Seattle and Portland may no longer hold the crown for America’s top coffee cities, as a recent study reveals a new winner has taken the top spot.
When picturing a coffee capital, most people imagine drinking a warm cup of coffee in a cozy café while listening to the rain fall on a cloudy Pacific Northwest day. Theme parks usually aren’t the first image that comes to mind.
Yet, Orlando, Florida, a destination globally recognized for major tourist attractions like Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld, was named the best coffee city in the United States by the personal finance website WalletHub in its newest city rankings.
Pacific Northwest coffee lovers might be disappointed to hear that Portland fell to second place, while Seattle landed in fifth.
To determine the rankings, the study evaluated the 100 largest American cities across 12 specific metrics. These factors included household spending on coffee, the percentage of adult coffee drinkers, average prices for a cappuccino and a bag of coffee, the number of coffee shops per capita, and the affordability of those shops.
The personal finance site WalletHub attributed Orlando’s top spot largely to its high concentration of coffee and tea shops offering free Wi-Fi per capita, along with a strong density of budget-friendly cafes rated 4.5 stars or higher out of 5.
Portland performed well across similar categories, but its residents tend to make coffee at home more often: nearly 24% own an electric coffee grinder, and 27% rely on single-serve or pod coffee makers. This strong preference for home brewing ultimately cost the city its top spot.
In last year’s rankings, Portland took first place, whereas Seattle was fifth, the same position it holds now. The birthplace of Starbucks last made the top three back in 2024. However, Seattle beat out both Portland and Orlando in household coffee expenditure, ranking fourth overall in that category.
That high level of spending is notable given broader national trends. As detailed in the findings released by the National Coffee Association, roughly 66% of Americans drink coffee every day, with residents in top coffee-consuming cities spending about $327 annually. Meanwhile, about 33% of people across the country own a home coffee maker.
For Portland and Seattle to reclaim the top ranking, residents might need to rely less on their home brewers, visit local coffee shops more frequently, or simply boost their overall coffee consumption.
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