The Best US Cities for Beer Lovers in 2021

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By Joe Roberts

Aug 13, 2021

2 min read

Best cities for beer lovers across the US

Whether you’re a connoisseur of craft beers or you just enjoy cracking open a cold one after a long day of work, having a lot of local breweries to keep your fridge stocked with tasty new lagers, stouts, and IPAs is probably important to you.

To find out which cities are the best for beer lovers to live in or visit, we ranked the US’ most populous cities based on how many breweries they have per capita. If you’re thinking about moving to a new locale or you’re just looking for a fun road trip destination, our list can help you find the best places for beer lovers like you.

Keep reading to find out which cities are the US’ beer capitals and to see where your city ranks.

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Key findings

With three cities in our top 10, Washington is one of the best states for beer lovers.
Denver, Colorado has more breweries than any other city in the US. However, Portland, Oregon has more breweries per capita, making it our number one city for beer connoisseurs.
Some of the biggest cities in the US—like New York and Los Angeles—have relatively few breweries per capita, landing them in our bottom 10.

The best and worst cities for beer lovers

Cities with the most breweries per capita

Portland, OR:
85 breweries
12.94 breweries per 100,000 residents
Denver, CO:
91 breweries
12.37 breweries per 100,000 residents
Cincinnati, OH:
34 breweries
11.16 breweries per 100,000 residents
Richmond, VA:
25 breweries
10.77 breweries per 100,000 residents
Spokane, WA:
23 breweries
10.36 breweries per 100,000 residents
Seattle, WA:
75 breweries
9.74 breweries per 100,000 residents
Tacoma, WA:
21 breweries
9.55 breweries per 100,000 residents
Saint Louis, MO:
28 breweries
9.41 breweries per 100,000 residents
Minneapolis, MN:
38 breweries
8.77 breweries per 100,000 residents
Pittsburgh, PA:
26 breweries
8.69 breweries per 100,000 residents

Cities with the fewest breweries per capita

North Las Vegas, NV:
0 breweries
0 breweries per 100,000 residents
Laredo, TX:
0 breweries
0 breweries per 100,000 residents
New York, NY:
13 breweries
0.16 breweries per 100,000 residents
Newark, NJ:
1 brewery
0.35 breweries per 100,000 residents
Chesapeake, VA:
1 brewery
0.4 breweries per 100,000 residents
Hialeah, FL:
1 brewery
0.43 breweries per 100,000 residents
Los Angeles, CA:
23 breweries
0.58 breweries per 100,000 residents
El Paso, TX:
4 breweries
0.59 breweries per 100,000 residents
Irvine, CA:
2 breweries
0.7 breweries per 100,000 residents
Arlington, TX:
3 breweries
0.75 breweries per 100,000 residents

Methodology

For our research, we looked at the 100 most populous cities in the United States according to the U.S Census Bureau.¹ We then compared each city’s population to how many breweries it has. We sourced our brewery numbers from Open Brewery DB,² a community-driven database that gathers public information about breweries.

We ranked cities based on how many breweries they have per 100,000 residents. Other factors like the output of a given brewery or the quality and popularity of its beers were not used for our rankings.

