STUDY: Seattle Tops Portland as Most 'Hipster' City in U.S.
Infogroup Data Ranks Cities by Concentration of 'Alternative' Businesses
OMAHA, NE--(Marketwired - July 27, 2016) - A new study from leading data provider Infogroup reveals that Seattle is the most "hipster" city in the U.S., narrowly beating Portland, Ore. for the spot.
To pinpoint which cities had both a large population and influence from hipster culture, Infogroup used its verified business database of more than 15 million records to identify which metro areas are home to businesses and services appealing to the cool and connected: microbreweries, record stores, music dealers, thrift shops, tattoo parlors, music and live entertainment, bicycle dealers and non-chain coffee shops. Once these factors were compiled, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with a population of one million or more were ranked by their concentration of hipster-related businesses per 10,000 residents.
Using these indicators, Infogroup ranked the following as the top 10 hipster cities in the U.S.:
Seattle
Portland
Denver
Sacramento, Calif.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
San Diego
Providence, R.I.
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
Rochester, N.Y.
Though Portland in recent years has arguably been considered the country's most "hip" city, Seattle took the top spot partly due to its high concentration of single-location coffee shops. Single-location coffee shops make up 38 percent of "hipster" businesses in Seattle and 29 percent in Portland. Both cities boasted a significant microbrewery presence as well, making up 10 percent of businesses of interest in Seattle and 14 percent in Portland.
"By pinpointing the business characteristics of unique communities, such as "hipsters," where consumers turn to local as opposed to larger chain companies, Infogroup gives marketers and business owners an advantage to gain market share," said Matt Graves, chief data officer at Infogroup. "Our insights find a high correlation between types of businesses and consumer preferences that creates an opportunity for growth in the community."
Ranking third on the list, Denver is also home to a large number of single-location coffee shops and microbreweries, along with tattoo parlors and thrift stores. Other cities like Sacramento and Grand Rapids boast a 30 percent makeup of thrift shops, within the hipster-related businesses, while 24 percent of local businesses among those analyzed in Providence are tattoo shops.
"The insights from this data study are useful to business owners as they seek to reach and better serve consumers," said Mike Iaccarino, chairman and CEO of Infogroup. "The analysis presents opportunities for businesses like coffee shops, tattoo parlors and others. As these businesses develop, an understanding of the firmographics of an area, no matter how trendy or colloquial, is a must have for success."
Infogroup's U.S. verified database contains more than 15 million business records and its consumer database contains more than 245 million individual consumer records. To read more about Infogroup's Top 10 U.S. Hipster Cities data study, click here. For a quick snapshot of the study, click here for the Infographic.
About Infogroup
Infogroup is a big data, analytics and marketing services provider that delivers best in class data-driven, customer-centric technology solutions. Our data and software-as-a-service (DaaS & SaaS) offerings help clients of all sizes, from small companies to FORTUNE 100TM enterprises, increase their sales and customer loyalty. Infogroup provides both digital and traditional marketing channel expertise that is enhanced by access to our proprietary data on 245MM individuals and 25MM businesses, which is distributed real-time to our clients. For more information, visit: www.infogroup.com.
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