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What are the most boring moments in the year in America?
Hello! Thanks for your question about boring months in America. The most useful sources I found to answer your question include life cycle event statistics and data research articles. The short version is that, while there is no pre-existing boring index that indicates which month is the most boring in the US, there are several statistics that can be combined to provide this information. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
In order to determine which month is the most boring, I researched the definition of boring. Because boredom often derives from a lack of interest or lack of activity, I started my research there. I took a look at statistics from major life events, including births, deaths, violent crime, weddings, divorce, major holidays, and combined the data to see if any months contained the least number of these events.
Below, I will expand on that data, indicating the most and least active months for each major life event I included above. From that research, I will determine, on average, the month that contains the least activity, which will determine the most boring months of the year in the US.
BIRTH & DEATH
The US has approximately 4 million births annually. However, the percentage of babies born from month-to-month varies. The fewest babies are born in February and April, with 299,235 babies born in February and 308,809 babies born in April, compared to the highest birth month, August, in which 362,798 babies are born.
The number of deaths in the US are more common in the winter. The months that averaged the highest number of deaths were January, December, and March. The months with the fewest deaths were September, June, and August.
VIOLENT CRIME
Across the US, violent crime sees an increase in the summer months. The FBI Governing Crime Reporting data includes murder, rape, assault, and robbery in these statistics. July and May contain the highest number of violent crimes committed. In February, the fewest violent crimes were committed.
MARRIAGE & DIVORCE
Similar to the birth rate, summer months are more popular times in which to be married. The top three months to marry in the US are June, August, and September. The the least popular months to marry are January and February.
Divorce rates, however, vary slightly. March and August are the two most popular months to divorce with a dip in the summer. December, January, and February are the least common months in which to file for divorce.
HOLIDAYS
How individuals celebrate and whether they celebrate particular holidays depend on culture, religious observance, and nationality. For the sake of our research, I've included religious and secular holidays to the data, paying particular attention to religious holidays observed by Christians, Jews, and Muslims, because they make up the vast majority of religious observers in the US. There was no other quantitative data to support the exact number of individuals who celebrate each holiday. Therefore, I included data on the number of holidays that take place each month, and ordered the months from highest to lowest number of holidays celebrated. For holidays that include two separate dates due do different observances, but are from the same religion (ex. Easter vs. Orthodox Easter), I only listed them as one holiday.
January: 4
February: 4
March: 3
April: 5
May: 7
June: 4
July: 1
August: 0
September: 5
October: 5
November: 4
December: 6
CONCLUSION
In looking at each of these categories, it becomes clear that one month consistently has the lowest number of occurrences in nearly every category--February. February has the fewest number of births, episodes of violent crime, weddings, and divorce filings. In the two categories in which it is not on the bottom, number of holidays and deaths, it is below average in activity. Therefore, due to the low number of major life events that take place in February, it becomes clear that February is the most boring month in the United States.
To wrap it up, February is the most boring month in the US. Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!