Eating vegan or vegetarian seems to be getting easier, but where you live can still make a big difference. About 5% of U.S. adults are vegetarian, including vegans, and while more restaurants and stores are offering meat-free options, some cities give plant-based eaters a lot more to work with than others.
WalletHub’s annual list of the Best Cities for Vegans & Vegetarians compares the 100 largest U.S. cities across 17 measures of vegan- and vegetarian-friendliness.
Those include the cost of groceries for vegetarians, the share of restaurants serving meatless options, and the number of farmers markets and salad shops per capita.
Portland, Oregon, is number one for the second year in a row, after reclaiming the top spot from Los Angeles, which took first place in 2024.
Portland ranks third for Diversity, Accessibility & Quality and sixth for Vegetarian Lifestyle. It also has one of the highest numbers of highly rated, affordable restaurants with vegan or vegetarian options, and residents order that kind of food 148% more often than the U.S. average.
Los Angeles comes in second overall, while Austin, Texas, lands at number three. L.A. residents order vegan and vegetarian food 187% more often than the U.S. average.
San Francisco, fourth overall, ranks number one for both Diversity, Accessibility & Quality and Vegetarian Lifestyle, but comes in dead last for Affordability.
Laredo, Texas, has the most affordable vegetarian groceries, while Honolulu has the most expensive.
Durham, North Carolina, lands at the bottom of the overall ranking this year, ranking 97th for Affordability, 63rd for Diversity, Accessibility & Quality, and 17th for Vegetarian Lifestyle.
