America’s 35 Best Cities for Foodies – 24/7 Wall St.

Anyone who enjoys good food knows that cities like New York, San Francisco, and Seattle are playgrounds for foodies – especially those who have what it takes to support high-quality eating habits. What advantage would Midwestern centers like Cincinnati or Grand Rapids have in a ranking of the best foodie cities? According to financial advisory site WalletHub, the answer is affordability. (These are America’s cheapest cities that everyone now wants to live in.)

24/7 pace has the results of a recent WalletHub study Score the 182 most populous cities in the country (adding two of the most populous cities in each state if necessary) based on 29 relevant metrics in two key categories: a combination of diversity, accessibility and quality, and affordability mentioned above.

The metrics used included food and restaurant meal costs; the number of restaurants, food trucks and grocery stores per capita; the presence of Michelin star restaurants; and – a sign of the times – the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated. (These are the states where most of the people reject the COVID-19 vaccine.)

WalletHub relied on 11 sources to compile the data, including the US Census Bureau, the Council for Community and Economic Research, Numbeo, and Howl.

Click Here To See The 35 Best Cities In America For Foodies

While New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and other cities known for their restaurant cultures (San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, etc.) all scored in the top 10 for variety, accessibility, and quality, they cut in less good at affordability – in fact, the Big Apple ranked 181st out of 182 cities – and eventually left 1st place to a city known for both its food and its comparatively cheap prices: Portland, Oregon.