Breweries per capita in the US’ most populous cities

Rank	City	Population	Breweries	Breweries per 100,000 residents
1	Portland, Oregon	656,751	85	12.94
2	Denver, Colorado	735,538	91	12.37
3	Cincinnati, Ohio	304,548	34	11.16
4	Richmond, Virginia	232,226	25	10.77
5	Spokane, Washington	222,050	23	10.36
6	Seattle, Washington	769,714	75	9.74
7	Tacoma, Washington	219,945	21	9.55
8	Saint Louis, Missouri	297,645	28	9.41
9	Minneapolis, Minnesota	433,111	38	8.77
10	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	299,226	26	8.69
11	Cleveland, Ohio	378,589	29	7.66
12	Boise, Idaho	229,776	17	7.4
13	Reno, Nevada	259,290	19	7.33
14	Saint Paul, Minnesota	306,717	22	7.17
15	San Diego, California	1,422,420	90	6.33
16	Buffalo, New York	254,479	16	6.29
17	Madison, Wisconsin	263,094	16	6.08
18	Albuquerque, New Mexico	562,540	32	5.69
19	Colorado Springs, Colorado	482,131	27	5.6
20	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	589,067	29	4.92
21	Austin, Texas	995,484	49	4.92
22	Anchorage, Alaska	287,095	14	4.88
23	Raleigh, North Carolina	474,414	23	4.85
24	Orlando, Florida	289,457	14	4.84
25	Anaheim, California	353,676	17	4.81
26	Tampa, Florida	407,599	19	4.66
27	Atlanta, Georgia	512,550	23	4.49
28	Saint Petersburg, Florida	267,802	12	4.48
29	San Francisco, California	866,606	38	4.38
30	Kansas City, Missouri	497,159	21	4.22
31	Scottsdale, Arizona	262,647	11	4.19
32	Lincoln, Nebraska	290,505	12	4.13
33	Sacramento, California	512,838	21	4.09
34	Indianapolis, Indiana	877,903	33	3.76
35	Norfolk, Virginia	242,803	9	3.71
36	Lexington, Kentucky	324,735	12	3.7
37	Columbus, Ohio	903,852	33	3.65
38	Oakland, California	424,891	15	3.53
39	Charlotte, North Carolina	900,350	31	3.44
40	Tucson, Arizona	553,571	19	3.43
41	Baltimore, Maryland	586,131	20	3.41
42	Miami, Florida	471,525	16	3.39
43	New Orleans, Louisiana	389,476	13	3.34
44	Nashville, Tennessee	671,295	22	3.28
45	Louisville, Kentucky	618,338	20	3.23
46	Tulsa, Oklahoma	403,166	13	3.22
47	Durham, North Carolina	285,897	9	3.15
48	Riverside, California	330,786	10	3.02
49	Greensboro, North Carolina	297,878	9	3.02
50	Fort Wayne, Indiana	272,398	8	2.94
51	Honolulu, Hawaii	341,555	10	2.93
52	Winston Salem, North Carolina	248,112	7	2.82
53	Wichita, Kansas	391,731	11	2.81
54	Omaha, Nebraska	478,393	13	2.72
55	Virginia Beach, Virginia	451,231	12	2.66
56	Aurora, Colorado	387,377	10	2.58
57	Chicago, Illinois	2,677,643	64	2.39
58	Chandler, Arizona	265,398	6	2.26
59	Washington DC	712,816	16	2.24
60	Long Beach, California	454,681	10	2.2
61	Henderson, Nevada	329,172	7	2.13
62	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	662,314	14	2.11
63	Las Vegas, Nevada	662,368	13	1.96
64	Detroit, Michigan	665,369	13	1.95
65	Gilbert, Arizona	257,658	5	1.94
66	Toledo, Ohio	271,455	5	1.84
67	Corpus Christi, Texas	327,248	6	1.83
68	Jacksonville, Florida	920,570	16	1.74
69	Boston, Massachusetts	691,531	11	1.59
70	Glendale, Arizona	255,307	4	1.57
71	Memphis, Tennessee	649,705	10	1.54
72	Lubbock, Texas	262,611	4	1.52
73	Santa Ana, California	331,301	5	1.51
74	Fresno, California	530,267	8	1.51
75	Dallas, Texas	1,343,266	20	1.49
76	San Jose, California	1,013,616	15	1.48
77	Chula Vista, California	272,979	4	1.47
78	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1,578,487	23	1.46
79	Houston, Texas	2,316,120	31	1.34
80	Fort Worth, Texas	927,720	12	1.29
81	Fremont, California	234,569	3	1.28
82	San Antonio, Texas	1,567,118	19	1.21
83	Phoenix, Arizona	1,708,127	18	1.05
84	Bakersfield, California	385,725	4	1.04
85	Plano, Texas	291,296	3	1.03
86	Stockton, California	312,716	3	0.96
87	Mesa, Arizona	528,159	5	0.95
88	Garland, Texas	238,139	2	0.84
89	Irving, Texas	240,916	2	0.83
90	Jersey City, New Jersey	262,664	2	0.76
91	Arlington, Texas	398,864	3	0.75
92	Irvine, California	283,700	2	0.7
93	El Paso, Texas	681,534	4	0.59
94	Los Angeles, California	3,970,219	23	0.58
95	Hialeah, Florida	232,037	1	0.43
96	Chesapeake, Virginia	247,011	1	0.4
97	Newark, New Jersey	282,520	1	0.35
98	New York, New York	8,253,213	13	0.16
99	Laredo, Texas	263,640	0.0	0.0
99	North Las Vegas, Nevada	260,098	0.0	0.0

Sources

United States Census Bureau, “City and Town Population Totals: 2010-2019.” Accessed July 20, 2021.
Open Brewery DB, “Welcome to Open Brewery DB.” Accessed July 20, 2021.

Written by

Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts is a professional writer with a degree in writing studies and over four years of copywriting experience. He previously worked at Overstock.com, where he wrote about furniture, home decor, and moving. Joe has moved all over Utah, so he knows his way around a moving truck—and he spends his time (and money) expanding his personal library so it will be even heavier next time he moves.

The Best US Cities for Beer Lovers in 2021

Key findings

The best and worst cities for beer lovers

Methodology

Breweries per capita in the US’ most populous cities

Sources

Moving Resources

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