In a new study, the best places are NOT Chicago and New York… they’re Detroit and Cleveland.

For this study, the 50 largest metros in the U.S. received weighted scores that boosted them for independent pizzerias, interest in pizza variations, price and affordability, and quantity and quality of the establishments.

On the flip-side, they have docked points for having a lot of big chain pizza places.

In the end, the Top 15 pizza cities in the U.S. are all in the Eastern half of the country, with Detroit and Cleveland being #1 and #2.  How? 

Detroit has the most independent pizza restaurants per capita and is ranked #1 in “pizza passion,” which included internet searches for a variety of pizza styles.

Columbus, Ohio is third on the list, and with two of the Top Three cities, Ohio was named, the Best STATE for pizza.

Here are the Top 15 pizza cities… 

1. Detroit
2. Cleveland
3. Columbus, Ohio
4. Boston
5. Pittsburgh
6. Indianapolis
7. Providence, Rhode Island
8. St. Louis
9. Philadelphia
10. Norfolk, Virginia
11. Baltimore
12. Tampa
13. Minneapolis
14. Chicago
15. Nashville

New York City didn’t even make the Top 20.  It’s #22, after Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee.

So what were the 10 WORST pizza cities of the 50 places they considered? From worst to…10th worst, they’re…

1. Riverside, California
2. New Orleans
3. Birmingham, Alabama
4. Houston
5. San Antonio
6. Miami
7. Memphis
8. San Diego
9. Phoenix
10. Austin, Texas

Source: Anytime Estimate