Beer

Best Cities For Beer Drinkers

Linda Barrett
Written by Linda Barrett

Ranking 300 cities nationwide, SmartAsset, a financial technology company, compiled a list of the best cities for beer drinkers based on the following methodology: number of breweries, breweries per 100,000 residents, bars per 10,000 residents, the average number of beers per brewery and the average price of beer.

Seven of last year’s top 10 finished in the top 10 this year including Portland, Oregon; Asheville, North Carolina; Portland, Maine; Cincinnati, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; and Duluth, Minnesota.

Surprisingly, San Diego, the self-proclaimed craft beer capital of the world, ranked 34th on the annual best of list.  After further investigation, bars per capita and the average price of beer ($7) is holding America’s Finest City back.  Furthermore, banner breweries such as Alpine, Stone, and Coronado are technically located outside of San Diego.

The 10 best cities for beer drinkers, according to SmartAsset, are:

  1. Portland, Oregon
  2. Asheville, North Carolina
  3. Portland, Maine
  4. Cincinnatti, Ohio
  5. Bend, Oregon
  6. Duluth, Minnesota
  7. Denver, Colorado
  8. Seattle, Washington
  9. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  10. Fort Collins, Colorado

The 50 best cities for beer drinkers are listed below.

best beer cities

About the author

Linda Barrett

Linda Barrett

Native San Diegan who's been smoking weed longer than YEW!