Check Out the Top 20 Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians

With Oct. 1 being World Vegetarian Day and Nov. 1 being World Vegan Day, and with synthetic meat products receiving a sales bump due to COVID-19 meat shortages, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians.

Did you know that roughly every one in ten people around the world is a vegetarian? That figure often shocks people. It’s more than you would probably expect, right? A lot of people are also surprised to learn the fact that India is the country that has the lowest meat consumption per capita around the globe.

There are a number of different benefits that are associated with going meat-free. Firstly, you have the benefits for your body. Vegetarian diets tend to involve consuming a lot of the good stuff that you cannot typically find in meat. This includes a large number of phytochemicals, unsaturated fat, magnesium, vitamins E and C, folic acid, and fiber. This translates into a healthier weight, lower blood pressure, reduced risk of heart disease, and also lower cholesterol.

To determine the best and cheapest places for following a plant-based diet, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 16 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. Portland, OR
11. Lexington-Fayette, KY
2. Los Angeles, CA
12. Tampa, FL
3. San Francisco, CA
13. San Diego, CA
4. Orlando, FL
14. Irving, TX
5. Seattle, WA
15. Atlanta, GA
6. Miami, FL
16. Lincoln, NE
7. Boise, ID
17. Chicago, IL
8. Fort Wayne, IN
18. St. Paul, MN
9. Oakland, CA
19. Lubbock, TX
10. Austin, TX
20. New York, NY

Best vs. Worst

  • Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of restaurants serving vegetarian options, 27.76 percent, which is 12 times higher than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the lowest at 2.31 percent.
  • Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of restaurants serving vegan options, 16.01 percent, which is 16.7 times higher than in Garland, Texas, the city with the lowest at 0.96 percent.
  • San Francisco has the most community-supported agriculture programs (per square root of population), 0.0172, which is 21.5 times more than in San Antonio, the city with the fewest at 0.0008.
  • Orlando, Florida, has the most salad shops (per square root of population), 0.2076, which is 16.9 times more than in Garland, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.0123.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, click here. 

Image Sources

  • Green juice: Pixaby