AUSTIN, Texas — Austin has landed the No. 3 spot on a new ranking of the best U.S. cities for vegetarians and vegans, according to a report released by WalletHub.
WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 17 measures of vegan- and vegetarian-friendliness, including the share of restaurants offering meatless options, grocery costs and the number of salad shops per capita.
Austin trailed only Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles in the overall rankings.
The city placed fifth in the nation for affordability.
Other high marks for Austin included:
No. 10 for farmers markets and community-supported agriculture programs per capitaNo. 17 for vegetable nurseries per capitaNo. 21 for salad shops per capita
Austin ranked lower in two categories measuring restaurant offerings, coming in at No. 31 for the percentage of restaurants serving vegan options and No. 37 for the percentage serving vegetarian options.
The report also highlighted low prices for several plant-based staples in Austin, which ranked as the eighth-cheapest city for fresh orange juice, the third-cheapest for frozen corn and the fourth-cheapest for sweet peas. Austin was also among the least expensive cities for eggs, a common protein source for vegetarians.