Pittsburgh ranked ‘best NFL city’ ahead of 2023

Steelers fans have long known themselves that Pittsburgh is the best dang football city in America. Now, there’s some more data to validate the claim.

Pittsburgh ranked atop all 32 teams in the league for the title of “Best City for NFL Football,” according to Real Estate Witch, a blog dedicated to commentary on real estate. The site ranks Green Bay, Wisconsin as the No. 2 football city, home of the Packers, followed by Dallas, Texas (Cowboys) at No. 3.

There were many criteria weighted in consideration for the ranking of best NFL city. It seems likely that Steelers’ history of Super Bowl wins and appearances, paired with the distance from the city center and the number of bars within a one-mile radius could be what tipped the scales as heavily in Pittsburgh’s favor.

Here’s a look at the full list of criteria used to rank the best NFL cities:

• Total historical wins (on a team basis) (x5 weighted)
• Total Super Bowl wins (on a city basis) (x5)
• Super Bowl appearances (on a city basis) (x3)
• Playoff appearances (on a team basis) (x3)
• Distance of stadium from the city center (x4)
• Google Trends data for 14 football terms, such as “NFL,” “NFL tickets,” “football,” “football scores,” “stream NFL games,” “fantasy football,” “tailgating,” “sports bars near me,” and others (x4)
• Fan base ranking from Emory University professor Mike Lewis (x4)
• Average home game attendance (2022 season) (x3)
• Beginning of current city occupation (x3)
• Stadium capacity (x2)
• Count of bars within a 1-mile radius of the stadium (x2)
• Percentage of average local monthly income spent on four typical-priced home game tickets (x1)
• Upcoming prime-time appearances (2023-24 season) (x1)

What do you think makes Pittsburgh the best NFL city out there? Join our Behind The Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!