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24/7 Tempo has assembled a list of the states with the most pizza places per capita, based on the Pizza Index 2021 published by the financial advisory site Expensivity. The site derived the number of pizzerias in each state from Yelp and MenuWithPrice, and 24/7 Tempo used U.S. Census Bureau data to add population figures, then used them to compute the number of pizzerias per 100,000 people.
The state with the largest number of total pizzerias is California, but because its population is so large, it falls to No. 43 on a per capita basis. At least in part for the same reason, the famous pizza capital of New York comes in at No. 24, while Illinois — famous for Chicago’s unique deep-dish pies — ranks only No. 12. (New York City and Chicago place highly, however, on our list of the best cities for pizza lovers.)
Click here to see the states with the most pizzerias per capita
The No. 1 state for pizzerias per 100,000 residents is tiny Rhode Island. It may be the smallest state in area and the ninth-smallest in population — but a big percentage of that population is of Italian origin. The same is true of Rhode Island’s neighbor, No. 2 Connecticut, considered by some experts to have the best pizza in America. Hawaii, on the other hand, is the state with the fewest pizza places. It’s the farthest state from Rhode Island and its cuisine has more Asian influences than Italian.
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50. Hawaii
> Pizzerias per 100K: 15.1
> Population: 1,415,872
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49. Louisiana
> Pizzerias per 100K: 16.4
> Population: 4,648,794
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48. Alabama
> Pizzerias per 100K: 17.5
> Population: 4,903,185
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47. Texas
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.0
> Population: 28,995,881
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46. Georgia
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.1
> Population: 10,617,423
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45. New Mexico
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.2
> Population: 2,096,829
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44. Washington
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.3
> Population: 7,614,893
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43. California
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.5
> Population: 39,512,223
42. Mississippi
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.5
> Population: 2,976,149
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41. Arizona
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.6
> Population: 7,278,717
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40. Utah
> Pizzerias per 100K: 18.9
> Population: 3,205,958
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39. Colorado
> Pizzerias per 100K: 20.5
> Population: 5,758,736
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38. Alaska
> Pizzerias per 100K: 20.6
> Population: 731,545
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37. South Carolina
> Pizzerias per 100K: 20.7
> Population: 5,148,714
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36. Oregon
> Pizzerias per 100K: 20.9
> Population: 4,217,737
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34. North Carolina
> Pizzerias per 100K: 21.3
> Population: 10,488,084
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33. Wisconsin
> Pizzerias per 100K: 22.0
> Population: 5,822,434
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32. Florida
> Pizzerias per 100K: 22.6
> Population: 21,477,737
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31. Nevada
> Pizzerias per 100K: 22.6
> Population: 3,080,156
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30. Virginia
> Pizzerias per 100K: 22.7
> Population: 8,535,519
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29. Oklahoma
> Pizzerias per 100K: 22.9
> Population: 3,956,971
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28. Minnesota
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.3
> Population: 5,639,632
27. Idaho
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.4
> Population: 1,787,065
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26. Maryland
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.6
> Population: 6,045,680
25. Nebraska
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.8
> Population: 1,934,408
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24. Illinois
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.9
> Population: 12,671,821
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23. Arkansas
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.9
> Population: 3,017,804
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22. Kentucky
> Pizzerias per 100K: 24.4
> Population: 4,467,673
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21. Missouri
> Pizzerias per 100K: 24.8
> Population: 6,137,428
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20. Montana
> Pizzerias per 100K: 25.8
> Population: 1,068,778
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19. Kansas
> Pizzerias per 100K: 26.1
> Population: 2,913,314
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18. Maine
> Pizzerias per 100K: 26.3
> Population: 1,344,212
17. Wyoming
> Pizzerias per 100K: 26.3
> Population: 578,759
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16. North Dakota
> Pizzerias per 100K: 27.2
> Population: 762,062
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15. Michigan
> Pizzerias per 100K: 27.4
> Population: 9,986,857
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14. Vermont
> Pizzerias per 100K: 28.2
> Population: 623,989
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13. Indiana
> Pizzerias per 100K: 29.1
> Population: 6,732,219
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12. New York
> Pizzerias per 100K: 29.4
> Population: 19,453,561
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11. South Dakota
> Pizzerias per 100K: 29.6
> Population: 884,659
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10. West Virginia
> Pizzerias per 100K: 31.2
> Population: 1,792,147
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9. Ohio
> Pizzerias per 100K: 32.0
> Population: 11,689,100
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8. New Hampshire
> Pizzerias per 100K: 33.5
> Population: 1,359,711
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7. Massachusetts
> Pizzerias per 100K: 33.6
> Population: 6,892,503
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6. Delaware
> Pizzerias per 100K: 34.0
> Population: 973,764
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5. Iowa
> Pizzerias per 100K: 34.6
> Population: 3,155,070
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4. New Jersey
> Pizzerias per 100K: 35.7
> Population: 8,882,190
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3. Pennsylvania
> Pizzerias per 100K: 36.2
> Population: 12,801,989
2. Connecticut
> Pizzerias per 100K: 36.8
> Population: 3,565,278
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1. Rhode Island
> Pizzerias per 100K: 37.3
> Population: 1,059,361
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