Americans consumed more than 2 billion pounds of hot dogs and sausages in 2020. In case you needed a visual, “that's enough to stretch from the earth to the moon two and a half times, with some leftovers for snacking,” said the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC, yes it does exist). They analyzed sales data from Nielsen to determine what US cities have the hots for the All-American favorites, hot dogs, and sausages.  

NHDSC has been dedicated to providing information on the “quality, safety, nutrition and preparation of hot dogs and sausages,” since 1994 according to their website.

They went as far as breaking up their lists by popularity vs. sales and hot dogs vs. sausages. This gave us a total of four lists. And the data is based on retail sales during 52 weeks.  

#1 Top 10 Hot Dog Markets (Ranking by sales)

1. Los Angeles
2. New York
3. Dallas/Ft. Worth
4. Chicago
5. Philadelphia
6. Boston
7. Houston
8. Atlanta
9. Tampa
10. Phoenix

1. Buffalo, NY
2. Raleigh/Durham, NC
3. Charlotte
4. Paducah, KY/Cape Girardeau, MO
5. Greensboro, NC
6. Birmingham, AL
7. Knoxville, TN
8. Little Rock, AR
9. Albany, NY
10. Nashville

1. Los Angeles
2. Dallas/Ft. Worth
3. New York
4. Chicago
5. Houston
6. Atlanta
7. Tampa
8. Philadelphia
9. Boston
10. San Francisco

1. Baton Rouge, LA
2. New Orleans
3. Mobile, AL
4. Dallas
5. Little Rock
6. Birmingham
7. Houston
8. Jacksonville
9. Norfolk
10. Oklahoma City

The data also showed that hot dog and sausage sales have gone up more than 20% during the pandemic. And although Los Angeles sells the most of each, Buffalo, NY took home the crown in hot dog popularity when you compare sales per capita.  

It’s no surprise! NHDSC President, Eric Mittenthal pointed out that, “Buffalo is the only city with a baseball stadium named after its hot dog brand, Sahlins.”   For more information and articles like, How to Properly Eat a Chili Dog, Hot Dogs in Sports, and 25 Hot Dog Facts for 25 Years visit the National Hotdog and Sausage Council website: www.hot-dog.org