Breadfans: Michigan is a Surprising National Leader in Bagel Consumption

If you were to imagine a place where the population would eat a lot of bagels, you might immediately think of the east coast and specifically New York or New Jersey? Would it surprise you to know that Michiganders eat more bagels per person annually than either of those two states.

In fact, Michigan is one of America's leaders in bagel consumption.

A survey was released in 2022 of how many bagels are eaten annually by state. Michigan eats 57 bagels per person per year, on average. That's a bagel every 6 and a half days.

Those perceived bagel hot spots? New Yorkers eat 54 bagels per person each year while in New Jersey it's 48 bagels per year. The nation's top bagel consumers are in Maine with 73 bagels annually, Delaware with 71 bagels, In Massachusetts and Georgia, they both eat 59 bagels per person.

READ MORE: This Michigan Bagel Shop is Renowned for Schmearing Cream Cheese by the Tubful

As a national average, Americans eat 39 bagels per year.

Michigan is the far and away leader in this particular carb consumption in the Midwest. Ohio, Indiana and Illinois are all in the 35-40 bagel-per-year range while our other neighbor, Wisconsin is well below average with 28 bagels per person annually.

In terms of bagel flavor and topping preference, Michiganders prefer an Everything bagel, which is the top choice nationally. The state also prefers plain cream cheese as opposed to a flavored cream cheese and just cream cheese on the bagel as opposed to a meat and cheese or lox topping.