Wildest Gallup Finding Ever? Exactly 13% Say They Like to Avoid the 13th Floor

By: E&P Staff Many people have a fear of the number 13 -- witness the "Friday the 13th" phenonenom. There's even a name for it: triskaidekaphobia. It's no laughing matter for builders, who often avoid labeling a 13th floor in office structures and hotels.

So Gallup decided to find out how many American say they really would like to avoid the 13th floor. It turns out it's a minority, but the exact number is pretty wild: 13%.

The February survey asked over 1,000 people how much it would bother them to stay on the 13th floor of a hotel. Some 87% said it would not, but "exactly 13% of those interviewed say it would bother them," Gallup reports. And 3 out of 4 of them would ask to be moved. .

Women were slightly more likely to feel that way than men.