When you’re lost about what to eat, pizza is usually the answer.
Perfect for lunch or dinner — some people enjoy the savory pie straight out of the fridge for breakfast — you typically can’t go wrong with pizza.
In time for National Pizza Day on Feb. 9, Lawn care company LawnStarter has revealed its 2021 Best Cities for Pizza Addicts list. To compile the ranking, the company reviewed the 100 largest U.S. cities in five key metrics including the average pizza cost and total pizzerias per 100,000 residents. Cities were ranked from best to worst based on those metrics.
The metrics were also weighted differently, with the Instagram popularity of a pizza joint weighing the most while search interest for “pizza delivery,” and search interest for “pizza delivery” compared to “food delivery” weighed the least. The city that scored the highest was deemed the best.
Sources for the ranking included TripAdvisor and Google Trends.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, New York was the top city for pizza lovers.
“New Yorkers love their tomato pies, so much so the Big Apple sits atop our Best Cities for Pizza Addicts. That love affair is documented on Instagram with more photos of NYC pizzas and pizzerias than anywhere else across the U.S.,” LawnStarter said.
Midwestern cities also fared well as they landed in the top 10, including St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Chicago, which is known for deep-dish pizza. The Windy City came in at No. 2 behind New York City.
However, not all cities are meant for pizza lovers to flock to. Many spots in California landed toward the bottom of the list.
“California often sets trends, but it’s been left out of the pizza craze. The highest-ranked Golden State city is San Diego at a No. 27, and it only goes downhill from there. Six of the 10 lowest-ranked cities are all in California. This could be due to costs. (Stockton, California, was our most expensive city for pizza),” LawnStarter said. It also noted that The Golden State is known for healthy eating, which doesn’t exactly lend itself to widespread pizza adoration.
So, how did Atlanta do?
The Big Peach came in at No. 8 on the list, with an overall score of 40.80. Atlanta ranked No. 3 for search interest in “pizza delivery” and was No. 13 for pizza popularity on Instagram. There’s also a high rate of pizzerias per 100,000 residents, and Atlanta ranked at No. 9 in that category. The city doesn’t have very expensive pies, either — it came in at No. 76 for the average cost of pizza.
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