Key findings
- Small states punch far above their weight. Delaware leads with 2.17 shops per 100,000 residents, and four New England states (New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont) all land in the top seven.
- The Deep South is the least served region. Mississippi and Louisiana have the fewest shops per person by a wide margin. A Mississippi reader shares a shop with roughly 197,000 neighbors, more than twice the national average.
- Big states lead on volume, not density. California has 382 shops, the most of any state, but ranks 41st per capita. Texas (310) ranks 39th.
- Cards are now part of the business. 18% of U.S. comic shops also stock trading card games like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. Minnesota (37%) and Washington (33%) have the highest share.
- Readers love their local shop. 78% of shops with at least five Google reviews hold a rating of 4.5 stars or higher.
Comic shops per capita, every state ranked
Ranked by comic book stores per 100,000 residents. Click any state to see every shop there.
| # | State | Shops | Per 100K | People per shop | Also sell TCG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware | 23 | 2.17 | 46,100 | 17% |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 29 | 2.05 | 48,800 | 14% |
| 3 | Connecticut | 68 | 1.84 | 54,200 | 12% |
| 4 | Nevada | 59 | 1.80 | 55,600 | 15% |
| 5 | Wyoming | 10 | 1.70 | 58,900 | 10% |
| 6 | Maine | 22 | 1.55 | 64,300 | 9% |
| 7 | Vermont | 10 | 1.55 | 64,500 | 10% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 198 | 1.52 | 66,000 | 19% |
| 9 | Kentucky | 68 | 1.48 | 67,700 | 13% |
| 10 | Oregon | 62 | 1.45 | 68,900 | 13% |
| 11 | Tennessee | 106 | 1.45 | 69,000 | 14% |
| 12 | Missouri | 90 | 1.44 | 69,700 | 19% |
| 13 | Ohio | 168 | 1.41 | 70,800 | 22% |
| 14 | Montana | 16 | 1.40 | 71,500 | 12% |
| 15 | South Dakota | 13 | 1.39 | 71,900 | 31% |
| 16 | North Dakota | 11 | 1.38 | 72,700 | 0% |
| 17 | North Carolina | 153 | 1.37 | 73,200 | 14% |
| 18 | Colorado | 82 | 1.36 | 73,300 | 20% |
| 19 | West Virginia | 24 | 1.36 | 73,600 | 4% |
| 20 | Alaska | 10 | 1.36 | 73,700 | 0% |
| 21 | Illinois | 172 | 1.35 | 73,900 | 19% |
| 22 | Michigan | 133 | 1.31 | 76,100 | 21% |
| 23 | New Jersey | 123 | 1.29 | 77,600 | 15% |
| 24 | New York | 257 | 1.28 | 77,800 | 21% |
| 25 | Massachusetts | 91 | 1.27 | 78,600 | 12% |
| 26 | Rhode Island | 14 | 1.26 | 79,600 | 7% |
| 27 | Alabama | 65 | 1.25 | 79,900 | 23% |
| 28 | Nebraska | 25 | 1.24 | 80,700 | 20% |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 51 | 1.24 | 80,800 | 4% |
| 30 | Washington | 92 | 1.15 | 87,000 | 33% |
| 31 | Indiana | 80 | 1.15 | 87,200 | 15% |
| 32 | Florida | 265 | 1.13 | 88,500 | 21% |
| 33 | New Mexico | 24 | 1.13 | 88,600 | 4% |
| 34 | Virginia | 100 | 1.13 | 88,800 | 12% |
| 35 | Minnesota | 63 | 1.08 | 92,500 | 37% |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 62 | 1.04 | 96,300 | 27% |
| 37 | Washington, D.C. | 7 | 1.01 | 99,100 | 29% |
| 38 | Arkansas | 31 | 1.00 | 100,500 | 0% |
| 39 | Texas | 310 | 0.98 | 102,300 | 19% |
| 40 | Hawaii | 14 | 0.98 | 102,300 | 21% |
| 41 | California | 382 | 0.97 | 103,000 | 22% |
| 42 | Iowa | 31 | 0.96 | 104,500 | 6% |
| 43 | Arizona | 72 | 0.94 | 105,900 | 21% |
| 44 | Idaho | 19 | 0.94 | 106,800 | 5% |
| 45 | Georgia | 101 | 0.89 | 111,900 | 17% |
| 46 | Kansas | 26 | 0.87 | 114,500 | 4% |
| 47 | South Carolina | 41 | 0.74 | 135,900 | 10% |
| 48 | Utah | 26 | 0.73 | 136,100 | 31% |
| 49 | Maryland | 46 | 0.73 | 136,200 | 4% |
| 50 | Louisiana | 25 | 0.54 | 184,800 | 8% |
| 51 | Mississippi | 15 | 0.51 | 196,900 | 7% |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau estimates for July 1, 2025. "Also sell TCG" is the share of shops in that state that also stock trading card games.
