States With the Most Pizza Places per Person

Special Report

Published: August 26, 2021 6:00 pm

Pizza is one of the four basic food groups, at least in the United States. Originally from Naples, it was brought to the U.S. by Italian immigrants in the 19th century. The first dedicated pizzeria opened in New York around the beginning of the 20th century — there are conflicting stories as to when exactly, though Lombardi’s in Manhattan’s Little Italy claims to have been the pioneer, back in 1905 — and now there are pizza places everywhere. (These are the 25 best pizza places in America.)

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.

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

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

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

Mississippi Pizza (CC BY 2.0) by thekirbster

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

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

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

XT2B2630 (CC BY 2.0) by Khaki

35. Tennessee
> Pizzerias per 100K: 21.2
> Population: 6,829,174

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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

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

30. Virginia
> Pizzerias per 100K: 22.7
> Population: 8,535,519

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Hideaway Pizza (CC BY 2.0) by Kevin

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

Pizza Approved by Italy (CC BY 2.0) by Alan Levine

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

Wood Fired Pizza Oven @ Via Fa... by Shelby L. Bell

Wood Fired Pizza Oven @ Via Fa... (CC BY 2.0) by Shelby L. Bell

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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Junction Bridge - Little Rock,... by Shannon McGee

Junction Bridge - Little Rock,... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Shannon McGee

23. Arkansas
> Pizzerias per 100K: 23.9
> Population: 3,017,804

22. Kentucky
> Pizzerias per 100K: 24.4
> Population: 4,467,673

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Firecracker Pizza & Beer by Paul Sableman

Firecracker Pizza & Beer (CC BY 2.0) by Paul Sableman

21. Missouri
> Pizzerias per 100K: 24.8
> Population: 6,137,428

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

Former Happy Chef statue at Li... by Lorie Shaull

Former Happy Chef statue at Li... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Lorie Shaull

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

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

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

10. West Virginia
> Pizzerias per 100K: 31.2
> Population: 1,792,147

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pizza (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Edsel Little

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

7. Massachusetts
> Pizzerias per 100K: 33.6
> Population: 6,892,503

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Delaware State Fair - 2012 by Lee Cannon

Delaware State Fair - 2012 (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Lee Cannon

6. Delaware
> Pizzerias per 100K: 34.0
> Population: 973,764

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

Mystic Pizza (CC BY 2.0) by Daniel Morrison

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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