Study ranks Seattle as nation's No. 1 city for coffee lovers
A new study has found that Seattle ranks as the No.1 overall best city in the nation for coffee and coffee lovers.
It isn't exactly a surprise that Seattle - home of Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee and a host of excellent local coffee shops that roast their own beans - would take the top ranking.
But it turns out that Seattle has plenty of competition - many other cities love their coffee, too, and take pride in their local java joints.
The study, by personal finance website WalletHub to honor National Coffee Day on Sept. 29, ranked the 100 largest U.S cities across 12 key indicators of a strong coffee culture. The criteria ranged from coffee shops per capita to the average price of coffee to the number of coffee-lover meetups per capita.
Seattle had the highest overall score of any U.S. city - and also ranked No. 1 for most affordable high-quality coffee shops per capita and most coffee and tea manufacturers per capita.
In addition, the study found that Seattle households rank sixth in the nation for average spending on coffee per household - but only 54th in the nation for the percentage of households that own a coffee maker. Go figure!
According to PBS, coffee first became popular in the U.S. after the Boston Tea Party, when the switch was seen as “patriotic." And since Starbucks debuted in 1971, the drink is now accessible almost anywhere you go.
Since then, research has found that caffeine possesses multiple health benefits besides mental stimulation. At the right dosages, caffeine may contribute to longevity.
Perhaps just as important, though, is coffee’s social purpose. Today, coffee stations are a staple of the workplace, and tens of thousands of shops serve as meeting places for friends, dates and coworkers - or they did before the COVID pandemic, and will be again someday.
A recent survey by the National Coffee Association found that 62 percent of Americans drink coffee every day, with the average coffee drinker consuming three cups daily.
Rounding out the top five coffee cities in America were San Francisco, at No. 2, followed by Portland. Ore,; Miami, Fla.; and Tampa, Fla.
The least coffee-friendly city in the country? That would be Toledo, Ohio. Other cities in the bottom five for coffee culture were Laredo, Texas; Greensboro, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Detroit, Mich.
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