The State That Eats The Most Pizza Is Not California Or New York

Off the top of your head, which state do you think would eat the most pizza? New York, right? We mean, it's the pizza capital of America for a reason (argue with the wall), with even lesser-known pizza spots in New York City being well worth your time. If not New York, then California or some other heavily-populated state would make sense, wouldn't it? But if we go by the metric of pizza eaten per month, the leading consumer of pizza in the United States is ... Iowa? Home state of corn, presidential caucuses, and Slipknot? That Iowa?

Apparently, yes. According to data from Talker Research, the average person in Iowa eats pizza about five times a month, with North Dakota (4.9) and Alaska (4.7) not far behind. We are, admittedly, a little surprised to hear this, if only because the most popular pizza chain in Iowa is something called Pizza Ranch (the American frontier being well-known for its delicious Italian cuisine), but that's just this New York-based writer being overly precious about hometown pride. It's unclear why Iowa, as well as other unusual states like Alaska and North Dakota, are so keen on the 'za, but we suppose that's for Talker Research to find out.

But Talker Research wasn't just asking about America's pizza consumption habits for fun — they wanted to learn more about what kinds of toppings America preferred, and how elastic those preferences are. Pepperoni, as you can imagine, is a popular choice all around, being the most common pizza order in states like California, New York, and Florida. But there are some real Meat Lover's, uh, lovers out there, with the topping being most popular in states like Michigan, Utah, and North Carolina. (Only one state, Massachusetts, chose "veggie" as its favorite topping, for whatever that's worth.)

Whatever topping a person prefers, though, chances are that they won't change it easily. According to the study, the average American hasn't changed their pizza order in two years. It makes sense — people are often creatures of habit, and nobody wants to spend $16 on a pizza they don't end up liking — but isn't variety the spice of life? Whether you experiment with putting the cheese under the sauce or toss some arugula on that bad boy, the only thing you're really risking is mild disappointment.