Detroit is the best city in the U.S. for pizza based on key metrics used in a new survey from Clever Real Estate, but the average American thinks New York is better.
The Clever Real Estate survey used and weighed multiple metrics to reach its conclusions:
4x: Pizza reputation (survey of 1,000 Americans)
4x: Online search activity for 25 pizza-related terms (“pizza passion”)
2x: Average price of a large cheese pizza
1x: Average price of a large pepperoni pizza
1x: Average Yelp rating for pizza restaurants
1x: Rate of pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents
In September 2022, Anytime Estimate released its own survey of America’s best cities and also ranked Detroit at the top of the list. Two of the key metrics used in that survey related to the number of independent pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents in each city and the number of big chain restaurants per 100,000 residents. Independent pizzerias and big-chain locations weren’t factored into the Clever Real Estate report.
Related: Survey: This midwest metropolis is the country’s best pizza city
Either way, Detroit claimed the No. 1 ranking in both reports.
Detroit, the Clever Real Estate survey found, has the lowest pizza prices and the highest online search activity related to pizza. It found that the Motor City has 5.3 pizzerias per 100,000 residents and the lowest prices for a large cheese pie ($14.83) and a large pepperoni pie ($17.33).
Hartford, Connecticut ranked No. 2 on the list, followed by Boston at No. 3, Phoenix at No. 4 and Philadelphia at No. 5.
Harry’s Bishops Corner in Hartford, Connecticut (Harry’s Bishops Corner / Facebook)
Rounding out the top 15 best U.S. pizza cities were:
No. 6: San Diego
No. 7: Denver
No. 8: Miami
No. 9: Buffalo
No. 10: Pittsburgh
No. 11: Cleveland, Ohio
No. 12: Los Angeles
No. 13: Baltimore
No. 14: New Orleans
No. 15: San Francisco
Many Americans see it differently, though. To find out what the “average American” considers the best U.S. city for pizza, Clever Real Estate also asked 1,000 people to list their top five. New York got the nod from 40.5% of the respondents, followed by Los Angeles (39.8%); Chicago (35.4%); San Diego (24.3%); and San Francisco (24.2%). Rounding out the top 10 were: Sacramento (20.3%); Buffalo (18.2%); Miami (17.2%); Phoenix (17.0%); and Boston (15.2%).
Detroit topped the survey’s overall list based on the above-mentioned metrics for the second year in a row.
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“Once again, the Motor City finds itself topping our pizza podium, with multiple metrics working in its favor,” a summary of the Clever Real Estate survey says. “The average price for a large cheese pizza in Detroit is $14.83 — 27% cheaper than the typical cost ($18.81) among all cities reviewed. Only a handful of cities have lower prices.
“Detroiters also show a measurable passion for pizza through their internet activity. We analyzed 25 pizza-related search terms and found Detroit has the highest Google Trends score (99 out of 100) of any city in our study—52% higher than the average score of 65. Baked into that calculation is Detroit’s No. 1 Google Trends score for BBQ chicken pizza, No. 1 score for Detroit-style pizza, and No. 2 score for meat pizza.”
Phoenix was the most improved pizza city, rising to No. 4 in the rankings from No. 42 last year due to its high Yelp rating for pizza restaurants and a strong showing in the pizza reputation poll.
Click here to see the full Clever Real Estate survey.
According to its website, Clever Real Estate offers expert advice, reviews of service providers, and data-driven research to help people make smarter real estate decisions.
