With Oct. 1 being World Vegetarian Day and Nov. 1 being World Vegan Day, and with the prices of synthetic meat products dropping considerably during the pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Best Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary.
To determine the best and cheapest places for following a plant-based diet, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 16 key indicators of vegan- and vegetarian-friendliness. The data set ranges from the share of restaurants serving meatless options to the cost of groceries for vegetarians to salad shops per capita.
| Top 20 Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians | |
| 1. Portland, OR | 11. Tampa, FL |
| 2. Orlando, FL | 12. Atlanta, GA |
| 3. Los Angeles, CA | 13. Miami, FL |
| 4. San Francisco, CA | 14. New York, NY |
| 5. Boise, ID | 15. Madison, WI |
| 6. Austin, TX | 16. Washington, DC |
| 7. Seattle, WA | 17. Bakersfield, CA |
| 8. Lexington-Fayette, KY | 18. Chicago, IL |
| 9. Oakland, CA | 19. Fort Wayne, IN |
| 10. San Diego, CA | 20. Las Vegas, NV |
Best vs. Worst
- Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of restaurants serving vegetarian options, 27.99 percent, which is 10.1 times higher than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the lowest at 2.77 percent.
- Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of restaurants serving vegan options, 16.41 percent, which is 19.5 times higher than in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the city with the lowest at 0.84 percent.
- San Francisco has the most community-supported agriculture programs (per square root of population), 0.0160, which is 20 times more than in San Antonio, the city with the fewest at 0.0008.
- Miami has the most salad shops (per square root of population), 0.2226, which is 18.2 times more than in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the city with the fewest at 0.0122.
