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The best cities in the US for coffee

Is the promise of a really good cup of coffee enough to plan your next vacation?

Clara Hogan
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Clara Hogan
Rise & Grind Coffee in San Francisco
Photograph: Rise & Grind Coffee in San Francisco
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The local coffee scene across American cities has exploded in recent years — but which city loves its coffee the most?

That would be the City by the Bay, at least according to one recent report. San Francisco is the number one coffee city in America, ranked by a survey from the personal-finance website WalletHub. The calculation compared the 100 most populous cities across the US using 12 key metrics, including the average spending on coffee per household, the share of homes with coffee makers, the number of coffee shops and manufacturers per capita, and the number of coffee-centric events. 

After San Francisco, Seattle, Orlando, Honolulu, and Portland rounded out the top five coffee cities. 

Source: WalletHub

Coffee has played an important role in San Francisco's history: the first cup of restaurant coffee in the West was served there, large coffee brands such as Hills Brothers and Folgers started in the city, and the Italian espresso houses of North Beach were popular meeting spots for famous Beat poets.

Today, the "third wave" of coffee shops has meant a coffee boom. 

San Francisco's top coffee shops are independent, full of local personality, and spread throughout the city. Favorites include Ritual Coffee, Andytown Coffee Roasters, and Farley's.

A few of the factors for SF's number one rating — it had both the highest number of affordable coffee shops and cafes rated 4.5 stars or above per capita, as well as the highest number of manufacturers. It also ranked number one for the most spending on coffee per household: $223.58 per year. 

It's true that Americans love their coffee — a recent survey by the National Coffee Association found that 66 percent drink coffee every single day, and that consumption has risen 14 percent since January 2021. It just turns out San Franciscans love it the most. 

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