Gilmore Girls: Who Is Rory's Best Boyfriend? A Statistical Analysis

There is one thing Gilmore Girlsfans love doing more than anything: debating who Rory Gilmore's (Alexis Bledel) best boyfriend is. Is it Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki), Rory's high school sweetheart who worshipped the ground she walked on? Or is it Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), the brooding bad boy who never said no to a good denim jacket and a great book? Or could it be Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry), Rory's college boyfriend with a big trust fund and a bigger heart?

After 20 years years of debate, the Gilmore Girls fandom has yet to come to a consensus, so we've turned to the ultimate problem-solver — math — to help figure this out. Dean, Jess, and Logan were each graded on a scale of 1 to 10 in a variety of crucial categories to prove once and for all who Rory's best boyfriend really is. Check out the surprising results below:

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Dean: Other than publicly breaking up with her in a humiliating manner (twice), Dean treated Rory exceptionally well. However, if this was about how Dean treated his wife Lindsay, we'd have a very different answer.
Score: 8

Jess: The problem with bad boys is that they're rarely concerned with how their actions affect your emotions. Like, say, when they move across the country without telling their girlfriend.
Score: 4

Logan: Overall, Logan was a pretty solid boyfriend who challenged and supported Rory. Sure, he also slept with an entire bridal party. But in his defense, Logan was under the impression that he and Rory were broken up.
Score: 6

Dean: Not only did Dean willingly spend time with his girlfriend's mother and put up with Rory and Lorelai's whimsy, but he was always polite and accommodating. He was the boyfriend every mother wants for their daughter, which is probably why it was that much harder for Lorelai to see Rory later fall for Jess.
Score: 7

Jess: There's no way to spin this: Jess was a jerk to Lorelai from the moment he met her. He stole a beer from her fridge that first night, and then when she tried to offer Jess some advice, he blew her off. Eventually, Rory was able to broker something of a peace between the two, but this relationship remained rather cold.
Score: 2

Logan: Logan had a tenuous relationship with his own family (see below), but he was able to win Lorelai over when he proved to her that he wasn't just the rich, spoiled son of a wealthy family and that he struggled with his own family's expectations. Later, he even asked Lorelai for permission to propose to Rory, which showed immense respect.
Score: 8

Dean: Dean had a great relationship with his family. So great, in fact, that his parents were even fine with Rory and Dean having dates at their house after Lindsay kicked him out.
Score: 8

Jess: The whole reason Jess came to Stars Hollow was because his mom didn't want to deal with him anymore. And while Jess initially treated Luke with the same disrespect he treated his mother, Jess eventually learned to love and respect Luke, Liz and — to an extent — even T.J.
Score: 5

Logan: Other than his sister, Logan had a terrible relationship with his family — and who could blame him? His parents, Mitchum and Shira, were incredibly controlling and always prioritized Logan's duties as an heir over Logan's own happiness.
Score: 2

Dean: He built her a friggin' car.
Score: 10

Jess: Jess wasn't great with his feelings, so it's no surprise his romantic gestures often caused their own set of problems. Take, for example, when he showed up at Yale and begged Rory to run away with him because he knew what was she wanted better than she knew herself. (Yikes.)
Score: 4

Logan: Logan definitely had a flair for the dramatic, staging a fake fight in one of Rory's classes to win her over and even hiring a personal coffee cart and barista to follow her around as an apology. However, big romantic gestures aren't exactly Rory's style. Know your audience, dude.
Score: 6

Dean: Dean is a skilled mechanic and a hard worker, but he never seemed to have any goals or a semblance of a career plan.
Score: 2

Jess: Jess was never academically motivated in high school, but after leaving Stars Hollow, he built a successful life for himself as an author and employee at a small publishing house.
Score: 8

Logan: Although Logan was a bit of a layabout in college, he turned it around after graduation and became extremely career-focused. And Logan's decision to leave his father's company and make it on his own was extremely courageous and proved he cared more about his professional integrity than simply making money.
Score: 8

Dean: It's not that Dean was dumb — he built Rory a car, which obviously took brain power that most of us don't have — but he wasn't particularly gifted in this area, and when you're surrounded by people like Rory, it shows.
Score: 4

Jess: What Jess lacked in people skills he more than made up for in intelligence. From book smarts to street smarts, he was often the most intelligent person in the room... he just didn't always care to show it.
Score: 9

Logan: Like Jess, Logan was fiercely intelligent — sometimes obnoxiously so if he felt threatened — and he usually put that intelligence to good use. In that sense, he was a perfect match for Rory.
Score: 9

