With Oct. 16 being World Food Day, and both dining out and cooking having become much more expensive in recent years, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2024’s Best Foodie Cities in America, as well as expert commentary, to identify where people can experience the best flavors without breaking the bank.
WalletHub compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 28 key metrics. The data set ranges from the cost of groceries to the affordability and accessibility of high-quality restaurants to the number of food festivals per capita.
| Top 20 Foodie Cities in America | |
| 1. Miami, FL | 11. Atlanta, GA |
| 2. San Francisco, CA | 12. St. Louis, MO |
| 3. Orlando, FL | 13. Los Angeles, CA |
| 4. Portland, OR | 14. Austin, TX |
| 5. Tampa, FL | 15. Pittsburgh, PA |
| 6. Sacramento, CA | 16. New York, NY |
| 7. Las Vegas, NV | 17. Richmond, VA |
| 8. Seattle, WA | 18. Chicago, IL |
| 9. Denver, CO | 19. Fort Lauderdale, FL |
| 10. San Diego, CA | 20. Washington, DC |
Best vs. Worst
- St. Louis has the most gourmet specialty-food stores (per square root of population), which is 13.6 times more than in Pearl City, Hawaii, the city with the fewest.
- Miami has the most restaurants (per square root of population), which is 20.8 times more than in Pearl City, Hawaii, the city with the fewest.
- Cape Coral, Florida, has the highest ratio of full-service restaurants to fast-food establishments, which is 2.9 times higher than in Jackson, Mississippi, the city with the lowest.
- Orlando, Florida, has the most ice cream and frozen yogurt shops (per square root of population), which is 25.9 times more than in Lewiston, Maine, the city with the fewest.
