The Most Expensive Cheese Pizza Can Be Found In This State

Pizza isn't often regarded as a luxurious meal. Rather, it's a staple at birthday parties or sporting events and might be the one pit-stop you make after work on a Friday night. But depending on where you live, the average price of a pizza can be shockingly more than what you'd expect. In New York City, for example — also known as the most expensive pizza city — prepare to spend an average of $28.60 for one pizza. Sure, New York style pizza is pretty well-known, but it's hard to believe it could be worth the price. The cost is based on data collected by Clever and published in 2024. That price is substantially more than the United States' most expensive pizza chain, Papa Murphy's, where a pizza costs $17.99.

New York City is the largest city in its state and also the most populous city in the U.S. If you thought a cheese pizza was expensive, then you'll be more surprised to learn that the average pepperoni pizza in New York City costs a whopping $33.65. The Big Apple is home to many mom-and-pop pizza joints, so one explanation could be the generally high cost of living. After all, these restaurants need to pay rent in one of the most expensive cities in the world, so their food prices could reflect the higher overhead.

New York has always considered itself the city with the best-tasting pizza, though there are several other cities — and even a few states — who want to argue for that same title. Regardless of flavor, there's no shortage of pizza joints, with New York having nearly 10 pizza spots per 100,000 residents, which is about 15% more than the average per-capita ratio. Supply and demand likely isn't the reason for the high prices here.

Other cities that come close to New York in terms of pricing include Chicago, where a cheese pizza runs an average of $27.66, and Orlando, where one costs $25.35 (Orlando just beat out Los Angeles, where the average price is $25.05, according to Clever). New York's other major city, Buffalo, actually has far more pizza restaurants per capita, with 17.8 per 100,000 residents. However, a cheese pizza there only costs an average of $20.67. If you're tired of high pizza costs, you can always relocate to Richmond, Virginia, which has the lowest average cheese pizza price at just $14.75 — nearly half the cost of a New York pizza.