Loving coffee a latte: Austin named 13th best coffee city in the U.S., Houston gets scalded

Hannah Ortega, Austin American-Statesman

Two of the biggest cities in Texas, Austin and Houston, land on very opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to coffee consumption.

According to a new study from Clever, Austin is the 13th best U.S. city for coffee, while Houston is the worst on the list, placing 50th out of the 50 ranked cities.

The study looked at factors such as coffee shops per 100,000 residents, average price of a cappuccino, average Yelp score of local coffee shops and more to determine rankings. Donut shops also came into consideration due to the frequent pairing of donuts and coffee. Here's how Austin's stats shook out:

  • Average price of a cappuccino: $5.52

  • Coffee shops per 100,000 residents: 14.7

  • Average Yelp score for coffee shops: 4.23

  • Rank change from 2022: 1

  • Coffee roasteries per 100,000 residents: 1.4

  • Coffee passion score: 84.9

  • Percentage of annual income: 1.50%

  • Donut shops per 100,000 residents: 1.4

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Brewing beyond the baseline

The coffee passion score of 84.9 is particularly notable for Austin, as it's 9% higher than average. The score is an average calculated from "16 coffee-related terms on Google Trends, on a scale of 0 to 100," according to the report.

Austin is also above average for coffee shops per 100,000 residents — 16% above average, to be exact — and for coffee roasteries per 100,000 residents. The city average for roasteries is .7 per 100,000 residents, while Austin has 1.4 roasteries per 100,000 residents, making for a 99% difference.

Coffee chain competition

The study ranked the top five cities for Starbucks lovers and also for Dunkin' lovers, and while Austin didn't make either list, Clever said Austin does prefer Starbucks. Then there's Texans' roasting preference, which is a light roast.

Houston gets scalded

Houston is the best of the worst, with a first-place ranking on the list of 10 worst coffee cities.

According to the study, Houston fell from a decent ranking of 29 in 2022 thanks to "just 4.9 coffee shops per 100,000 residents — a stark contrast to the average city's 12.6." Houston also has 58% fewer coffee roasteries per 100,000 residents.

To make things worse, Houston has the fourth most expensive cappuccino at $5.86, helping solidify it as the fifth most expensive city for heavy coffee drinkers.

Also on the worst coffee cities list are San Antonio in fourth place and Dallas in fifth place. San Antonio also follows Houston with the fifth most expensive cappuccino price and then ranks above Houston as the second most expensive city for heavy coffee drinkers.

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Full ranking of the top 15 best U.S. coffee cities

  1. Portland, Oregon

  2. San Jose, California

  3. San Diego, California

  4. Denver, Colorado

  5. San Francisco, California

  6. Providence, Rhode Island

  7. Hartford, Connecticut

  8. Boston, Massachusetts

  9. Las Vegas, Nevada

  10. Seattle, Washington

  11. New Orleans, Louisiana

  12. Salt Lake City, Utah

  13. Austin, Texas

  14. New York, New York

  15. Sacramento, California

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin named 13th best coffee city in the U.S., Houston gets scalded

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