The Big Apple is apparently not the macchiato mecca everyone thinks it is.
A ground-breaking WalletHub survey on the US’s best cities for coffee drinkers found that Portland, Oregon, is the no. 1 metropolis for java junkies — while NYC didn’t make the top 20.
“Portland, OR, is the best coffee city, in large part because it has an extremely high number of affordable coffee shops,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst at Wallethub, regarding the study, which was conducted in honor of National Coffee Day on September 29.
To deduce which hubs were the most friendly to frappuccino fanatics, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated U.S. cities across 12 key metrics, which were weighted according to their perceived importance.
These included the average price per pack of coffee, average amount spent on coffee per month, percentage of population that drinks coffee, Google searches for the term “coffee” and — the most significantly-weighted category — the number of affordable coffee shops per capita that were rated 4.5 stars or higher.
Cities were then rated on a scale of 100 based on their scores in each category.
Stats were amassed as of August 20, 2025, from various sources, including the US Census Bureau, Council for Community and Economic Research, US Bureau of Labor Statistics and more.
Affordability was understandably a big factor in the survey, which comes as diesel prices are going to Pluto due to inflation, tariffs and climate issues. The Big Apple is slated to be hit especially hard — bean counters expect that New Yorkers will soon have to fork over $1 more for coffee amid a prolonged drought in Brazil, which produces nearly half the world’s Arabica beans.
Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped bean fiends from grabbing a cup of joe, especially in the coffee-crazed metropolises on the list.
“In the cities that are craziest about coffee, the average household may spend as much as $327 per year on the beverage,” said Lupo, describing the brew-haha. “At the same time, as much as 33% of the population has machines for making coffee at home.”
Coming in first on the list of java havens was Portland, Oregon, which boasted a total score of 71.09.
Along with boasting an extremely large number of highly-rated, affordable bean depots, the Pacific Northwest hub also boasts a large number of brew hubs with free Wi-Fi.
Meanwhile, “households in Portland spend an average of roughly $192 per year on coffee, the 20th-most in the country,” per the survey.
Following close behind with a score of 69.44 was Orlando, Florida. The home of Disney World boasted high annual expenditures on java, oodles of coffee events, and oodles of affordable “refueling” stations.
Third place winner, Long Beach, California (65.46), scored high due to the cornucopia of coffee shop options — especially affordable ones — and the fact that a large percentage of their people keep up with the online Joe-neses — Long Beachers “Google” coffee more than citizens of all but six other cities.
Rounding out the top five were Miami, FL (63.94) and Seattle, WA (63.82), while New York placed an abysmal 36th with a score of 50.23.
The 10 best cities for coffee drinkers
- Portland, OR (71.09)
- Orlando, FL (69.44)
- Long Beach, CA (65.46)
- Miami, FL (63.94)
- Seattle, WA (63.82)
- Tampa, FL (63.62)
- San Francisco, CA (62.84)
- Austin, TX (62.61)
- Oakland, CA (62.53)
- Pittsburgh, PA (60.87)
