September 26, 2018
Coffee first became popular in the U.S. after the Boston Tea Party, when the switch was seen as “patriotic,” according to PBS. And since Starbucks debuted in 1971, the drink is now accessible almost anywhere you go. In a recent Reuters poll, sixty-four percent of Americans age 18 or older said they drank coffee the previous day.
What gave way to java culture? Science, for one, has convinced us that caffeine possesses multiple health benefits besides mental stimulation. At the right dosages, caffeine may contribute to longevity. Perhaps just as important, though, is coffee’s social purpose. Today, coffee stations are a staple of the workplace, and tens of thousands of shops serve as meeting places for friends, dates and coworkers. The creation of these drinks has grown increasingly professional, too. Being a barista has become less a part-time job than a career field. Latte art has even inspired a national competition.
But some local coffee scenes are stronger than others. To determine the best among them, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 14 key indicators of coffee lover-friendliness. Our data set ranges from coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés per capita to average price per pack of coffee. In addition, we compiled a list of top coffee retailers extending special savings in honor of National Coffee Day on Sept. 29. Read on for the winners, coffee-lover insight and a full description of our methodology.
| Top 20 Cities for Coffee Lovers | ||||
| 1 | New York, NY | 11 | Denver, CO | |
| 2 | Seattle, WA | 12 | Las Vegas, NV | |
| 3 | San Francisco, CA | 13 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| 4 | Portland, OR | 14 | Philadelphia, PA | |
| 5 | Los Angeles, CA | 15 | Orlando, FL | |
| 6 | Washington, DC | 16 | Atlanta, GA | |
| 7 | Chicago, IL | 17 | Austin, TX | |
| 8 | Miami, FL | 18 | Pittsburgh, PA | |
| 9 | Boston, MA | 19 | Oakland, CA | |
| 10 | San Diego, CA | 20 | Fremont, CA | |
Best vs. Worst
- Tulsa, Oklahoma has the lowest average price for a pack of coffee, $3.38, which is 2.4 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at $8.16.
- Fremont, California, has the highest average annual spending on coffee per household, $186.85, which is three times higher than in Cleveland, the city with the lowest at $63.06.
- Gilbert, Arizona, has the highest share of households that own a single-cup/pod-brewing coffee maker, 24.50 percent, which is 2.7 times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest at 8.99 percent.
- New York has the most coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés (per square root of population), 1.1791, which is 17.4 times more than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.0678.
- Portland, Oregon, has the most coffee and tea manufacturers (per square root of population), 0.0209, which is 41.8 times more than in Riverside and San Bernardino, California, the cities with the fewest at 0.0005.
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
http://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-coffee-lovers/23739/
