The Most Late Night Hungry Cities in America
Las Vegas searches for late night food more than any other big US metro: 211.0 searches a month per 100,000 residents, 4.7x the median of the 50 largest metros. Oklahoma City ranks second and Nashville third. The country's biggest metros rank near the bottom once you adjust for population: New York is 42nd and Chicago 39th.
Key findings
- Las Vegas leads by a wide margin, at 4.7x the median. Visitors add to the count, so this measures demand in the city, not only from residents.
- Oklahoma City is the surprise at #2, ahead of Nashville, Austin and every coastal metro.
- All four big Texas metros land in the top 20: Austin #4, San Antonio #10, Houston #19 and Dallas #20.
- By total searches, Los Angeles (#1) and New York (#2) lead, but per person they rank #23 and #42.
- Riverside, Hartford, Detroit and Phoenix search for late night food the least.
- "Late night food dallas" and "late night food las vegas" tie as the most-searched single phrase of any city, at 1,900 searches a month each.
“We expected New York to run away with this. Instead, once you account for population, it landed near the bottom and Oklahoma City came in second. Late night hunger isn't just a big city thing.”
Late night food searches per 100,000 residents
Full ranking
| Rank | Metro | Searches per 100k | Monthly searches | Rank by total searches | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas | 211.0 | 5,080 | 3 | 2,407,226 |
| 2 | Oklahoma City | 105.1 | 1,590 | 21 | 1,512,813 |
| 3 | Nashville | 102.4 | 2,250 | 16 | 2,197,416 |
| 4 | Austin | 87.4 | 2,290 | 14 | 2,620,945 |
| 5 | Portland | 86.5 | 2,200 | 18 | 2,542,282 |
| 6 | Orlando | 84.2 | 2,490 | 12 | 2,957,672 |
| 7 | Denver | 71.8 | 2,220 | 17 | 3,092,037 |
| 8 | San Jose | 71.6 | 1,420 | 24 | 1,984,473 |
| 9 | San Francisco | 63.9 | 2,960 | 9 | 4,630,041 |
| 10 | San Antonio | 61.9 | 1,740 | 19 | 2,813,140 |
| 11 | Seattle | 60.5 | 2,520 | 11 | 4,161,883 |
| 12 | Milwaukee | 60.3 | 950 | 31 | 1,575,010 |
| 13 | Richmond | 59.0 | 820 | 35 | 1,389,338 |
| 14 | Atlanta | 58.2 | 3,770 | 6 | 6,482,182 |
| 15 | Charlotte | 56.8 | 1,670 | 20 | 2,938,830 |
| 16 | Philadelphia | 55.5 | 3,510 | 8 | 6,329,118 |
| 17 | Washington DC | 55.1 | 3,560 | 7 | 6,465,724 |
| 18 | Memphis | 54.4 | 730 | 37 | 1,341,412 |
| 19 | Houston | 54.1 | 4,280 | 5 | 7,904,627 |
| 20 | Dallas | 53.2 | 4,510 | 4 | 8,477,157 |
| 21 | Salt Lake City | 52.0 | 680 | 39 | 1,308,377 |
| 22 | Cincinnati | 46.7 | 1,080 | 26 | 2,312,858 |
| 23 | Los Angeles | 45.5 | 5,840 | 1 | 12,844,441 |
| 24 | Boston | 44.9 | 2,260 | 15 | 5,034,221 |
| 25 | Louisville | 44.9 | 630 | 42 | 1,402,509 |
| 26 | Tampa | 44.8 | 1,530 | 22 | 3,418,895 |
| 27 | Pittsburgh | 44.2 | 1,070 | 27 | 2,421,992 |
| 28 | Kansas City | 44.0 | 1,000 | 30 | 2,270,682 |
| 29 | San Diego | 43.6 | 1,430 | 23 | 3,282,248 |
| 30 | Cleveland | 42.9 | 930 | 32 | 2,165,775 |
| 31 | Indianapolis | 40.4 | 890 | 33 | 2,205,695 |
| 32 | Raleigh | 40.1 | 640 | 40 | 1,595,720 |
| 33 | Miami | 37.4 | 2,390 | 13 | 6,391,072 |
| 34 | Grand Rapids | 37.2 | 440 | 44 | 1,183,645 |
| 35 | St. Louis | 36.2 | 1,020 | 29 | 2,814,421 |
| 36 | Minneapolis | 34.6 | 1,310 | 25 | 3,790,295 |
| 37 | Birmingham | 32.6 | 390 | 45 | 1,197,766 |
| 38 | Columbus | 31.7 | 710 | 38 | 2,242,028 |
| 39 | Chicago | 31.2 | 2,940 | 10 | 9,434,123 |
| 40 | Baltimore | 28.7 | 820 | 36 | 2,857,781 |
| 41 | Jacksonville | 28.6 | 510 | 43 | 1,785,500 |
| 42 | New York | 27.5 | 5,530 | 2 | 20,112,448 |
| 43 | Sacramento | 25.8 | 640 | 41 | 2,477,274 |
| 44 | Fresno | 25.8 | 310 | 48 | 1,203,383 |
| 45 | Providence | 22.2 | 380 | 46 | 1,708,161 |
| 46 | Virginia Beach | 20.6 | 370 | 47 | 1,797,213 |
| 47 | Phoenix | 19.9 | 1,040 | 28 | 5,228,938 |
| 48 | Detroit | 18.9 | 830 | 34 | 4,390,913 |
| 49 | Hartford | 6.0 | 70 | 50 | 1,171,426 |
| 50 | Riverside | 2.7 | 130 | 49 | 4,769,007 |
Methodology
- Search data: Semrush US database, average monthly search volume, pulled October 19, 2026.
- Keywords: eight phrasings for each city name: "late night food", "late night restaurants", "24 hour restaurants", "late night eats", "restaurants open late", "food open late", "late night food delivery" and "24 hour food", each followed by the city name.
- City names: each metro's main city, its common nickname (NYC, LA, DC, Philly, Vegas, OKC, SLC, SF), and any other city in the official metro name with 250,000 or more residents (Fort Worth, Long Beach, Anaheim, Newark, Jersey City, Mesa, Chandler, St. Paul, St. Petersburg, Oakland, Henderson). Ambiguous names like Arlington and Aurora were left out.
- Population: U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan statistical area estimates for July 1, 2025.
- Score: total monthly searches divided by metro population, per 100,000 residents.
- Limitations: "near me" searches can't be split by city, so they aren't included. Tourist-heavy cities such as Las Vegas, Orlando and Nashville draw searches from visitors. A few city names are shared with other places (Portland, Columbus, Richmond, Birmingham), which may add a small number of searches. Semrush figures are estimates, and very small keywords are reported at a floor of about 20 searches.
Download and use
Download the full ranking (CSV)
You're welcome to use these findings and the chart. Please credit Late Night Food Spots and link to this page.
Press questions: hello@latenightfoodspots.com
About the data source
Late Night Food Spots tracks which restaurants are actually still serving food late at night, with kitchen close times checked by hand, starting with late night food in Dallas.
Last updated October 19, 2026