States with the most comic shops
| # | State | Shops | Per 100K |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 382 | 0.97 |
| 2 | Texas | 310 | 0.98 |
| 3 | Florida | 265 | 1.13 |
| 4 | New York | 257 | 1.28 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 198 | 1.52 |
| 6 | Illinois | 172 | 1.35 |
| 7 | Ohio | 168 | 1.41 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 153 | 1.37 |
| 9 | Michigan | 133 | 1.31 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 123 | 1.29 |
Cities with the most comic shops
Counts use the city in each shop's street address, so suburbs count separately. Counted as one city, New York City's five boroughs have 61 comic shops, more than anywhere else in North America. Brooklyn (23) and Manhattan (18) are shown on their own here.
| # | City | Shops |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas, NV | 38 |
| 2 | San Antonio, TX | 36 |
| 3 | Chicago, IL | 34 |
| 4 | Houston, TX | 27 |
| 5 | Portland, OR | 24 |
| 6 | Brooklyn, NY | 23 |
| 7 | Los Angeles, CA | 22 |
| 8 | Colorado Springs, CO | 21 |
| 9 | New York (Manhattan), NY | 18 |
| 10 | Austin, TX | 17 |
| 11 | Pittsburgh, PA | 17 |
| 12 | Tucson, AZ | 16 |
| 13 | Orlando, FL | 15 |
| 14 | San Diego, CA | 15 |
| 15 | Albuquerque, NM | 14 |
| 16 | Sacramento, CA | 14 |
| 17 | Tampa, FL | 14 |
Comic shops in Canada
We count 379 comic book stores across Canada. Ontario alone has half of them, and Toronto (23 shops) is the country's comic shop capital.
| Province or territory | Shops |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 191 |
| Alberta | 49 |
| Quebec | 42 |
| British Columbia | 42 |
| Nova Scotia | 16 |
| Manitoba | 13 |
| New Brunswick | 8 |
| Saskatchewan | 7 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 5 |
| Prince Edward Island | 4 |
| Northwest Territories | 1 |
| Yukon | 1 |
How we counted
- Source. Every shop listed in the ComicStoresNearMe directory as of October 6, 2026.
- What counts as a comic shop. Only stores we've confirmed sell comic books. General hobby, toy and game stores that don't carry comics are left out, even if they appear elsewhere on the site.
- No double counting. Listings with the same name and street address are counted once.
- Population. U.S. Census Bureau state estimates for July 1, 2025.
- Ratings. Google ratings, averaged only across shops with five or more reviews.
Shops open and close every month, so treat these as a snapshot. Know a shop we're missing? Add it here and it'll count in the next update.
Use this data
The Comic Shop Census is free to quote, chart and republish under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. All we ask is a credit and a link back to this page.
Source: Comic Shop Census 2026, ComicStoresNearMe.com https://comicstoresnearme.com/comic-shop-census
Download the full state table (CSV). Reporters who need a custom cut of the data (a single metro, a specific region) can email hello@coastaldirectoryllc.com.
Frequently asked questions
How many comic book stores are there in the United States?
ComicStoresNearMe counts 4,300 comic book stores in the United States as of October 2026, about one shop for every 86,000 residents. Add 379 in Canada and 10 in Puerto Rico and the North American total is 4,374.
Which state has the most comic book stores?
California has the most comic shops by raw count (382), followed by Texas (310), Florida (265) and New York (257). Per person, Delaware leads with 2.17 shops per 100,000 residents.
Which state has the fewest comic shops per person?
Mississippi has the fewest comic shops per capita: 15 stores for about 2,950,000 people, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That works out to roughly one shop for every 197,000 people.
Which U.S. city has the most comic shops?
New York City has the most when its five boroughs are counted together: 61 comic shops. By single address city, Las Vegas leads with 38, just ahead of San Antonio (36) and Chicago (34).
Can I use this data in an article?
Yes. The Comic Shop Census is free to quote, chart and republish under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Please credit ComicStoresNearMe and link to this page. The full state table is also available as a CSV download.
Version 3 · October 6, 2026 (website check of 894 unverified listings: 103 confirmed as comic shops, 276 removed; duplicate NYC listings removed). Next update planned for January 2027.