Coffee chains still carry the geography of their first stores. Starbucks began in Seattle in 1971 and grew outward from the Pacific Northwest. Dunkin’ opened its first shop in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1950 and then spread through New England by opening on main streets and in quick-stop locations along commuter routes. Tim Hortons started in Canada and, over the years, became familiar to people living and working around the Great Lakes. Caribou Coffee began in Minneapolis in the early 1990s and gradually became the go-to choice in many small cities and college towns across the northern plains.
A 2025 state-level map by @maven.mapping shows which brand has the most locations in each state.
Much of the country appears green for Starbucks. Dunkin’ remains the most common choice across the Northeast (New England) and also leads in Illinois and Virginia. Tim Hortons has the largest number of locations in Michigan and Ohio, which are close to the Canadian border. Caribou is the most common coffee chain in the Upper Midwest—North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