Dean: Dean's clingy-ness is what almost cost him his relationship with Rory in the first place. But rather than grow wiser with time, Dean continued to take the easy way out: marrying Lindsay even though he loved Rory, not being mature enough to tell Lindsay about the affair, etc.
Score: 3

Jess: Jess' troubled childhood left him emotionally scarred, resulting in him often lashing out at others and distancing himself from those he cared about. However, Jess managed to get his feelings under control once he moved to Philly.
Score: 5

Logan: When Logan was good, he was good. But when he was bad, yikes. Under the influence of alcohol, Logan often became extremely irresponsible and even cruel. But he always did own up to his mistakes in the end.
Score: 5

Dean: Rory loved to share her favorite books and movies with Dean, but we have a strong feeling that he just went along with whatever she said as opposed to actually sharing her passions.
Score: 1

Jess: Are there two people who love books more than Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano? Probably not. But as much as Rory and Jess were on the same page when it came to reading (pun fully intended), he could never understand her earnest enjoyment of most other things.
Score: 7

Logan: Logan and Rory connected on so many levels. He shared her love of journalism, reading, academic debate — heck, he even loved Stars Hollow and cheesy-themed parties. On paper, they appeared to be a near-perfect match.
Score: 9

Dean: Dean was kind of a wet blanket. Sorry.
Score: 2

Jess: Though a man of few words, Jess still had a great, sharp sense of humor — both in being able to joke with Rory and in his ability to poke fun at Stars Hollow — but he lost a point for sometimes taking things a bit too far, like when he outbid Dean at the Bid-A-Basket Festival. It was a dick move, even if it led to great conversation.
Score: 9

Logan: One of the Logan's best traits may have been his sense of humor, which was large, inviting, and daring. It pushed Rory out of her comfort zone, and although he sometimes went too far, he was almost always up for a laugh.
Score: 8

Dean: Before he was the strapping Sam to someone else's Dean on Supernatural, Padalecki's vibe on Gilmore Girls was a little too awkward and bland. Also: that hair (see below).
Score: 2

Jess: There were a few times we questioned Jess' decisions — that hair at the end of Season 4, for example — but for the most part, Jess' handsome face, great hair, and laidback overall attitude meant he was almost a perfect 10.
Score: 9

Logan: Though he may not have been everyone's type, Logan was a very attractive man, both in terms of looks and his charming personality. If Jess was the wild and reckless type, Logan was put-together and clean-cut — the preppy Yale boyfriend you'd expect.
Score: 8

Dean: To be fair, Dean dressed like most teenage boys in the early 2000s, so we could maybe forgive his apparent lack of style. But upon closer inspection, it's just too hard to forgive a boy who wore such a baggy leather jacket everywhere.
Score: 2

Jess: From his jeans and T-shirts to his black leather jacket and beanie, Jess nailed the sexy laidback look of a young man who didn't care what the world thought of him, but also knew he looked good. He could also pull off a sweater if the situation called for it. And the book in the back pocket was really just the icing on the cake.
Score: 9

Logan: Even a blind man could tell that Logan could rock a suit with the best of them, but if you look back at some of his other fashion choices — weird blazers over printed T-shirts — he made a few questionable decisions that we can't overlook.
Score: 7

Dean: As was the case with fashion, Dean was largely a victim of the poor styling choices of the early 2000s — the man had curtain bangs! Why did we ever think that was attractive? — and then he fell victim to that mane in Season 4 that could not be tamed. Basically, he never stood a chance.
Score: 1

Jess: Jess obviously takes the crown in this category. Even on the days that his hair wasn't bouncin' and behavin' his coif was still heads and shoulders above the rest. It was the kind of hair you just wanted to run your hands through (something Lane would understand all too well).
Score: 10

Logan: Logan's hair represented the style of the mid-2000s, and it was exactly what you'd expect from a clean-cut, wealthy student at Yale. It was fine — like, we have no real complaints! — but it also wasn't something to write home about.
Score: 7

And the winner is... Logan!

With a total of 83 out of a possible 120 points, Logan is statistically Rory's best boyfriend. This may come as a shock to many in the Gilmore Girls fandom, where Logan is quite the divisive figure. But while Logan undoubtedly has his faults, it's clear he's also the most well-rounded of the bunch.

Runner-up Jess put up a good fight, nearly tying Logan with 82 points. And while Jess flunked most of the categories dealing with relationships and maturity, he more than made up for it with his devastating good looks and charm.

Poor Dean. We doubt many Gilmore Girls fans are surprised to learn Rory's first boyfriend came in last place with only 52 points. Although he easily dominated the categories focused on his relationships with others, in the end, Dean is still the guy who's clingy, immature, thought women should stay home and cook, and, oh yeah, cheated on his wife!