Philly: The World’s Most Pizza-Obsessed City, While New York Serves the Best
October marks National Pizza Month in the U.S. – a month-long celebration of one of America’s, and the world’s, favorite foods. Pizza, of course, is an Italian invention. But Italian migrants brought their craft and traditional recipes to all corners of the world, with America being perhaps the most enthusiastic recipients. This is why, back in 1987, U.S. Congress was moved to officially designate October as National Pizza Month.
So popular is pizza in the U.S. that it is legitimate to ask whether pizza has now become more popular outside of its country of origin? But more than that; just how good is it?
To find out, our team turned to two trusted sources of data: Google Trends and 50 Top Pizza, an international pizza guide and magazine based in Italy which has provided local and international pizzeria rankings since 2017.
Philadelphia Outranks Naples as the Most Pizza-Obsessed City in the World
Google Trends data provides a geographic breakdown of the countries and cities with the highest percentage of pizza-related Google searches relative to all local searches. It offers insights into how often people think about pizza compared to any other topic.
Pizza-related searches include everything from finding the best local pizza, searching for well-known pizzerias or pizza chains such as Domino’s, to pizza sauces, toppings, recipes, and pizza ovens.
Of all cities in the world, the people of Philadelphia – along with tourists visiting the city – made the most pizza-related searches over the past five years, compared to all their other local searches. Naples, Italy, the birthplace of pizza, comes in a (very) close second, with Turin ranking third worldwide.
Philadelphia has a large Italian American community (the second largest in the U.S.), particularly concentrated in South Philly, for whom pizza has been a staple for generations. This community has preserved authentic Italian recipes, and many of the city’s oldest and most respected pizzerias were founded by Italian immigrants, for example, Marra’s and La Scala’s Birra.
Columbus, OH and Boston, MA
Columbus, Ohio, surprisingly ranks fourth in the world, ahead of Rome, Chicago and Milan. Known for its very own Columbus-style pizza, a unique square-cut, thin-crust pizza, the city’s pizza culture is strong and diverse.
Boston, shares fifth spot with Rome, Italy’s capital. We’d expect Rome to rank pretty high: It’s widely regarded as a true Italian pizza paradise and the birthplace of its namesake, Roman pizza. Boston, however, is better known for seafood, baked beans and cream pie. Nonetheless, Boston has a passion for pizza due to its vibrant Italian-American neighborhoods, especially in the North End, which boasts some of the oldest pizzerias in the country. It also seems to be becoming something of a pizza hotspot, with numerous rankings placing Boston and Massachusetts high on America’s pizza lover map.
Copenhagen: A Pizza Outlier
Copenhagen, Denmark, ranks eighth globally and is the only city in the top ten that doesn’t lie in either the U.S. or Italy. The city’s rise as a pizza hotspot is testament to its dynamic food culture, representing one of the most amazing culinary transformations in recent decades (e.g. Copenhagen is home to some of the best fine-dining restaurants in the world). The Danish capital has embraced pizza culture, blending tradition with culinary creativity, making it a surprising yet deserving pizza destination.
Country Rankings – Italy tops the list, followed by Denmark, Canada and the U.S.
A few non-Italian cities may boast an enthusiasm for pizza, but when it comes to country rankings, Italy is the clear winner. The love and passion for pizza runs deep in this country and is more evenly and wider spread geographically than anywhere else. This is no surprise for anyone who has visited Italy as they’ll have found a pizzeria pretty much anywhere.
Denmark ranks a surprising second worldwide and is the only country outside the U.S. and Italy with a city in the top 10 worldwide.
Cities with the Highest Number of World-Class Pizzerias
New York made headlines earlier this year when the Italian pizzeria guide 50 Top Pizza ranked its Una Pizza Napoletana the best pizzeria in the world. It is the first time a pizzeria outside of Italy has been recognized as the world’s best.
But does New York really have the best pizza in the world? Our team analyzed the past three years of top 100 pizza places in the world, as ranked by the Italian pizzeria guide, to find the cities with the highest number of distinct pizzerias.
Our results show that not only does New York have the best pizzeria of 2024, but it also boasts the highest number of pizza places ranked among the world’s best.
New York has the largest Italian-American community in North America, with over 2.6 million Italians living in the greater New York metro area. It was in New York that Italian immigrants opened the first pizzeria in 1905, leading to the creation of the famous New York-style pizza, the most popular pizza style sold in the city and many other places on the East Coast.
In a surprise development, Rome and Naples share second place for top-ranked pizza places with Tokyo, Japan’s capital, a city with no Italian ancestry, something we look at a little later.
