When you think of hipster hangouts, New York and Portland may be the first cities that come to mind. But the latest study of the contemporary youthful subculture contains some surprises.
Vancouver, Washington is now the most hipster city in the U.S., according to annual rankings from MoveHub which examines key hipstery (is that a word?) indicators across the 150 most populous cities in America each year.
The US Hipster Index draws from five data points. The first four are the number of microbreweries, thrift stores, vegan restaurants, and tattoo studios per 100,000 city residents, while the fifth scales rent inflation in the last year. Together these five metrics have been weighted and allowed us to calculate a US Hipster Index score out of ten, with some surprising results. While many popular conceptions of hipsterdom hold true, plenty don’t.
Sounds pretty scientific.
Here is a list of the top 10 hipster cities in the U.S., according to Move Hub’s 2017 rankings. Notice the conspicuous absence of California.
1 Vancouver, Washington
2 Salt Lake City, Utah
3 Cincinnati, Ohio
4 Boise, Idaho
5 Richmond, Virginia
6 Tacoma, Washington
7 Spokane, Washington
8 Atlanta, Georgia
9 Grand, Rapids Michigan
10 Rochester, New York
Curious about how to spot a hipster? Check out this complete glossary of hipster hallmarks from the Awl.