Oregon Is the #1 State by Burger Consumption, New Data Shows

It's difficult to overstate the popularity of burgers in the U.S. According to a YouGov survey (conducted by White Castle), an incredible 20 billion burgers are consumed in the U.S. annually—an average of 60 patties per person. Far from an occasional indulgence, burgers are practically their own category on the food pyramid.

But which state ranks the highest in terms of burger consumption? And are there any outliers in the data, skewing the national average to the right? Food and recipe website Pantry & Larder has crunched the numbers and has ranked all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) by burgers consumed per person.

Oregon topped the list, with an average of 79 burgers consumed per citizen per year. Arizona and Utah were a close second and third, at 77 and 75 burgers per person, respectively, and Utah, New Mexico, and Michigan rounded out the top five. All told, a strong showing for the West and Southwest.

On the bottom end, meanwhile, D.C. claimed the lowest burger consumption rate, with an average of just 36 burgers per person—well under half the rate of Arizona. New York came in second-to-last, at just 41 burgers per person, and Massachusetts was third-to-last, at 42 burgers.

To calculate the rankings, Pantry & Larder started with the YouGov estimate and apportioned the 200 billion patties state by state. To determine each state's correct portion, Pantry & Larder factored in average demand for burgers (calculated using Google Trends), and incidence of burger restaurants (calculated with OpenStreetMap API).

In terms of average burger demand and incidence of burger restaurants, the rankings were similar to those for burger consumption. According to the study, burger demand is highest in Nevada, Utah, and Oregon (and lowest in Wyoming and Vermont). Burger restaurants are most numerous in Arizona, where there are about 10.4 burger restaurants per 100,000 residents, and scarcest in D.C., where there are just 2.4.

Does your state rank on the list track with your own rate of burger consumption? Either way, with Labor Day right around the corner, burgers are (very likely) in your not-too-distant future.