Pizza Is Most Popular In These States

One of my best girlfriends grew up in New York, and she places a hilariously high premium on two pieces of the New York Way that no state will purportedly ever match or even comprehend. Those two phenomena are bagels, and the mighty New York pizza. Well, recently, Estately, a real estate blog, set out to uncover the states that have the most pizza places per capita to calculate the pervasiveness and popularity of the king of pies among each state's residents. Spoiler alert — just like the Knicks and the Nets, New York doesn't even crack the top 10.

That isn't to say that we have an overabundance of pizza options where I live in California either. The only pizza-related statistic that California leads in is the number of times we as a state Googled "gluten-free pizza." (This is where I insert the embarrassed monkey-covering-his-eyes emoji.) At the very least, California can wipe its brow that it's not Hawaii, the least pizza-enthused state in the union. And apparently, Hawaiian-style pizza is sort of like Tatiana Maslany — super amazing but totally invented in Canada. So, who are these pizza fiends consuming so many slices as to out-pizza New York at its own game? The winner is actually super surprising.

5. Nevada

Nevada hits the jackpot as the fifth most pizza-crazy state. Estately hypothesizes that this enthusiasm might have something to do with the number of tourists from New Jersey that frequent Las Vegas.

4. Ohio

Clearly pizza holds a special place in the hearts of Ohioans. Even Cleveland native LeBron James is over the moon about pizza. He recently became an investor in the Chipotle-esque pizza chain Blaze Pizza.

3. New Jersey

New Jersey natives love a good slice of thin-crust goodness — just ask Jon Stewart.

2. Delaware

Delaware seemingly loves all kinds of pizza — pan pizzas, thin crust, grinders, bianco pizzas, or coal-fired Neapolitan pizzas. First Staters will get down anytime.

1. West Virginia

From mom and pop shops to a wild number of pizza chains, West Virginians have the most options when it comes to where to grab a slice. They also Google the grease out of "pepperoni," which is an achievement all its own.

Head over to Estately to locate your state on the full pizza map of the USA and find out how it stacks up as far as pizza popularity.

Can't get enough pizza? Check out Bustle on YouTube.

Images: How Sweet It Is; Giphy (3); Getty Images; Louie's Pizza/Facebook; Estately