States with the Most Cheaters in 2026

It’s a cheat code in a game to help get past a level—or sneaking a peek at a hint when you’re stuck in a game of solitaire. It’s a cookie after dinner when you said you were cutting out sugar. It’s a little white lie at the movie theater to pay the kid’s ticket price for your slightly older child. All of these may feel like small moments, but for many Americans this behavior adds up quickly.

At Solitaire Bliss, we know the importance of integrity. Not just when playing a game with friends, but even when you think no one is watching. That’s why we are once again checking in on the state of cheating across the U.S. in our fourth annual cheaters report.

Similar to recent studies, we surveyed Americans in each state and asked about various aspects of their life to learn where they cut corners. We then awarded points to each activity respondents admitted to cheating on and calculated a cheater score on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most cheating. Keep reading to learn where your state ranks among the rest.

Key Takeaways

• Iowa is home to the most cheaters in America in 2026.
• Americans are most likely to cheat on diets (77%) and schoolwork (71%).
• 73% of Americans who cheated on a partner regret it.
• 1 in 5 Americans admit they have purposely not scanned an item at self-checkout.
• 29% of Americans say they do not regret any of their cheating behaviors.
• Cheating on partners and diets are the most common areas Americans regret.

Where Americans Are Most and Least Guilty

Whether you slipped into a line ahead of a stranger or quietly abandoned a diet three days in, most of us have cut a corner somewhere. When we scored every state on how much its residents admit to cheating, Iowa came out on top with a score of 99.38 out of 100.

Iowa earned first place by cheating a little at almost everything rather than a lot at any one thing. Residents of the Hawkeye State are among the most likely in the country to cheat in a multiplayer game (50%), cheat on a partner (50%), cheat at a single-player game (52%), and cheat on schoolwork (82%). More than half (58%) also admit to cutting in front of someone in line.

Second in our ranking is Colorado with a cheater score of 98.46 out of 100, and its residents do their cheating at the store. Colorado leads the country in every retail behavior we asked about, skipping an item at self-checkout (43%), swapping tags or lying about a price (28%), and eating or drinking something while shopping without paying for it (25%). Colorado residents are also the most likely to hack a store or business rewards system for their own benefit (38%).

Coming in third for cheating is Oklahoma with a score of 98.31 out of 100, where the cheating gets a lot more personal. At 63%, Oklahoma residents are far and away the most likely in the country to admit they have cheated on a partner.

They are also among the most likely to cheat in a multiplayer game (51%) and to cheat on a health or lifestyle challenge (43%). Rounding out the top five are Georgia (91.38) and Illinois (89.85), where nearly half of residents admit to cheating on something work-related, at 48% and 49% respectively.

When it comes to cheating on a diet, we found Arizona residents are the most guilty by a wide margin (94%), followed by Louisiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma (86% each). Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma residents are the most likely to admit they have cheated on schoolwork, while New Jersey, South Carolina, and Louisiana residents are the most likely to cut in front of someone in line.

Looking at more serious forms of cheating, Oklahoma and Iowa residents were the most likely to have cheated in a romantic relationship. California, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio residents are the most likely to admit they have cheated on their taxes, with nearly 1 in 4 Californians reporting it.

On the other end of the spectrum, it's New Mexico residents leading the charge for honesty, ranking first for the least cheaters with a score of 71.54. New Mexico residents are the least likely in the country to cheat in a multiplayer game (18%) and among the least likely to cut in line (33%). This is followed by Tennessee in second place, home to the lowest rate of work-related cheating in the country (24%), with Oregon and Pennsylvania tied in third. Oregonians are the least likely to admit cheating on schoolwork (57%) or posting an altered photo (22%).

The Things People Cheat On Most

After learning where the cheating happens, we wanted to know what Americans are cutting corners on. Leading the way for the second year running is one many of us can relate to, cheating on a diet, which 77% of Americans admit to. Whether it's cutting out sugar or skipping dessert, dieting is hard, so if you find yourself tempted by a cheat day, you have plenty of company.

