The state that loves pizza the most is Connecticut, where there are 3 pizza stores per capita.
The state that dislikes pizza the most is Hawaii, where there’s only 1 pizza store per capita and their favorite pizza isn’t even Hawaiian.
A whopping 29 states prefer cheese pizza over all other types of pizza.
7 states prefer BBQ chicken pizza, making it even more popular than pepperoni.
Over 500,000 Americans work at or for pizza joints- dishing up over 3 billion, cheesy, delicious pizzas each year.
While some of these jobs include waiters, pizza delivery drivers, and store managers, it also includes a plethora of marketing, accounting, and other business jobs- all of whom earn their dough directly or indirectly through pizza dough.
Since October is National Pizza Month, what better time to slice into all things pizza and pizza jobs? Keep reading for Zippia’s first state of Pizza:
Other Interesting Findings
-
New England and the Midwest are the biggest fans of pizza. With the rest of the country clearly making less informed decisions about pizza.
-
Can we talk about Georgia, North Dakota, and New Mexico ordering so much pizza? Maybe hold an intervention?
-
Chicken as a whole is surprisingly popular with 10 states liking some poultry on their pizza.
-
The pizza joints with the most sales in order are: 1.) Domino’s, 2.) Pizza Hut, and 3.) Little Caesar’s
-
Your average pizza delivery driver only makes $9.95 an hour and drives 75 to 100 miles a shift- tip good folks!
Keep reading to see the full map of the most pizza loving states and more.
Where has the most pizza places?
How We Determined This
Our cheesy intel on pizza toppings comes from Yelp, who tracked the amount of nationwide pizza orders placed on Yelp and Eat24, then filtered by state. While this might make the orders a bit more premium than average (I’m looking at you caprese and white pizza!), it still provides a great window into each state’s pizza ordering habits.
Finally, we turned to PMQ Magazine for data on pizza restaurants per capita. With the safe assumption the more pizza places, the more pizza lovers in a state.
Altogether, these formed our very cheesy article.
WHAT PERSON DOESN’T LIKE PIZZA?
A weirdough. So go ahead and order yourself a nice xl-pizza, with all your favorite toppings. Or maybe just cheese if you’re like 29 states where this basic ‘za is your go-to.
Of course, if you’re one of the half million Americans who pizza isn’t just a passion, it’s their job, you might get an employee discount. Talk about an underrated job benefit!
You can see our full cheese-y, pineapple-topped, BBQ facts below:
Table Of All Things Pizza
| State | Favorite Pizza | Stores Per Capita |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | White Pizza | 2 |
| Alabama | Cheese | 1 |
| Arkansas | Cheese | 2 |
| Arizona | Cheese | 1 |
| California | BBQ Chicken | 1 |
| Colorado | BBQ Chicken | 2 |
| Connecticut | Cheese | 3 |
| Delaware | Buffalo chicken | 3 |
| Florida | Cheese | 2 |
| Georgia | Hawaiian | 1 |
| Hawaii | Caprese | 1 |
| Iowa | Taco | 3 |
| Idaho | Cheese | 2 |
| Illinois | Cheese | 2 |
| Indiana | Cheese | 2 |
| Kansas | Cheese | 2 |
| Kentucky | Cheese | 2 |
| Louisiana | Meat Lovers | 1 |
| Massachusetts | Cheese | 3 |
| Maryland | Cheese | 2 |
| Maine | Grilled Chicken White Pizza | 2 |
| Michigan | BBQ Chicken | 2 |
| Minnesota | BBQ Chicken | 2 |
| Missouri | Cheese | 2 |
| Mississippi | Cheese | 1 |
| Montana | Pepperoni | 2 |
| North Carolina | Cheese | 2 |
| North Dakota | Hawaiian | 2 |
| Nebraska | BBQ Chicken | 2 |
| New Hampshire | Cheese | 3 |
| New Jersey | Cheese | 3 |
| New Mexico | Hawaiian | 1 |
| Nevada | Cheese | 2 |
| New York | Cheese | 2 |
| Ohio | Cheese | 3 |
| Oklahoma | Cheese | 2 |
| Oregon | Pepperoni | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | Cheese | 3 |
| Rhode Island | Cheese | 3 |
| South Carolina | Cheese | 2 |
| South Dakota | Chicken Bacon Ranch | 2 |
| Tennessee | Cheese | 2 |
| Texas | Cheese | 1 |
| Utah | BBQ Chicken | 1 |
| Virginia | BBQ Chicken | 2 |
| Vermont | Cheese | 2 |
| Washington | Cheese | 1 |
| Wisconsin | Cheese | 2 |
| West Virginia | Meat Lovers | 3 |
| Wyoming | Meat Lovers | 2 |
Author
Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.
