BBQ Joints in the United States — the numbers
We maintain 24,887 BBQ joints across the country. Below is what that looks like by state: raw count, count per 100,000 residents, and how complete the listings are. Updated November 2026.
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a cut we don't show — a single metro, a longer time range — write to
contact@bbqjointatlas.com and you'll get it the
same day. Full CSVs for this and our other categories:
download the
dataset on GitHub (CC BY 4.0).
Download the numbers. Two files, no sign-up, CC BY 4.0 —
credit BBQJointAtlas and use them anywhere (a link is welcome, followed or nofollow):
bbq_states.csv
(one row per state: count, per 100,000 residents, share with a website, phone and hours)
· bbq_cities.csv
(every city with three or more BBQ joints). Updated November 2026.
Density: BBQ joints per 100,000 residents
Population is the 2020 Census count. Density says more than a raw count: Alabama has 15.2 per 100,000 — 4.9× the rate of Massachusetts.
| State | BBQ Joints | Per 100k | With a website | With a phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 763 | 15.2 | 54% | 95% |
| Alaska | 47 | 6.4 | 36% | 94% |
| Arizona | 373 | 5.2 | 61% | 92% |
| Arkansas | 449 | 14.9 | 46% | 94% |
| California | 1975 | 5 | 65% | 93% |
| Colorado | 451 | 7.8 | 66% | 94% |
| Connecticut | 141 | 3.9 | 62% | 96% |
| Delaware | 62 | 6.3 | 74% | 92% |
| Florida | 1804 | 8.4 | 58% | 94% |
| Georgia | 1278 | 11.9 | 60% | 96% |
| Hawaii | 136 | 9.3 | 65% | 95% |
| Idaho | 127 | 6.9 | 57% | 91% |
| Illinois | 854 | 6.7 | 59% | 91% |
| Indiana | 466 | 6.9 | 52% | 95% |
| Iowa | 231 | 7.2 | 58% | 93% |
| Kansas | 281 | 9.6 | 60% | 93% |
| Kentucky | 432 | 9.6 | 49% | 94% |
| Louisiana | 357 | 7.7 | 57% | 93% |
| Maine | 76 | 5.6 | 66% | 93% |
| Maryland | 350 | 5.7 | 67% | 96% |
| Massachusetts | 217 | 3.1 | 59% | 91% |
| Michigan | 591 | 5.9 | 59% | 94% |
| Minnesota | 249 | 4.4 | 66% | 92% |
| Mississippi | 426 | 14.4 | 45% | 96% |
| Missouri | 646 | 10.5 | 60% | 94% |
| Montana | 88 | 8.1 | 64% | 98% |
| Nebraska | 135 | 6.9 | 59% | 93% |
| Nevada | 192 | 6.2 | 68% | 96% |
| New Hampshire | 74 | 5.4 | 66% | 95% |
| New Jersey | 444 | 4.8 | 59% | 92% |
| New Mexico | 153 | 7.2 | 53% | 91% |
| New York | 831 | 4.1 | 60% | 92% |
| North Carolina | 915 | 8.8 | 68% | 95% |
| North Dakota | 39 | 5 | 62% | 97% |
| Ohio | 671 | 5.7 | 59% | 93% |
| Oklahoma | 490 | 12.4 | 61% | 94% |
| Oregon | 283 | 6.7 | 56% | 93% |
| Pennsylvania | 704 | 5.4 | 57% | 93% |
| Rhode Island | 41 | 3.7 | 51% | 90% |
| South Carolina | 571 | 11.2 | 64% | 95% |
| South Dakota | 54 | 6.1 | 67% | 91% |
| Tennessee | 958 | 13.9 | 57% | 93% |
| Texas | 3780 | 13 | 59% | 94% |
| Utah | 181 | 5.5 | 65% | 95% |
| Vermont | 51 | 7.9 | 55% | 92% |
| Virginia | 588 | 6.8 | 64% | 95% |
| Washington | 341 | 4.4 | 63% | 94% |
| Washington DC | 38 | 5.5 | 79% | 100% |
| West Virginia | 122 | 6.8 | 52% | 92% |
| Wisconsin | 308 | 5.2 | 64% | 91% |
| Wyoming | 53 | 9.2 | 43% | 92% |
Cities with the most BBQ joints
| City | State | BBQ Joints |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | Texas | 286 |
| San Antonio | Texas | 231 |
| Chicago | Illinois | 190 |
| Austin | Texas | 172 |
| Dallas | Texas | 168 |
| New York | New York | 139 |
| Los Angeles | California | 122 |
| Las Vegas | Nevada | 119 |
| Fort Worth | Texas | 114 |
| Atlanta | Georgia | 108 |
| Memphis | Tennessee | 105 |
| Jacksonville | Florida | 104 |
| Miami | Florida | 85 |
| Tampa | Florida | 83 |
| Nashville | Tennessee | 83 |
| Orlando | Florida | 81 |
| Indianapolis | Indiana | 81 |
| San Diego | California | 79 |
| Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 77 |
| Phoenix | Arizona | 74 |
| Louisville | Kentucky | 73 |
| Tulsa | Oklahoma | 70 |
| Portland | Oregon | 69 |
| Denver | Colorado | 67 |
| Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 62 |
How this is built
Locations come from Overture Maps (open data), filtered to BBQ joints in the US and cleaned: duplicates merged, dead entries dropped, phone numbers normalized. Websites, opening hours and amenities are checked against each business's own site. We keep monthly snapshots, so the counts above are a point in time, not a running total — ask if you need an earlier one.