15 Best American Cities for Pizza Lovers, and the 10 Worst
Pizza might as well be an honorary American dish given how much we adore it. According to a Gozney study, a whopping 93% of Americans reach for a cheesy pie when they don’t feel like cooking, and 31% would choose pizza as their final meal.
But here’s where the issue lies for some pizza lovers: Not all cities offer accessibility to abundant and tasty pizza shops. Real estate data company Clever ran a study to determine the best and worst pizza cities in the U.S. They analyzed the 50 biggest metro areas, compiling data on pizza passion, the number of pizza restaurants per 100,000 restaurants, Yelp ratings, and more.
These are the top 15 best pizza cities in America and the 10 cities where pizza lovers might want to (gasp) order a meal that isn’t pizza.
1: Denver, Colorado
Denver is the best city for pizza lovers in America, offering its residents 9.5 pizza restaurants per 100,000 people, which is 1.1 more restaurants than the national average. Equally impressive is the fact that pizza shops in Denver have an average Yelp rating of 4.05, one of the highest on this list. Plus, Denver residents can snag a large cheese pizza for only $16.79 compared to the national average of $19.34.
2: Buffalo, New York
What do Buffalo residents do on snowy winter days? Eat pizza, if Clever’s study is any indication. The Upstate New York city offers an astounding 17.8 pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents, the most of any large metro city in America.
Buffalo also scores 91.5 for Clever’s “pizza passion” category, which they determined based on local internet search activity for 34 pizza-related terms. Here comes the kicker, though: Buffalo residents spend an average of $20.67 on a large cheese pizza.
3: Boston, Massachusetts
Boston residents have access to 12.3 pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents. The average cost of a large cheese pizza is $19.65, meaning that if residents were to purchase one cheese pizza each week, based on the local median annual income, it would amount to 1.09% of their earnings.
4: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philly residents are passionate about their pizza, with a passion score of 86.4. The City of Brotherly Love has 11.2 pizza shops per 100,000 residents and an economical large cheese pizza price point of $17.10.
5: San Diego, California
San Diego rounds out the top five best pizza cities in the U.S. Its average Yelp rating for pizza restaurants is 4.13, the second highest rating of the study, with Portland taking first place with an average 4.14 rating. San Diego residents shell out an average of $22.70 for a large cheese pizza, though, which would equate to 1.59% of their income if they were to buy one cheese pizza each week for a year.
6: San Francisco, California
With only 7.7 pizza shops per 100,000 residents, it’s hard to believe San Francisco is the sixth-best pizza city. However, residents only need to spend 0.9% of their income to purchase a large cheese pizza once per week, and San Francisco’s pizza restaurants serve the cream of the crop products, given their 4.03 average rating on Yelp.
7: Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford ranked an impressive 99 on Clever’s pizza passion scale. To top it off with the many delicious ingredients residents order on their pizza, the city offers 15.1 pizza shops for every 100,000 residents.
8: Washington, DC
Washington, DC, joins San Francisco in having 7.7 pizza restaurants per capita. The nation’s capital is more passionate than average about pizza, with a 72.4 score. That said, by paying the average $19.10 for a large cheese pizza once per week, residents would spend 1.2% of their annual income.
9: Detroit, Michigan
Detroit only has 5.2 pizza shops per 100,000 residents. However, its pizza passion score of 100 helps it rise towards the top of this list. The cost of a large cheese pizza isn’t anything to turn your nose up to either, at $16.36 a pop.
10: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh residents aren’t quite as enthusiastic about their pizza as Detroiters, with a pizza passion score of 89.7. That said, their economical large cheese pizza price of $15.90 and offering 14.4 pizza shops per capita helps it land in the top ten best pizza cities.
11: San Jose, California
San Jose is the third Californian city to make this list. The city’s average pizza restaurant Yelp score is 3.99. Although $24.40 might sound like a lot of money for a large cheese pizza, given that residents have a higher median annual income, it only takes up 0.9% of their money if they were to purchase one pizza per week for a year.
12: Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix has the lowest number of pizza shops per 100,000 residents, at 3.8. But you can bet they’re delicious, given their average 4.0 rating on Yelp. Although a large cheese pizza in Phoenix averages “only” $16.30, that eats up 1.37% of income for a household that orders one pizza per week.
13: Sacramento, California
California is at it again. Sacramento offers its residents 7.1 pizza restaurants per capita. Residents there are relatively less passionate about pizza, with a pizza passion score of 71.3. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that purchasing a large cheese pizza each week would dig into 1.55% of a consumer’s annual income.
