Personal finance and financial education company WalletHub has ranked the top 182 foodie cities in the USA for the year 2026.

Several metrics were considered, scored under two primary dimensions, Affordability, and Diversity, Accessibility & Quality. These include:

• Accessibility & Affordability of High-Quality Restaurants
• Restaurant Meal Cost
• Average Beer & Wine Price
• Restaurants per Capita
• Ratio of Full-Service Restaurants to Fast-Food Establishments
• Growth in Number of Full Service Restaurants

The company has been releasing this list since 2014, and released their latest ranking at the end of September of last year. Their rankings give operators several considerations for starting, stabilizing, or scaling their concepts in 2026 (and beyond).

For example, will their concept face stiff competition in a particular city due to market saturation, or will it stand out because it fills a gap? Will a market’s economics, demographics, and pyschographics support an operator’s expansion, or would it perform far better elsewhere? Just these two questions highlight the importance of a feasibility study, among other fact-based approaches and considerations.

When they first started, WalletHub ranked 150 cities. That expanded to more than 180 quite quickly.

This year’s number-one city also earned the top spot on the 2024 list. Scroll down to check out the latest ranking of American foodie cities. Cheers!

by David Klemt

America’s Top Foodie Cities

The Top 25

1. Miami, Florida
2. Portland, Oregon
3. San Francisco, California
4. Seattle, Washington
5. Orlando, Florida (#1: Most Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Shops per Capita)
6. Austin, Texas
7. Tampa, Florida
8. Las Vegas, Nevada (#1: Most Restaurants per Capita)
9. Sacramento, California
10. San Diego, California
11. Atlanta, Georgia
12. Denver, Colorado
13. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
14. St. Louis, Missouri (#1: Most Gourmet Specialty-Food Stores per Capita)
15. Houston, Texas
16. Los Angeles, California
17. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
18. Richmond, Virginia
19. Cincinnati, Ohio
20. Washington, DC
21. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
22. San Antonio, Texas
23. Chicago, Illinois
24. Grand Rapids, Michigan
25. Dallas, Texas

26 to 50

26. New York, New York
27. Wilmington, Delaware
28. Oakland, California
29. Louisville, Kentucky
30. Phoenix, Arizona
31. Scottsdale, Arizona
32. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
33. Salt Lake City, Utah (#1: Most Coffee Shops per Capita)
34. Buffalo, New York
35. Portland, Maine
36. Long Beach, California
37. Omaha, Nebraska
38. Anaheim, California
39. San Jose, California
40. Minneapolis, Minnesota
41. Nashville, Tennessee
42. Vancouver, Washington
43. Raleigh, North Carolina
44. Rochester, New York
45. Charlotte, North Carolina (tie)
45. Cleveland, Ohio (tie)
47. Madison, Wisconsin
48. Aurora, Colorado
49. Indianapolis, Indiana
50. Baltimore, Maryland

51 to 75

51. Fresno, California
52. Boston, Massachusetts
53. Providence, Rhode Island
54. Tucson, Arizona
55. Tulsa, Oklahoma
56. El Paso, Texas
57. Honolulu, Hawaii
58. Bakersfield, California
59. Reno, Nevada (#1: Lowest Average Beer & Wine Price)
60. Albuquerque, New Mexico
61. Springfield, Missouri
62. Stockton, California
63. Virginia Beach, Virginia
64. Santa Ana, California
65. Charleston, South California
66. Santa Rosa, California (#1: Most Craft Breweries & Wineries per Capita)
67. Colorado Springs, Colorado
68. Spokane, Washington
69. Jersey City, New Jersey
70. Columbia, South Carolina
71. Greensboro, North Carolina
72. St. Petersburg, Florida
73. Dover, Delaware
74. Columbus, Ohio
75. Newark, New Jersey

76 to 100

76. Tempe, Arizona
77. Jacksonville, Florida
78. New Orleans, Louisiana
79. Tacoma, Washington
80. Modesto, California
81. Detroit, Michigan
82. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
83. Salem, Oregon
84. Knoxville, Tennessee
85. St. Paul, Minneapolis
86. Billings, Montana
87. Amarillo, Texas
88. Plano, Texas
89. Fort Worth, Texas
90. Tallahassee, Florida
91. Manchester, New Hampshire
92. Warwick, Rhode Island
93. Missoula, Montana
94. Wichita, Kansas
95. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
96. Burlington, Vermont
97. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
98. Lincoln, Nebraska
99. Durham, North Carolina
100. Des Moines, Iowa

To check out cities 101 through 180 and learn more about WalletHub’s methodology, click here.

173 to 182

The following cities complete the list, earning the final ten slots on the list.

173. Columbus, Ohio
174. Yonkers, New York
175. Rancho Cucamonga, California
176. Shreveport, Louisiana
177. West Valley City, Utah
178. Jackson, Mississippi
179. Montgomery, Alabama
180. Moreno Valley, California
181. Lewiston, Maine
182. Pearl City, Hawaii

Top 10 Foodie Cities in the US (2024)

The top ten foodie cities heading into last year are listed below.

1. Miami, Florida
2. San Francisco, California
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Portland, Oregon
5. Tampa, Florida
6. Sacramento, California
7. Las Vegas, Nevada
8. Seattle, Washington
9. Denver, Colorado
10. San Diego, California

Top 10 Foodie Cities in the US (2014)

For those who are curious, WalletHub’s first list, published in 2014, is below. For their inaugural list, the company ranked 150 cities.

Things have certainly shifted over the course of more than a decade.

1. Orlando, Florida
2. Grand Rapids, Michigan
3. Madison, Wisconsin
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
6. Reno, Nevada
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
8. Austin, Texas
9. Lexington, Kentucky
10. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Henderson, Nevada, was ranked 150.

Image: Luise and Nic on Unsplash

Related Reading

• Wallethub Ranks the Best Foodie Cities in the US
• Cool, Good, Excellent: 19 Defining Traits
• The Public Has Spoken: How Guests View Bars and Restaurants

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