Personal Portfolio”). Promotion offer is subject to <a href="https://lp.stash.com/personal-portfolio-5-first-deposit-offer-promoter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Terms and Conditions</a>.</p><p> </p><p>This material is not intended as investment advice and is not meant to suggest that any securities are suitable investments for any particular investor. Investment advice is only provided to Stash customers. All investments are subject to risk and may lose value. All product and company names are trademarks ™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.</p> <p>Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. This material has been distributed for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended as investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Investing involves risk.</p> <p>What doesn’t count: Cash withdrawals, money orders, prepaid cards, and P2P payment. See full terms and conditions.<br><br>Fractional shares start at $0.05 for investments that cost $1,000+ per share.</p>
• Offers users a tremendous variety of accounts and options for earning money
• Allows for purchasing of fractional stock shares
• Allows for round-up style investments

Cons:

• Does charge fees for certain features² <p class="">Stash offers access to investment and banking accounts under each subscription plan. Each type of account is subject to different regulations and limitations. Stash Monthly Subscription Wrap Fee starts at $3/month. You’ll also bear the standard fees and expenses reflected in the pricing of ETFs, plus fees for various ancillary services charged by Stash and/or the Custodian. Please see the <a href="https://cdn.stashinvest.com/disclosures/StashInvest_Advisory_Agreement.pdf" target="_blank">Advisory Agreement </a> for details. Other fees apply to the bank account. Please see the <a href="https://cdn.stash.com/disclosures/stride-deposit-account-agreement.pdf" target="_blank">Deposit Account Agreement</a>.<br></p>
• Requires a more hands-on approach than some platforms

Read our full Stash review

Still undecided? Read our comparison of Robinhood vs. Acorns vs. Stash to take a deeper dive.

For those interested in even more investment choices and education, be sure to check out our entire collection of investing reviews and our guide to investing basics.

Methodology

FinanceBuzz collected Google Trends search data on 48 different terms relating to various investing apps and platforms on May 11, 2021. The time frame for the collected data was set to “Past 12 months.” In the event of ties, terms were compared head-to-head within Google Trends to determine a winner.