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Here are the best US cities for pizza - New York and Chicago are not even in the running
New York City and Chicago are normally up there, and Detroit was top the previous two years.
But it is Denver, Colorado, that can claim to be best for pizza, according to a comprehensive study that looked at EIGHT measures. See the box below for their full methodology.
In a nutshell, researchers considered typical price, the number of restaurants and how well they were rated plus a so-called 'pizza passion' score.
Across those, the Mile High City rose to the top across 50 of the biggest US metros researched by Clever Real Estate.
NYC did land one unwanted accolate - the most expensive pizzas in America where a large pepperoni is amost $34.
Denver has been ranked the best US city for pizza in a comprehensive stury. Chef Andrea Frizzi, owner of Vero Italian in Denver, shows off one of his pizzas
Chicago is famous for its deep dish pizza like this one. The city was ranked 14th over all for pizza in terms of eight factors such quality, number of restaurants and price. It is the second pricest for a large cheese pizza at $28.66 on average - which lowered its overall rank
Denver scored well across the board. For example, it had the second-highest score on average Yelp reviews at 4.05 stars and scored 82 out of 100 on pizza passion, which measures how often locals are searching Google for pizza-related terms.
It is also affordable with a large cheese pizza averaging just $16.79, the 12th cheapest.
Methodology
Each of eight measures were given different weights to determine the best pizza in the 50th biggest cities
- Reputation score: A poll of 1,000 Americans were asked to name which cities they consider to be the top five for pizza (32%)
- Pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents (20%)
- Pizza Passion score: Local Google search volume for pizza-related terms (20%)
- Average Yelp rating for local pizza restaurants (12%)
- Local price of a large cheese pizza (4%)
- Cost to buy a large cheese pizza each week as a percentage of median annual income (4%)
- Local price of a large pepperoni pizza (4%)
- Cost to buy a large pepperoni pizza each week as a percentage of median annual income (4%)
Buffalo earned the title of the second-best pizza city in the US, rising from number 17 last year.
It had a chance to earn the No. 1 spot but was hurt by low affordability - a measure that compares local prices with local wages. Buying a cheese pizza once a week costs residents 1.91 per cent of their annual income — 30 per cent more than the average city.
After two years in a row as the best pizza city, Detroit lost its top spot and fell to number nine in the 2024 rankings.
Pennsylvania ranks as the best state for pizza with two cities - Philadelphia at number 4 and Pittsburgh at number 10 - in the top 10 best pizza cities.
Various different metros were top - or bottom - for the eight measures.
New York City, for example, still reigns as the city with the best reputation for pizza - outranking Chicago in survey results.
Buffalo, New York has the highest rate of pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents in the nation at 17.8 to NYC's 9.7.
And which city is the worst for pizza in America?
With only 3.5 pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents, a lack of 'pizza passion' among residents, and pricey pies averaging $19.69: Memphis, Tennessee.
But New York City is worst for one key measure.
The city has the highest average prices in the nation for both a large cheese pizza ($28.60) and a large pepperoni pizza ($33.65).
That's almost double the cost in the nation's cheapest pizza city, Richmond, Virginia where $14.75 will get you a large cheese pie.
The price of a slice can vary hugely within state lines as well.
Los Angeles' $25.05 cheese pizza makes it the 4th most expensive pizza city while just 50 miles away in Riverside, CA you can grab yourself the 6th cheapest cheese pie in the country for just $15.99.
A customer places an order at Papa's Pizza in Denver, Colorado - the city was ranked best for pizza based on a study that looked at eight measures including price
New York City is priciest for a full pizza - with a cheese one like this $28.60 on average. The city was ranked 15th in the US for pizza, with factors such as pizzeria ratings taken into account
Detroit-style pizza above. Detroit was ranked numnber one over all for pizza in the US last year, but has fallen to number nine this year due to rising prices and lower rankings for restaurants
Other than NYC and Chicago - two cities known for their pizzas - the west coast dominates the top 10 for priciest pizza, with the exception of Orlando coming in at number 3.
The home of Disney World aside, cities in the south and midwest reign supreme on the top 10 most affordable list taking up 8 of the 10 spots.
Regardless of where you live, pizza prices are rising across the nation.
Across America the average price for a full pie is $19.34 - up 4 percent from last year. That is a faster increase than the overall rate of inflationat 3.5 percent.
As with anything, the cost of rent and wages in different cities have a considerable effect on prices.