Coffee and Portland go together like peanut butter and chocolate, hotdogs and buns and well coffee and more coffee. But many of us in Portland take our coffee love affair for granted, but we really shouldn’t. In fact, Portland is known around the country for our love of coffee and the coffee shops, roasters and producers of fine coffee and it’s no longer just a belief.
Did you know that Portland is now a ranked “Best Coffee City” in America?
Portland Ranked Fourth Best Coffee City
Let’s all agree that facts and data are important. When it comes to our beloved Portland, we absolutely love bringing you facts and statistics about our city, the housing market and all things home renovation. But when we can combine data and Portland with coffee, then we really have something!
In another very interesting study by Wallet Hub, recently put out their 2019’s Best Coffee Cities in America report and Portland turned some heads. The report sought to find the best coffee scenes among the largest 100 cities in America, using 14 key indicators of coffee lover-friendliness.
The study used the following indicators and gave each of them a weighted score of up to 6.25 points, except two, which were given a weighted score of 12.50 points toward the final scoring for the cities which were evaluated.
- Average Price per Pack of Coffee
- Average Price of a Cappuccino
- Average Spending on Coffee per Household
- Share of Adult Coffee Drinkers
Share of Households that Own Coffee Makers - Affordable Coffee Shops, Coffee Houses & Cafés Rated 4.5+ Stars per Capita: Double Weight (~12.50 Points)
- Coffee Shops, Coffee Houses & Cafés per Capita*: Double Weight (~12.50 Points)
- Coffee & Tea Manufacturers per Capita
- Coffee Shops with Free Wi-Fi per Capita
- Donut Shops per Capita
- Google Search Traffic for the Term “Coffee”
- “Coffee Lovers” Meetups per Capita
- Presence of Coffee-Centric Events or “U.S. Coffee Championships”
- Average Ranking of Coffee Shops on The Daily Meal’s ‘50 Best Coffee Shops’ List
The results? Portland is the 4th best coffee city in America.
How Portland Stands Up To Other Coffee Cities
Here is a breakdown of the top coffee cities in America.
(1 = Best)
Rank|City|Score
1 Seattle, WA 69.44
2 New York, NY 67.42
3 San Francisco, CA 65.31
4 Portland, OR 64.88
5 Los Angeles, CA 60.23
6 Chicago, IL 57.09
7 Washington, DC 54.26
8 Miami, FL 53.6
9 San Diego, CA 51.04
10 Boston, MA 48.61
11 Philadelphia, PA 47.31
12 Atlanta, GA 47.31
13 Denver, CO 47.2
14 Las Vegas, NV 46.93
15 Orlando, FL 45.87
The worst major coffee cities in America.
Rank|City|Score
91 North Las Vegas, NV 22.88
92 Stockton, CA 22.39
93 Winston-Salem, NC 22.32
94 Birmingham, AL 22.27
95 Memphis, TN 22.01
96 San Bernardino, CA 20.06
97 Detroit, MI 19.76
98 Laredo, TX 19.02
99 Greensboro, NC 17.25
100 Toledo, OH 15.59
Why Is Portland Such An Amazing Coffee City?
There were several criteria evaluated in order to rank the top coffee cities in the country, but there were a few that stood out for Portland. Let’s cover the three most important in Portland’s high rank as a best coffee city.
1- Number of Coffee Shops per capita
We have written about this previously. Portland has a huge number of coffee shops as you may have guessed. In fact, our last count had it somewhere around 2,600 coffee shops in Portland, or something like one coffee shop for every 777 people in PDX. Here’s how WalletHub had it ranked.
2- Most Affordable Coffee Shops per capita
As if the number of coffee shops isn’t enough, WalletHub broke down the affordability of said coffee shops. So, the cost of coffee at the large number of coffee shops was also evaluated. Way to go Portland!
3- Most Coffee Manufacturers per capita
Many Portlanders know we are awesome when it comes to coffee shops and cafe’s, but many are not aware of the massive coffee roaster, distributor, packaging and manufacturing footprint we have in our city. Portland was ranked as the number one Coffee and Tea manufacturer city out of all of the largest 100 cities in America. No doubt that this also contributed heavily to our overall number four spot in the USA.
There are many things to love about our Portland. Coffee is just another one of the many things that makes Portland so unique and awesome. The next time you stop by your local coffee shop or meet a friend to hang out and catch up over a coffee, remember that coffee is part of the fabric of our city. Remember that Portland is amazing and so is our coffee culture. Enjoy!
