Best Cities for Crafting
Love to DIY? Whether you’re a needlework novice or a full-time Etsy-preneur, 2023’s Best Cities for Crafting will bring out your inner Martha Stewart.
LawnStarter pieced together this ranking of the 200 biggest U.S. cities using 14 “crafty” metrics.
They looked for easy access to crafting supplies, a big crafting community, workshops for learning new techniques, and plenty of crafting events to attend.
See the 10 DIY art capitals (and the 10 less crafty cities) below, followed by some highlights on standout craft scenes.
Craftiest Cities
| Rank | City |
| 1 | New York, NY |
| 2 | Los Angeles, CA |
| 3 | San Francisco, CA |
| 4 | Seattle, WA |
| 5 | Houston, TX |
| 6 | Austin, TX |
| 7 | Atlanta, GA |
| 8 | Miami, FL |
| 9 | Denver, CO |
| 10 | San Jose, CA |
Not-So-Crafty Cities
| Rank | City |
| 1 | Moreno Valley, CA |
| 2 | Grand Prairie, TX |
| 3 | West Valley City, UT |
| 4 | Ontario, CA |
| 5 | Aurora, IL |
| 6 | Killeen, TX |
| 7 | Warren, MI |
| 8 | Springfield, MA |
| 9 | Irving, TX |
| 10 | Paterson, NJ |
Highlights:
- Crafting Capital of America: For the second year in a row, The Big Apple handily defeated its competition by dominating three out of four categories: Access, Community, and Events.
Gotham lacks enough art schools and workshops to formally train its enormous population. However, crafty creatives won’t struggle to find inspiration outside the classroom in America’s biggest melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. - Materialistic Cities Big and Small: In general, the biggest U.S. cities fared best in our ranking. That’s not to say smaller cities can’t hold a homemade candle to crafty behemoths.
Rochester, New York (No. 17), for example, is home to America’s oldest craft school and to world-class craft artists like Albert Paley. For nearly 60 years, Richmond, Virginia (No. 21), has hosted the annual Craft + Design, a nationally attended exhibit showcasing the nation’s best contemporary crafts. Both cities have populations under 250,000. - Meet Your Maker (at Craft Week): Want to buy the highest-quality handmade goods or take your craft skills to the next level? San Francisco (No. 3), Atlanta (No. 7), Baltimore (No. 13), and St. Paul, Minnesota (No. 27) each host American Craft Made, a national event showcasing crafts, workshops, studio tours, and “maker meetups.”
So tell me is your city on the list of best cities for crafting?
