Chocolate is wonderful on its own, but this luxurious treat also has the superpower to enhance the flavor of other foods like strawberries, bacon, pretzels, and coffee.
To mark International Chocolate Day on Sept. 13, Lawn Love ranked 2022’s Best Cities for Chocolate Lovers.
We looked among the 190 biggest U.S. cities for abundant chocolate factories and high-quality shops selling chocolate, including chocolatiers, dessert shops, and patisseries. We also considered chocolate-themed entertainment like museums, tours, theme parks, and events.
Check out the 10 sweetest (and 10 bitterest) cities for chocolate lovers below, followed by key insights from our report. (See where your city ranks.)
| Best Cities for Chocolate Lovers | |
| Rank | City |
| 1 | New York, NY |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA |
| 3 | Las Vegas, NV |
| 4 | Hershey, PA |
| 5 | Los Angeles, CA |
| 6 | Seattle, WA |
| 7 | Chicago, IL |
| 8 | Orlando, FL |
| 9 | San Diego, CA |
| 10 | Dallas, TX |
| Worst Cities for Chocolate Lovers | |
| Rank | City |
| 1 | Sioux Falls, SD |
| 2 | Columbus, GA |
| 3 | Mesquite, TX |
| 4 | Garland, TX |
| 5 | Fayetteville, NC |
| 6 | Clarksville, TN |
| 7 | Surprise, AZ |
| 8 | Hayward, CA |
| 9 | Hampton, VA |
| 10 | Newport News, VA |
Key insights:
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Big-city bonbons: New York takes the crown of the chocolate empire at No. 1 overall and in the Access category. The city is home to over 100 chocolate shops and the most chocolate manufacturers in the country.
Las Vegas, at No. 3, is its own Chocolate Sin City, far outnumbering the competition in dessert shops, candy shops, and ice cream shops. Chicago (No. 7) follows closely behind, with the second-highest number of chocolate stores and bakeries. -
Willy Wonka’s West: Indulgent San Francisco (No. 2) is home to industry icon Ghirardelli in addition to a number of smaller artisans and manufacturers. Head to Los Angeles (No. 5) and San Diego (No. 9), boasting plenty of patisseries, candy stores, and dessert shops to satisfy your cocoa-flavored cravings.
Up north, cities like Seattle (No. 6) and Portland (No. 14) also impress with many high-quality chocolate shops and bakeries, coffee shops, and dessert shops. -
Charming confections: The Sweetest Place on Earth — Hershey, Pennsylvania (No. 4) — might not have a variety of tasty chocolate shops to choose from, but it’s the perfect place to go if you’re looking for the ultimate chocolate-based entertainment: a chocolate theme park.
If you’re just searching for a good bite of chocolate, you might unexpectedly find it in small cities, such as Des Moines, Iowa (No. 19), Pomona, California (No. 26), and Garden Grove, California (No. 16). -
Desolate desserts: You won’t have many choices for combatting your chocolate cravings in small cities like Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Columbus, Georgia, and Mesquite, Texas, our three worst cities overall.
These cities gave a bittersweet performance across the board, with scarce options for their small-town chocolate lovers.
Our full ranking and analysis are available here: https://lawnlove.com/blog/best-cities-chocolate-lovers/