This Is The Safest Hideout in a Zombie Apocalypse, According to Statistics

If a zombie apocalypse broke out tomorrow, where would you go?

Some might fantasize about barricading themselves inside a shopping mall, much like in Dawn of the Dead, while others may prefer the comfort of a well-stocked pub, drinking away their last days.

But here’s the problem—neither of these plans would work.

According to a team of Cornell University statisticians, who modeled the spread of a fictitious zombie plague across the United States, densely populated areas like cities and shopping centers would be the first to fall.

Their research revealed that the best place to hide wouldn’t be a bunker, a military base, or even an underground shelter.

Instead, your best shot at survival is in the remote wilderness—specifically, the Northern Rocky Mountains in Montana or parts of Canada.

Why?

Because population density is the key factor in how fast the infection spreads.

Their simulation showed that in a city like New York, a zombie outbreak would explode within days, but in a rural area, it could take months before the first zombie even arrives.

So, if you want to live to see another day, forget the malls and pubs—it’s time to head for the mountains.

The Science Behind the Apocalypse

This zombie outbreak model wasn’t just a fun thought experiment.

The researchers at Cornell University actually used it to gain insights into how real diseases spread.

Their study, presented at the American Physical Society March Meeting in 2015, simulated an epidemic with a population of roughly 300 million people.

Each person could be in one of four states:

Human (uninfected)
Infected (bitten, soon-to-be zombie)
Zombie (actively spreading the infection)
Dead zombie (neutralized threat)

The simulation tracked random interactions between these groups.

If a human encountered a zombie, the likelihood of infection was calculated.

Humans could also fight back, slowing the spread, but the results were still grim.

“We… discover that for ‘realistic’ parameters, we are largely doomed,” the researchers bluntly concluded.

This wasn’t just about zombies.

The same principles apply to real-world pandemics—the more people interact in close quarters, the faster a disease spreads.

Forget What You’ve Seen in the Movies

Hollywood has given us plenty of bad survival advice when it comes to zombies.

Barricading yourself inside a mall? Bad idea. It’s a zombie trap with limited escape routes.
Heading for a military base? Also risky. If the soldiers are overwhelmed, you’ll be trapped.
Finding an underground bunker? Works temporarily—until you run out of supplies.

Instead, the researchers discovered that survival hinges on geography.

The more remote you are, the longer you have to prepare, and the less likely you are to be overrun.

As lead author Alex Alemi explained:

“Given the dynamics of the disease, once the zombies invade more sparsely populated areas, the whole outbreak slows down—there are fewer humans to bite, so you start creating zombies at a slower rate.”

Essentially, if you can get far enough away from people, you can outlast the initial wave of infection.

Why the Northern Rocky Mountains Are the Best Place to Hide

If you’re in New York City when the apocalypse begins, you have about 24 hours before chaos erupts.

The subways, streets, and apartment buildings will turn into a death trap.

But if you can make it out of the city and into a rural area, the situation changes drastically. According to the study:

Cities would be overrun within days.
Small towns would take weeks to fall.
Remote mountain areas might not see zombies for months.

The Northern Rocky Mountains—specifically, areas in Montana and parts of Canada—were identified as the best locations to wait out the apocalypse.

The low population density, combined with the rugged terrain, means that zombies would struggle to reach survivors.

And here’s the most important part—time is your greatest weapon.

If you can avoid infection for long enough, zombies might eventually decompose or starve, depending on how they function biologically.

But What If Zombies Are Faster Than We Expect?

Here’s the catch: not all zombies are the same.

If they are slow, shuffling creatures like in The Walking Dead, then the Cornell model holds up.
If they are fast, aggressive monsters like in World War Z, then even remote areas may not be safe.

The researchers factored in different speeds of infection, but one thing remained clear: urban areas are always the most dangerous.

“The project was an overview of modern epidemiology modeling, starting with differential equations to model a fully connected population, then moving on to lattice-based models, and ending with a full US-scale simulation of an outbreak across the continental US,” the researchers explained.

In every scenario, rural and mountainous areas were the last to fall—if they fell at all.

Can This Research Actually Help Us in Real Life?

You might be wondering: Why did scientists waste time on a zombie model?

The truth is, this research is incredibly useful for understanding how real-world pandemics spread.

In fact, both the Pentagon and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have used zombie outbreak scenarios for disaster preparedness training.

A zombie plague might be fiction, but the lessons from this study apply to real infectious diseases.

The same factors that determine how fast a zombie virus spreads also apply to:

COVID-19 and respiratory viruses
Ebola and other highly infectious diseases
Bioterrorism and biological warfare threats

Governments and public health agencies use similar models to determine where to deploy medical resources, how to enforce quarantines, and which areas are most at risk.

So while zombies aren’t real (yet), the strategies for survival are very real.

What Should You Do If the Apocalypse Hits?

If a zombie outbreak actually happened, your best course of action is:

Get out of the city immediately—urban areas fall first.
Head for rural areas with low population density—zombies spread slower there.
Find a location with natural barriers (mountains, rivers, forests) to slow zombie movement.
Stock up on supplies—the longer you can stay isolated, the better.
Wait it out—if zombies are biological, they will eventually weaken or die.

And remember: If you hear about an outbreak, don’t waste time arguing. Move. Fast.

Because once the infection starts, it’s only a matter of time before civilization collapses.