Rochester was named the nation’s best pizza city, and was one of four communities in New York to rank in the top 10, according to a recent study. The Flower City’s ranking topped Denver, which clinched the top spot on the pizza lovers’ list in 2024, and Detroit, which won two consecutive titles in 2023 and 2022. Everyone has a favorite style of pizza, sprinkled with his or her own favorite topping, but the 2025 rankings were determined by Clever Real Estate.
How did New York cities rank?
New York cities fared well in the 2025 poll, with four cities in the top 10 and six in the top 35. Respondents also chose New York as their top pizza state, with 77% saying it is a top-five pizza state compared to 56% for Illinois and 45% for California.
Here’s where cities in the Empire state ranked:
Rochester takes the top spot
Rochester, New York, secured its spot as the “Pizza Capital of America” as a result of one of the highest pizza passion scores of 98 out of 100, a high number of pizza restaurants per capita (25 per 100,000 residents) and high average Yelp ratings for pizzerias (4.11 out of 5).
According to the study, Rochester is also “an ideal place to try the distinctively delicious Western New York style of pizza.” Western New York pizza has a thicker, chewy crust, a subtly sweeter sauce, and “cup-and-char” pepperoni, which curls into small cups as it crisps during baking.
A large cheese pizza in Rochester costs on average $17.04, roughly 5.4% under the national average of $18.02.
Poughkeepsie comes in at No. 33
Dutchess County was the only ranked city in the Hudson Valley and got an overall score of 88 out of 100, with a pizza passion score of 68.5. Poughkeepsie has 12.9 pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents and an average Yelp rating of 3.93, according to the study. The average cost of a large cheese pie is $17.91.
What about New York City?
There’s no American city more synonymous with pizza than the Big Apple. But cost per pie and an average number of pizzerias per capita (12.3 per 100,000 residents) kept New York City from ranking better than eighth. New York-style pizza is where it’s at, with large, hand-tossed pies with a distinctive combination of a substantial crust and a thin, foldable interior. An average large cheese pizza in New York City costs $26, which is roughly 44% more than the national average for the same pie.
How were the rankings determined?
Data for this study was obtained from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, Yelp and more than 1,000 pizza restaurant websites, according to Clever Real Estate. It also considered a survey of 2,000 American adults who discussed their pizza preferences.
Date was weighted as follows:
Scores were indexed on a scale of 0 to 100, where 100 indicates the best pizza city overall across these metrics, and 0 indicates a theoretical worst pizza city.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Study names top pizza cities in US. One mid-Hudson Valley city made the top 50.
Reporting by Victoria E. Freile, New York Connect Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