Ranking second is schoolwork, with 71% of Americans saying they have looked up an answer or otherwise cut a corner on an assignment. This is followed by cutting in front of someone in line, which nearly half of Americans (48%) admit to doing. Coming in fourth is lying about an age to meet an age requirement, reported by 42% of Americans, which includes those who lied about their own age (29%), those who lied about their child's age (9%), and those who have done both (5%).

Cheating at a single-player game ranks fifth with 41% reporting it, followed by cheating on a partner and cheating on something work-related, both at 39%. Among those who have cheated on a partner, 11% say it was emotional only, 6% say it was physical only, and 21% admit to both. Cheating in a multiplayer game and posting a photo or video with an altered appearance follow at 37% each, with cheating on a health or lifestyle challenge close behind at 31%.

A few of these habits split sharply by age. Schoolwork shows the steepest generational divide in the study, with 85% of Gen Z admitting to it compared to 49% of baby boomers. Taxes run the opposite direction, with 21% of baby boomers cheating on theirs, four times the 5% of Gen Z. Cheating on a partner also climbs with age rather than falling, peaking at 47% of Gen X against 25% of Gen Z.

Gender divides the list, too. Women are more than twice as likely as men to have posted an altered photo of themselves (48% versus 22%), the widest gap in the study, and they are more likely to have cheated on a diet (82% versus 70%). Men are far more likely to cheat at a single-player game (51% versus 35%), though that gap vanishes when another person is watching, with men and women cheating in multiplayer games at nearly identical rates (38% and 37%).

The Regrets That Come After Cheating

In the end, none of us are perfect, so we wanted to learn how Americans feel about their past cheating. While most had something they wished they had done differently, nearly 1 in 3 told us they have no regrets at all.

Cheating on a partner took first place for regret, with 29% of Americans saying they wish they hadn't. Cheating on a diet came second at 22%, followed by schoolwork at 18%. Almost nobody regrets cheating the IRS, with just 2% saying they feel bad about it.

Comparing regret to how many people actually did the thing makes the pattern sharper. Of the Americans who cheated on a partner, 73% regret it. Of those who cheated on a diet, only 28% do, and that falls to 25% of schoolwork cheaters, 14% of tax cheaters, and just 10% of the people who cheated at a single-player game.

While only 1% of Americans say they cheat more now than they used to, 11% admit they cheat about the same amount. On a more positive note, 83% say they cheat less now than they used to, up from 79% in last year's study. Gen Z is the only generation trending the wrong way, with 3% saying they cheat more than they once did.

Every Deal Is a Fresh Start

Most cheating doesn't start with anything dramatic. It starts with a small shortcut that feels harmless in the moment, and the instinct behind it doesn't really change as the stakes go up. Nudging your token an extra space in a board game and stretching the truth with someone you love are worlds apart in consequence. These typically come from the same place, though, wanting the outcome without taking the steps to earn it. The trouble is that shortcuts get easier every time you take one.

That's what makes a game like FreeCell or Spider Solitaire such a low-risk place to practice the honest version. No one is watching, no one gets hurt, and the only thing riding on it is whether you actually solved the board. At Solitaire Bliss, we think the game is better that way. So the next time you're tempted to cut a corner, it's worth asking what habit you're building, not just what you're getting away with.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn about the many different ways Americans cheat. To do this, we surveyed 2,021 Americans and asked a variety of questions including whether they have cheated at single-player and multiplayer games, cut in front of someone in line, cheated on a diet or a health and lifestyle challenge, and more. We then awarded points to each topic respondents admitted to cheating and calculated a cheater score by state on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most cheaters.

Finally, we compared this year's data to the data we collected in 2024 and 2025 to learn how Americans' cheating habits have changed in recent years. We then ranked areas of life people are cheating on more and less and how regret for cheating has changed since 2024.