14: Chicago, Illinois
If you’ve been waiting to see Chicago on this list, the city home to deep-dish pizza’s time has come. Perhaps surprisingly to many, Chicago only has 5.1 pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents. Furthermore, the average cost of a large cheese pizza is $27.66, which takes up 1.98% of a person’s income if they purchase one pizza per week for a year.
15: New York City, New York
New York City is the last city to make the cut of the best pizza cities in America. It offers residents and tourists alike 9.7 pizza shops per capita. But with the average cost of a large cheese pizza running at $28.60, eating an NYC pizza might be better kept as a treat rather than a regular activity.
10 Worst Large Metros for Pizza Lovers
If you live in a big city in the U.S. and haven’t seen your city listed yet, it might be among the worst large metro cities for pizza. Then again, as a pizza lover, you may have already guessed that your city wouldn’t make the top 15. These are the ten worst cities in the U.S. for pizza lovers.
1: Memphis, Tennessee
With only 3.5 pizza shops per 100,000 residents, it’s no wonder that Memphis is the worst pizza city in the U.S. Residents can’t even catch a break with its $19.69 price for a large cheese pizza; that equates to 1.81% of Memphis’ median annual salary if someone were to buy one large cheese pizza once per week for a year.
2: San Antonio, Texas
There’s a lot to love about San Antonio, but pizza doesn’t appear to be among them. Its pizza shop rating is an average of 3.74 on Yelp, and San Antonio has a pizza passion score of only 51.3.
3: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City’s average Yelp rating of 3.77 doesn’t look much better than San Antonio’s. However, it has more pizza shops, at 9.6 restaurants per 100,000 residents.
4: Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati’s pizza passion score of 71.2 is a bit of an outlier for it being the fourth-worst pizza city in America. Nevertheless, its low Yelp rating for pizza restaurants (3.79) and single-digit number of restaurants per capita keep it low on this list.
5: Charlotte, North Carolina
NASCAR fans visiting Charlotte should leave their pizza cravings at home. Charlotte only offers 5.3 pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents. That said, its $15.52 price for a large cheese pizza will likely feel very affordable for people traveling from many other parts of the country.
6: Salt Lake City, Utah
With a pizza passion score of 57.2, it’s hard to get too excited about pizza options in Salt Lake City. Pizza Restaurants in Salt Lake have an average Yelp rating of 3.85, and residents spend an average of 1.39% of their salary if they were to buy one large cheese pizza ($17.39) every week for one year.
7: Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh’s low pizza shop Yelp rating of 3.7 is off-putting compared to the cities in the top 15. Residents have the same number of pizza restaurants available to them as in Salt Lake City (7.9 per 100,000 residents). The good news? They pay less ($16.90) and spend a smaller portion of their annual income if they were to buy one large cheese pizza per week for a year (1.24%).
8: Houston, Texas
Houston is even worse than Memphis on the pizza restaurant availability front; it only has 3.2 pizza shops per 100,000 residents. But luckily for pizza lovers in Houston, their average Yelp rating is relatively better, at 3.91.
9: Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the only city in the bottom ten worst pizza cities that has a double-digit number of restaurants per 100,000 residents (10.2). It has a lackluster pizza passion score of 63.3, though.
10: Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City rounds out the top ten worst pizza cities, with only 4.6 pizza shops per capita. That said, their average Yelp score is a respectable 4.01. Residents pay an average of $21.49 for a large cheese pizza, which cuts into 1.78% of their income if they were to order one per week for a year.
Sorry, Chicago
Chicagoans, close your eyes. According to Clever’s findings, most Americans will take New York-style thin-crust pizza over Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. The margin was 52% to 38%, respectively.
Hot or Cold
Hot pizza lovers, if you have leftover pizza in the fridge, beware: Twenty-eight percent of Americans prefer eating leftover pizza cold. What does that mean for our fellow hot pizza-loving fans out there? Cold pizza lovers may get first dibs of leftovers in the fridge if you don’t act fast enough.
So Many Slices
Americans eat an average of 156 slices of pizza per year. It’s no wonder, then, that 33% consume pizza at least once per week. If no factors prevented them from doing so, 34% of Americans say they’d eat pizza three or more times per week.
The Pineapple Debate
Of the Americans Clever surveyed, 37% say that pineapple goes well on pizza. Shall we call the pineapple pizza debate closed?
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