Survey Reveals Most Americans Prefer This Pizza Style

When History says something has a long history, it must have a long history. Pizza, or flatbread as it first resembled, is a food said to have been enjoyed thousands of years ago by ancient Egyptians and Romans. Today pizza is a food that is enjoyed all around modern-day America. Needless to say, there has been a lot of time for people to come up with different styles of this historic pie. 

A seemingly never-ending pizza debate revolves around whether pineapple is an acceptable topping. NHL All-Star Alex Ovechkin chimed in with his opinion when he sported a "Pineapple Belongs On Pizza Don't @ Me" t-shirt that the Washington Capitals, in turn, shared on their Instagram account, as reported by the folks at Barstool Sports who are known to have tried a slice of pizza, or two. 

Even the kind of cheese, or lack thereof, found on a pizza can vary around the United States. Mozzarella is traditionally considered the best cheese to use on pizza, and even that comes in different styles. Provel, a processed blend of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone, is commonly found on pizzas in St. Louis. And then there is pizza marinara, which skips the cheese altogether.

But let's talk about the foundation of any pizza: the crust. Do Americans prefer a crispy and chewy thin-crust pizza, or a "get out your knife and fork?" deep-dish pizza?

In a 2022 survey, YouGov asked 1,000 adult United States citizens how they prefer their pizza: thin-crust or deep-dish? The results were tallied and – drumroll, please – thin-crust was the style of choice. Overall, 47% of the survey participants preferred thin crust, while 31% of the survey participants preferred deep-dish. It appears some people like pizza no matter what the style, as 17% of the participants surveyed had no preference on style. The remaining 5% deemed the question "not applicable." 

Even some celebrities have chimed in on what kind of pizza they like ... or dislike. While at a jiu-jitsu academy in Chicago, the late Anthony Bourdain was not hesitant to share his thoughts on Chicago deep dish with DNAinfo Chicago: "I hate it. I think it's an abomination." On the other end of the celeb spectrum, Matt Damon told Chicago RedEye that loves Chicago deep-dish pizza. 

For those of you still trying to decide what style of pizza you like best, you may be surprised how many distinctions people make between types of thin-crust and deep-dish pizzas. Pizza Need claims the roster of thin-crust styles include New York, Neapolitan, New Haven, and even a St. Louis style made by places like Imo's Pizza. Team deep-dish has a lineup that includes Chicago, Detroit, and Sicilian. So make sure you do your due diligence before you decide what style you like best.