Mexican Food Capitals of the U.S.
Thursday, May 05, 2016
Cinco de Mayo might be more of an American invention than a true Mexican holiday, but it's still the perfect excuse to enjoy one of Mexico's greatest imports: food.
Imagine sitting at a table on an outdoor patio as you take a bite out of the perfect taco, the sharp flavor of the fresh onions and cilantro mingling with that of the richly aromatic lengua meat. As the nearby mariachi band starts up another lively tune, you relax and slowly sip your horchata from a cool glass, dressed with beads of condensation. This classic Mexican food experience, whether it be in the historic center of Puebla or downtown Denver, is now deeply integrated into American restaurant culture.
Although cuisine found closer to the U.S.-Mexico border may vary greatly from the plates served in the North, Mexican food and its variations occupy a special place in the heart of Americans. Far from being an occasional novelty, Mexican food ranks as the third-most popular menu type in the U.S. It is an estimated $38 billion industry with consumption growing at a faster rate than any other restaurant type. Looking at this industry heavyweight on a neighborhood level shows just how important Mexican food is to the American palate.
Using company classification from Localeze and Dun & Bradstreet, along with population estimates from the 2014 American Community Survey, the data analysts at FindTheHome calculated the number of Mexican food restaurants per 10,000 people. This aggregation of local listings includes small, local restaurants as well as mainstream Mexican food chains, such as Taco Bell and Chipotle Mexican Grill. We then identify the city within each state that has the highest density of Mexican food restaurants. Only cities with a population over 15,000 were included in our analysis. The overall list is ranked from least to most dense. Explore the following list to see if your city made it as one of the Mexican Food Capitals of the U.S.
Note: For the sake of simplicity, we round the “Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People” to the nearest hundredth, which results in ties. Ties do not exist in the unrounded list. The order of the list reflects ranking based on the original calculation.
#50. South Dakota: Watertown
Population: 21,795
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.38
#49. Vermont: Burlington
Population: 42,342
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.42
#48. Rhode Island: Central Falls
Population: 19,406
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.55
#47. North Dakota: Fargo
Population: 110,725
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.63
#46. Massachusetts: Chelsea
Population: 37,084
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 1.89
#45. Delaware: Middletown
Population: 19,469
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.05
#44. Montana: Kalispell
Population: 20,629
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.42
#43. Maine: Brunswick
Population: 15,275
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.62
#42. Ohio: Vandalia
Population: 15,220
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.63
#41. West Virginia: Morgantown
Population: 30,133
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.65
#40. Minnesota: Anoka
Population: 17,202
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.91
#39. Wyoming: Rock Springs
Population: 23,684
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 2.96
#38. Louisiana: Chalmette
Population: 19,375
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.10
#37. Alaska: Fairbanks
Population: 32,100
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.12
#36. New Hampshire: Portsmouth
Population: 21,366
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.28
#35. Idaho: Caldwell
Population: 48,114
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.33
#34. Michigan: Traverse City
Population: 15,006
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.33
#33. Connecticut: Wallingford Center
Population: 17,824
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.37
#32. Nebraska: Grand Island
Population: 50,059
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.40
#31. Wisconsin: Ashwaubenon
Population: 17,065
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.52
#30. Alabama: Homewood
Population: 25,420
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.54
#29. Kentucky: Paducah
Population: 25,046
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.59
#28. Tennessee: Springfield
Population: 16,598
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.61
#27. Indiana: Merrillville
Population: 35,262
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.69
#26. Mississippi: Ridgeland
Population: 24,209
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.72
#25. South Carolina: Anderson
Population: 26,798
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.73
#24. Pennsylvania: Norristown
Population: 34,454
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.77
#23. Kansas: Liberal
Population: 20,846
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.84
#22. Missouri: Creve Coeur
Population: 17,841
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.92
#21. Oklahoma: Sapulpa
Population: 20,308
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.94
#20. New York: Westbury
Population: 15,201
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 3.95
#19. Hawaii: Kihei
Population: 22,314
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.03
#18. New Jersey: Dover
Population: 18,298
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.37
#17. Maryland: East Riverdale
Population: 15,975
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.38
#16. Illinois: Moline
Population: 43,087
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.41
#15. Utah: South Salt Lake
Population: 24,315
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.52
#14. Arkansas: Blytheville
Population: 15,251
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.59
#13. Virginia: Fairfax
Population: 23,507
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.68
#12. Oregon: Hermiston
Population: 17,031
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.70
#11. North Carolina: Clemmons
Population: 19,101
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.71
#10. Nevada: Mesquite
Population: 16,072
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 4.98
#9. Washington: Moses Lake
Population: 21,141
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.20
#8. Arizona: Douglas
Population: 17,137
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 5.25
#7. Iowa: Clive
Population: 16,246
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 6.16
#6. New Mexico: Hobbs
Population: 35,343
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 7.36
#4. Colorado: Durango
Population: 17,268
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 8.11
#5. Georgia: Dalton
Population: 33,336
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 8.10
#3. Florida: Doral
Population: 49,363
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 8.31
#2. Texas: Humble
Population: 15,402
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 11.04
#1. California: Santa Fe Springs
Population: 16,859
Mexican Food Restaurants per 10K People: 14.24
Compare More Places on FindTheHome
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