To determine the best and cheapest places for following a plant-based diet, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 100 largest cities across 15 key indicators of vegan- and vegetarian-friendliness. The data set ranges from the share of restaurants serving meatless options to the cost of groceries for vegetarians to salad shops per capita.
Top 20 Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians
1 New York, NY 11 Anaheim, CA
2 Portland, OR 12 Madison, WI
3 Orlando, FL 13 Austin, TX
4 San Francisco, CA 14 Las Vegas, NV
5 Los Angeles, CA 15 Tampa, FL
6 Seattle, WA 16 Buffalo, NY
7 Washington, DC 17 Houston, TX
8 Scottsdale, AZ 18 Chesapeake, VA
9 Miami, FL 19 Atlanta, GA
10 San Diego, CA 20 San Jose, CA
Best vs. Worst
- New York has the highest share of restaurants serving vegetarian options, 56.25 percent, which is 2.6 times higher than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the lowest at 21.72 percent.
- Orlando, Florida, has the highest share of restaurants serving vegan options, 31.14 percent, which is 8.8 times higher than in Chicago, the city with the lowest at 3.52 percent.
- San Francisco has the most community-supported agriculture programs (per square root of population), 0.0139, which is 17.4 times more than in San Antonio, the city with the fewest at 0.0008.
- New York has the most salad shops (per square root of population), 0.2666, which is 33.7 times more than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.0079.