Chicago, Portland (Oregon) and San Francisco Among America’s Best Cities for Pizza
50 Top Pizza has also published regional pizzeria rankings for the past five years. One of these regional rankings showcases the best 50 pizzerias in the United States and North America (the North American-centric guide which also included Canada was published only once in 2019).
As expected, given New York’s top global ranking, the city also dominates the national rankings of cities with the most top-rated pizzerias. A full 34 New York pizzerias feature among America’s (or North America’s) best 50 over the past five years (2019 through 2024, with a gap year in 2020).
Chicago, another pizza powerhouse, ranks second with 11 pizzerias recognized as among America’s best over the past five years. The city is the birthplace of three distinct pizza types—deep-dish, stuffed, and tavern-style—which are often collectively referred to as Chicago-style pizza, though the recipes are quite different. In the city’s renowned pizzerias, you’ll find an impressive variety of styles, from traditional Neapolitan and Roman pizzas to New Haven-style and, of course, Chicago’s iconic deep-dish.
Portland, OR, shares bronze medal with San Francisco for America’s best city for pizza. Portland has recently featured prominently in many top cities for pizza rankings, sometimes even outranking New York and Chicago, creating a little controversy. While the city doesn’t beat Chicago or New York in the eyes of the Italian guide 50 Top Pizza, its status on other rankings does validate Portland’s reputation as one of America’s top destinations for pizza excellence.
San Francisco may not have the historical pizza legacy of New York or Chicago, but it’s a foodie paradise with no shortage of fantastic pizza places. San Francisco’s Tony’s Pizza Napoletana was recently ranked as the sixth best pizza place in the world.
New Haven, CT, ties for fifth place with Miami, FL. While New Haven locals may not love being outranked by cities like Portland or San Francisco—places without New Haven’s long-standing pizza tradition—Connecticut’s city can take pride in having the highest number of outstanding pizzerias per capita in the U.S.
London and Paris – Cities with the Highest Number of Outstanding Pizzerias in Europe (Outside of Italy)
It’s rare to see London surpass Paris in food rankings, but when it comes to the best pizzerias in Europe (outside of Italy), the British capital takes the lead. According to the Italian guide 50 Top Pizza, which has been publishing annual rankings for the best pizzerias in Europe for the past six years, London boasts 16 entries, two more than second-ranked Paris and significantly more than third-ranked Madrid and Copenhagen.
Additionally, London’s Napoli on the Road was awarded the title Best Pizzeria in Europe in 2024 and ranked fifth worldwide.
Is Tokyo a Better Destination for Pizza Connoisseurs than Milan, Florence or Chicago?
One of the most surprising insights of our analysis was Tokyo’s rank among the cities with the highest number of outstanding pizza places. Over the past few years, Tokyo has had six pizzerias listed among the world’s 50 best, on a par with Naples and Rome and more than Milan, Florence or Chicago.
Tokyo’s pizzerias not only made it onto the world’s best 50 list, but some were featured prominently among the very top – The Pizza Bar on 38th ranked third worldwide in 2024. So how did Tokyo become a global pizza hotspot?
For one, Tokyo is a huge city with a population higher than the combined population of Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples and Chicago. It’s home to more pizzerias than Naples, the birthplace of pizza, but quantity does not always imply quality and nor does Tokyo have the Italian immigrants or long tradition of pizza baking found in some American cities.
According to Matt Goulding, co-founder of Roads and Kingdom, a food and travel magazine, it is simply a discovered passion for Italian food and the Japanese obsession for perfection and that has made Japanese pizza makers some of the best in the world.
Many chefs in Tokyo have studied in Italy, bringing back authentic methods for making Neapolitan pizza, which they blend with Japan’s high standards for ingredients and preparation. Tokyo’s pizzerias often focus on using top-quality ingredients, such as locally-sourced produce and high-grade Italian imports, creating a unique fusion of Japanese and Italian culinary traditions.
Methodology
Our report is based on two sources of data: Google Trends and the pizzeria rankings published by Italian pizza guide 50 Top Pizza.
We’ve analyzed Google Trends data for the past five years from September 15th, 2019 to September 15th, 2024 to identify the countries and cities where the topic of pizza was most popular. Google Trends data provides a geographic breakdown of the countries and cities with the highest percentage of pizza-related Google searches, relative to all local searches. It offers insights into how often people think about pizza compared to any other topic.
Pizza-related searches include everything from finding the best local pizza, searching for well-known pizzerias or pizza chains such as Domino’s, to pizza sauces, toppings, recipes, and pizza ovens.
The rankings for cities with the highest number of top-rated pizzerias were based on reports published by the Italian pizza guide, 50 Top Pizza. Only distinct pizzerias were counted (i.e., those that appeared in the guide multiple times were counted once), and multiple locations of pizzerias from the same chain or owner were also counted only once.
