Where the Card Shows Are: A State-by-State Look

Card shows aren't spread evenly across the country. Right now, Card Shows Nearby has 327 upcoming shows listed across 42 states — and just three of them, New Jersey, Florida, and Pennsylvania, account for more than a third of the total calendar.

The top five

New Jersey leads with 43 upcoming shows, a mix of one-day VFW and Elks lodge shows plus recurring monthly and weekly events. Florida is close behind with 35, Pennsylvania has 33, Massachusetts has 31, and Connecticut rounds out the top five with 26. New York (22), Ohio (17), and Georgia (10) follow.

Density isn't the same as quality

A state with fewer shows on the calendar doesn't mean a worse hobby scene — it can just mean fewer, bigger events instead of a high volume of small ones. Pennsylvania's biggest upcoming show, the Sports Cards, TCGs & Non-Sports Card Convention in York (Oct 31st–Nov 1st), lists 700 tables. New Jersey's biggest, the Cherry Hill Card Expo (Nov 28th–29th), lists 225. Both states are active, they're just shaped differently.

What this means if you're traveling

If you live in or near the Northeast corridor — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut — you have the shortest odds of finding a show within a short drive on any given weekend. If you're further out, it's worth checking the calendar a month or two ahead rather than the week of, since shows in lower-density states tend to be spaced out more.

If your state feels light

Every state's show count on this site reflects what's actually been submitted and confirmed, not what's really happening on the ground — there are almost certainly local shows in every state that just haven't been listed yet. If you run one, or know of one that isn't on here, submitting it takes a couple of minutes and helps close that gap for collectors near you.