Ohio town named most clueless cooking city in U.S., report says

Cooking is a bit of an acquired art that requires years of honing, practice and experience.

Some people, however, never acquire that art. And some cities are more clueless than others when it comes to cooking skills, one new report says.

In fact, Cleveland is the No. 1 city in the U.S. with the most clueless cooks, according “Clueless Cooks: The 2024 Report” from Meats by Linz, a family-owned meat wholesaler based in Indiana. Linz conducted its report by surveying 2,010 respondents nationwide in May 2024 about their experiences with cooking and their cooking skills. The report also analyzed Google search volume to determine search interest for basic cooking skills across all cities with a population of at least 250,000 and measured it per 100,000 residents

Cleveland led all U.S. cities with 10,258 Google searches related to basic cooking skills per 100,000 residents. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (10,020) ranked second on the list as the only other U.S. city to eclipse 10,000 searches for basic cooking skills per 100,000 residents.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the most clueless cooks, according to Linz, are:

1. Cleveland, OH

2. Pittsburgh, PA

3. Seattle, WA

4. Madison, WI

5. Lubbock, TX

6. Portland OR

7. Austin, TX

8. Minneapolis, MN

9. Atlanta, GA

10. Nashville, TN

Beyond the top 10, three additional Ohio cities ranked among the top 30 most clueless cooking cities in the U.S. Cincinnati and Toledo ranked consecutively at No. 16 and No. 17, respectively, while Columbus is 29th on the list.

What’s more, the majority (54%) of respondents said they are not proficient in the kitchen and about one-third (33%) of respondents reported negative feedback about their cooking skills. A similar number (35%) say they have no desire to try to become a good cook, according to the report.

When it comes to hurdles to becoming a good cook, common issues reported were lack of time (54%) lack of motivation (49%) and lack of skills or experience (44%). About one-in-seven respondents (14%) rated their cooking skills as “advanced” or “expert.”

The full report from Meat by Linz on “Clueless Cooks: The 2024 Report” can be found online.