A ‘Not So Smart’ Guide To The Best US Beer Cities: 2021

Financial and real estate firms such as SmartAsset have been using beer as a way to draw younger visitors to their sites for years.

Beer is viewed as vital youthful and trendy… retirement and refinancing rates, not so much.

And while the methodology used in these kinds of rankings can get sketchy…they still can be fun… even when their overall results sometimes strain credibility.

SmartAsset began ranking “best beer cities” in 2015 and they’ve just released the 2021 rankings based on 366 cities nationwide.

Using data derived from RateBeer, they start by calculating the total number of breweries and brewpubs in a city per 100,000 residents.

But things get a little sketchier when they introduce the average number of beers produced by each brewery (again this data is input from RateBeer users not from the actual breweries).

And when the methodology takes into account the average price for a pint of a domestic draft beer in any given city, things get ridiculously skewed especially from a craft beer perspective.

The good news they’re no longer taking into account the average Yelp score of breweries as they did in the 2017 rankings.

And now, after more information than anyone needs on what is basically beer clickbait to lure you into a financial planning site, are SmartAsset’s 10 best cities for beer drinkers….

1. Pittsburgh, Pa.
2. Bend, Ore.
3. Milwaukee, Wis.
4. Cincinnati, Ohio.
5. Asheville, N.C.
6. Fort Collins, Colo.
7. Austin, Texas
8. New Orleans, La.
9. Portland, Ore.
10. Portland, Maine 

Key Findings

• The top 10 cities are teeming with breweries. As the only double-weighted metric in the study, the total number of breweries that a city has heavily impacts its overall ranking. While the average is just eight breweries per city, the top 10 beer cities in the US average 32 breweries apiece. The city with the most breweries? Illinois’ Chicago, which boasts an amazing 101 breweries

Two cities share the same name and the same love of beer. Portland, Oregon, and Portland, Maine, not only share the same namesake, but also a strong beer culture. The cities rank No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, in part due to the sheer number of breweries in each and number of breweries per 100,000 residents,

We’re fine with 70% of this year’s Top 10 cities. But with all due respect, New Orleans at #8?  New Orleans is a great party city, just not a great beer city.

And absolutely no Top 10 love for San Diego ….REALLY? San Diego, one of the nation’s most important beer destinations, didn’t even make the Top 50 in 2o21.

So here is SmartAsset’s complete ranking …See what you think.

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(All chart credits: SmartAsset)