There isn’t a more popular food in the United States than pizza, and what better day to write, read, and talk about it than on National Pizza Day (Feb. 9)? 

It comes around once a year but in reality, we celebrate the combination of crust, cheese, sauce, and toppings each day. Who doesn't love putting on the game, laying down a bet or two on your best betting apps, and then tucking into a good pizza?

So we wanted to take a look at the states that are most passionate about pie. We know the most popular styles of pizza in the United States are Chicago, New York, New Haven, Detroit, St. Louis, California, and more—but where do those states stack up among their peers?

Luckily for you, we decided to find out. Which states are searching for pizza the most—whether to have it delivered, make it from scratch, have it shipped across the country, or something in between? 

Methodology

For this project we utilized Google Trends data going back over the previous 5 years (2018 through 2022). For each year, we broke down the raw search data for each state for the term: Pizza.

All states were assigned a numerical value from 1-100 depending on their search traffic data for each individual year (with the most searches per capita getting a higher number and the least searches a lower number).

That data was then averaged over the five-year dataset and ranked from highest (most obsessed) to lowest (least obsessed). As Google Trends notes, a higher value means a higher proportion of all queries where related to Pizza in that particular state, not a higher absolute query count.

Here were the results, with some analysis of the numbers below:

Take a Bow, Rhode Island

We did a quick Google search defining Rhode Island pizza and found that it consists of breadstick-like strips of dough with tomato sauce and fresh herbs sprinkled across it. 

Why did we search for this? Because over the last five years, Rhode Island led the country each year in its searches for pizza: 5-for-5 from 2018 to 2022 (and they’re pacing again in 2023). At the best online casinos, we call that being on a roll.

East Coast Is The Yeast Coast

Apologies for the awful pun, but this really stood out to us: The top 5 states, and six of the top seven, on this list are on the East Coast: Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, (Ohio), and Massachusetts. 

If you can believe it, New York was ranked 42nd on this list and the second-lowest score of any East Coast state (Washington, D.C.).

This shouldn’t totally surprising, as many believe New Haven-style pizza is the best pizza on the planet. Philadelphia loves its cheesesteaks, but it apparently also loves its pies. New Jersey (12th) was just outside the top-10, rounding out a strong showing for the East side of the country.

Can We Get Someone Some Pizza Out West?

Even the Midwest was solid, with Ohio (6), Indiana (8), Michigan (9), Iowa (10), Illinois (13), Wisconsin (16), and Nebraska (17) ranking in the top third. 

So what is going on with the West side of the county? New Mexico (37), Oregon (45), Washington (46), California (47), and Utah (49) were all ranked in the lower-third and near the bottom of this list.

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We Can Put The Deep Dish vs. Thin Crust Debate To Rest

Please note that this author is a Chicago native, so he’s very happy to report this stat: Illinois ranked 13th in these rankings, while New York was 42nd. 

Whether you believe deep dish or tavern is the true Chicago style, it’s clear that it’s more popular than the New York style (as far as these rankings are concerned).

Is Pizza…On the Way Out?

No, of course, pizza is never going to disappear. But we found it interesting that 2022 marked the lowest cumulative score of any of the five years we looked at. In fact, 12 different states had their lowest score of the five-year survey. 

Those states include: Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada, Louisiana, New Mexico, Virginia, Alaska, Georgia, Oregon, and California. But there’s good news (where else?) out East, where Vermont and Maine had their highest score of the five-year survey in 2022. 

Hawaiian Pizza Is Gross—It’s Official

Ham and pineapple on pizza? People have strong opinions on it one way or another, but not even Hawaiians are eating that stuff! 

Hawaii ranked 51st in these rankings and was at or near the bottom of each year’s rankings. Fruit has no place on a pizza, and now it’s official.

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