The Best Cities For Foodies: See Where Boca Raton Ranked

Boca Raton, FL – While the west coast had 6 of the top 10 cities, the east coast had 3, and the south had 1 city on our map. 3 of the top 10 cities resided in California, though no California city placed in the top 5. Notably, the Portlands on both coasts took the crown as the best cities for foodies in the nation.

1. Portland, OR topped off our list as the best city in America for foodies. Ranking well in 3 of the 4 categories, Portland’s high concentration of bars and restaurants per capita along with a high percentage of 4+ star Yelp reviews could not even be dragged down by a low score on percentage of income spent on rent.

2. Portland, ME, similarly, ranked high in 3 of 4 categories and faltered in the rent spend category as well. Maine’s Portland actually ranked higher than Oregon’s Portland in terms of restaurants per capita and average 4+ star Yelp reviews but was weighed down by a lower score in bars per capita and rent spend.

3. Seattle, WA came in as our 3rd best city for foodies. It ranked the highest in number of restaurants per capita, followed by bars per capita and average Yelp rating.

4. Asheville, NC followed suit as the 4th best foodie city with the average 4+ star Yelp category ranking the highest. Restaurants and bars per capita were not too far behind either.

5. New Orleans, LA shined especially bright since it was the only top city located in the South. This city actually ranked the highest in bars per capita overall and 4th for number of restaurants. New Orleans definitely knows how to show a foodie a good time.

Top & Bottom Cities Per Category

Methodology

To determine the best cities for foodies, we analyzed data from all U.S. cities with a population of at least 60,000 residents on four key metrics. These metrics included:

% of income spent on rent – income data from the 2016 American Community Survey; median rental data from Zumper.com
Restaurants per capita – population data from the 2016 American Community Survey; restaurant data from the 2016 County Business Patterns Survey
Bars per capita – population data from the 2016 American Community Survey; bar data from the 2016 County Business Patterns Survey
Yelp Rating Rank – percentage of 4 star or better restaurants by city from Yelp.com

Each city then received a rank for each metric and then a weighted score for each metric. In terms of weightings, restaurants per capita and % of 4+ star restaurants each accounted for 35% of the score, bars per capita account for 20%, and rent spend accounted for 10%. The final ranking was determined by adding up each city’s weighted scores to see who scored highest overall.

Full Data

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Foodie Rank	City	Rent Spend Rank	Restaurants Per Capita Rank	Bars Per Capita Rank	Yelp Rating Rank
1	Portland OR	449	6	3	6
2	Portland ME	567	3	4	4
3	Seattle WA	501	9	13	21
4	Asheville NC	504	15	18	14
5	New Orleans LA	595	4	1	15
6	San Francisco CA	620	5	5	5
7	Urban Honolulu HI	565	12	6	23
8	Beverly Hills CA	594	2	25	27
9	Costa Mesa CA	462	18	52	34
10	Providence RI	571	14	12	31
11	Santa Barbara CA	580	25	16	28
12	Wilmington NC	604	8	8	53
13	Charleston SC	382	45	118	18
14	Cincinnati OH	281	55	22	94
15	Covington KY	150	47	31	138
16	Franklin Park PA	46	56	169	86
17	Berkeley CA	618	17	55	38
18	Pasadena CA	561	19	102	30
19	Sarasota FL	546	7	110	49
20	Kansas City MO	165	123	90	54
21	Austin TX	191	173	47	22
22	Pittsburgh PA	453	32	7	111
23	Denver CO	457	99	60	19
24	Bend OR	431	96	50	37
25	Redondo Beach CA	417	51	120	50
26	Milwaukie OR	443	77	14	79
27	Scottsdale AZ	209	20	126	141
28	Lafayette LA	89	139	103	75
29	Alameda CA	545	60	74	42
30	Mount Pleasant SC	189	30	216	98
31	Cottage Lake WA	286	132	99	36
32	Petaluma CA	515	52	174	12
33	Oakland CA	608	44	83	45
34	Fayetteville AR	234	88	29	140
35	Bozeman MT	420	117	26	62
36	Santa Fe NM	468	23	261	20
37	San Mateo CA	573	11	150	66
38	San Luis Obispo CA	626	89	64	25
39	Norwalk CT	288	35	292	47
40	Boulder CO	512	72	82	68
41	St Louis MO	414	87	35	125
42	Charlottesville VA	395	29	294	43
43	Mcallen TX	73	70	106	211
44	Oklahoma City OK	177	177	167	50
45	Tulsa OK	142	137	59	163
45	Belmont MA	556	76	195	29
47	Minneapolis MN	543	78	54	111
48	Santa Cruz CA	614	33	33	159
49	Buffalo NY	502	85	41	133
50	Nashville TN	507	129	123	44
51	Clearwater FL	513	104	119	71
52	Bellingham WA	346	111	44	155
53	Folsom CA	156	57	228	162
54	San Diego CA	484	159	142	17
55	Glendale CA	601	128	154	11
56	San Clemente CA	277	234	139	7
57	Miami FL	627	22	128	125
58	Fort Lauderdale FL	541	59	192	82
59	Savannah GA	469	64	223	81
60	Carmel IN	21	116	224	160
61	Delray Beach FL	559	67	163	92
62	Burien WA	471	150	164	35
63	Washington DC	509	31	53	206
64	Salt Lake City UT	445	143	86	94
65	Clifton NJ	206	198	132	86
66	Birmingham AL	292	114	156	141
67	Dunedin FL	491	126	182	63
68	New Braunfels TX	63	207	38	186
69	Roseville CA	423	24	80	248
70	Mentor OH	31	122	63	275
71	Sheboygan WI	124	295	10	106
72	Sacramento CA	463	171	134	70
73	Coral Gables FL	529	61	367	32
74	Westminster CA	578	46	177	141
75	Aventura FL	609	27	310	78
76	Leon Valley TX	307	144	172	130
77	Beaverton OR	271	149	39	212
78	New York NY	588	48	84	200
79	Eugene OR	412	94	57	225
80	Chicago IL	448	267	113	10
81	Tustin CA	548	84	191	122
82	West Palm Beach FL	566	90	155	136
83	Culver City CA	615	124	200	65
84	Flagstaff AZ	421	92	170	171
85	New Rochelle NY	613	98	267	57
86	Ventura CA	493	146	165	104
87	Greenville SC	459	16	222	213
88	Cupertino CA	441	54	186	201
89	Myrtle Beach SC	338	1	9	387
90	Richmond VA	520	26	343	120
91	Cranston RI	478	261	51	64
92	Vancouver WA	456	205	105	94
93	Arlington MA	373	81	462	40
94	Daytona Beach FL	528	49	49	267
95	Orlando FL	467	166	122	125
96	Boca Raton FL	505	80	316	97
97	Amarillo TX	85	86	19	381
98	Chapel Hill NC	198	121	233	196
99	Carlsbad CA	432	206	230	45
100	Madison WI	429	40	11	342