Report: Salt Lake City has most gamers per capita

There's no doubt that the US has embraced gaming in the industry's rise to the mainstream, but which cities get their game on more than others? Research firm Scarborough Research sought to answer that question by finding out which metropolitan regions had the highest percentage of console-owning households.

Across the US as a whole, Scarborough Research found that 24 percent of American homes own a gaming console. A list of Scarborough Research's findings by region is below.

Leading the list was Salt Lake City, Utah, with 32 percent of homes owning at least one "video game system." Lexington, Kentucky, Flint, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio, were right behind Salt Lake City with 30 percent of households owning a gaming system, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News, Virginia, were in third with 29 percent.

Bringing up the rear were four regions from the Sunshine State, suggesting that warm weather and beaches are gamers' kryptonite. The Fort Meyers/Naples, Florida, area was dead last with only 15 percent of households picking up a controller. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale ended up second to last with 19 percent, and West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce and Tampa/St. Petersburg tied for third to last with 20 percent.

Scarborough also researched retailers and discovered that Wal-Mart is the number one audio/video retailer for US gaming households to make a purchase (the research did not say the purchase had to be game-related). One-third of households that own a console "have made a purchase" at the megaretailer in the past year. Best Buy (30 percent), Target (16 percent), Circuit City (15 percent), and Radio Shack (7 percent) rounded out the top five audio/video stores.

City or Region / Percentage of console-owning homes
Salt Lake City / 32
Lexington / 30
Flint/Saginaw/Bay City / 30
Toledo / 30
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton / 29
Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News / 29
Indianapolis / 28
Green Bay/Appleton / 28
Atlanta / 28
Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto / 28
Chicago / 27
Tulsa / 27
Wichita/Hutchinson / 27
Baltimore / 27
Syracuse / 26
Honolulu / 26
Denver / 26
Cincinnati / 26
Rochester / 26
Portland / 26
Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem / 26
Mobile/Pensacola / 26
Las Vegas / 26
Oklahoma City / 25
Birmingham / 25
Providence/New Bedford / 25
Kansas City / 25
Houston / 25
Des Moines/Ames / 25
Charleston/Huntington / 25
Detroit / 25
Columbus / 25
Raleigh/Durham / 25
Albany/Schenectady/Troy / 25
Austin / 25
Seattle/Tacoma / 25
Nashville / 25
Louisville / 24
Washington, DC / 24
Fresno/Visalia / 24
Pittsburgh / 24
Dayton / 24
Cleveland/Akron / 24
Memphis / 24
Dallas/Fort Worth / 24
Phoenix / 24
Roanoke/Lynchburg / 24
Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek / 24
Philadelphia / 23
San Diego / 23
Los Angeles / 23
Buffalo / 23
San Antonio / 23
Milwaukee / 23
Jacksonville / 23
El Paso / 22
New York / 22
Minneapolis/St. Paul / 22
Knoxville / 22
Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville/Anderson / 22
St. Louis / 21
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York / 21
Boston / 21
Spokane / 21
Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne / 21
Albuquerque/Santa Fe / 21
Richmond/Petersburg / 21
Hartford/New Haven / 21
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose / 21
Charlotte / 20
Tucson / 20
West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce / 20
Tampa/St.Petersburg / 20
Miami/Ft.Lauderdale / 19
Fort Myers/Naples / 15