Americans may share plenty of aches and pains, but their Google searches tell a different story. A study of U.S. search trends found that the over-the-counter medication people look up most depends on which state they call home.
Tums ranked first in more states than any other medication in a Marian University analysis of Google searches for 40 over-the-counter products, with digestive remedies and allergy, cough and congestion medicines dominating the results.
The analysis covered the 12 months ending July 2026 and identified the medication with the highest relative search interest among the selected terms in each state and Washington, D.C. Tums led in 11 states, followed by Sudafed in six states and the nation's capital. Pepto-Bismol, Tylenol and Nasonex each topped searches in four states, according to the university's published findings.
The results offer a geographic snapshot of interest in familiar medicine-cabinet products, although they do not show which drugs Americans buy or take most often. The rankings also cannot establish whether particular illnesses are more common in one state than another.
Regional differences emerged across the country. Tums was the most frequent state leader in the Midwest, Northeast and West, while Sudafed held that position in the South. Overall, 21 different medications finished first in at least one jurisdiction, spanning products associated with digestive problems, pain, respiratory symptoms, motion sickness, sleep and fungal infections.
Allergy, cough and congestion medicines formed the largest category, leading in 22 jurisdictions. Alongside Sudafed and Nasonex, the category included Benadryl, Delsym, Flonase, Mucinex, oxymetazoline and Sudafed PE Day + Night Sinus Congestion Tablets.
Digestive products followed with 20 first-place results. That group included Tums, Gas-X, Imodium A-D, Metamucil, MiraLAX, Pepcid AC and Pepto-Bismol.
Together, the respiratory and digestive categories accounted for 42 of the 51 state and district rankings, approximately 82%. That figure represents their share of first-place finishes, rather than their share of all medication searches.
Pain-relief products led in five jurisdictions, with Tylenol topping four states and Salonpas leading Nevada. Motion-sickness medicines finished first in Alaska and Hawaii, where Bonine and Dramamine led, respectively. Unisom ranked first in Utah, while Lotrimin took the top spot in Iowa.
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