Prepared for a zombie apocalypse? If you live in these states, you're toast!

TEL AVIV, Israel — Watching a zombie apocalypse movie can be a great way to kill some time, pun intended. However, a new survey finds plenty of Americans are actually prepping for the day their local streets are full of the walking dead. In fact, one in four don't think it's unusual to prepare for a real-life zombie apocalypse.

The poll of over 1,000 Americans, commissioned by Insuranks.com, also finds that more than one in 10 people have stockpiled food just in case zombies become a real thing. Moreover, 58 percent of respondents think a zombie apocalypse will occur within the next 30 years. Another 12 percent think such a catastrophe will take place over a century from now and 11 percent actually think zombies already exist.

As for where this world-ending event will take place, it turns out that the nation's most populated states will be the most likely “zombie outbreak” hotspots. California tops the list, with crowded states like Florida, New York, Texas, and Georgia rounding out top five.

Where can you survive the impending zombie invasion?

To find out which states would make a good sanctuary from a horde of the walking dead, researchers analyzed more than 1,200 Google search terms related to preparing for a zombie apocalypse. The team also compared those results to each state's population, revealing that Americans in Wyoming appear to have zombies on the mind a lot! The Equality State ranks number one in terms of being most prepared for the oncoming zombie invasion.

If you prefer to move somewhere a little more remote than the middle of the country, try Alaska, which ranked second on the list. Vermont, North Dakota, and South Dakota rounded out the top five most prepared states in the nation — which is great news if you like snow, Mount Rushmore, and hate the undead.

Unfortunately, the news isn't so great for your friends who live in big cities, who will likely be overrun by their zombified neighbors. As if the state doesn't have enough problems already, California comes in as the least prepared for a zombie invasion. Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania round out the bottom of the zombie preparedness list.

What's your weapon of choice?

For those who are already counting the days until they'll need to start slaying armies of zombies at their door, Americans say their go-to zombie-killing weapon is a shot gun. In true “Walking Dead” fashion, handguns, baseball bats, machetes, and crossbows top the list of favorite zombie-slaying weaponry. Other Americans also chose swords, axes, knives, and even a grenade — good luck finding those in your local sporting goods store.

Overall, 53 percent of Americans think they have what it takes to kill a zombie. In fact, these cold-blooded action heroes claim they could take down an average of 39 zombies a day.

So, where do people get all of their zombie-surviving knowledge? It turns out Americans think “The Walking Dead” offers the most realistic portrayal of a real-life zombie apocalypse. The TV series beat out zombie moves “28 Days Later,” “World War Z,” and “I Am Legend” on this list.

No matter where you get your zombie-killing tips, there's no question Americans have the undead on the brain — pun intended, again. Between March 2019 and March 2021, researchers found that there was a staggering 2,082-percent increase in Google searches about “preparing for zombie apocalypse.”

Survey methodology:

To rank the states, Insuranks.com analyzed 1,289 Google search terms relating to zombie apocalypses from January 2019 through December 2022. Researchers looked at the average number of monthly searches and compared it to each state’s population, per 100,000 residents.

In January 2023, Insuranks surveyed 1,047 Americans to get their feedback on zombies and preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Respondents were 48% female, 49% male, and 3% non-binary/non-conforming, with an age range of 18 to 79 and an average age of 40.