--- title: Funniest Cities in America Chicago Tops List description: The funniest cities in America, according to the Humor Research Lab at the University of Colorado canonical: https://time.com/72014/here-are-the-funniest-cities-in-america/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-22T16:30:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:00.229Z og:title: These Are the 10 Funniest Cities in America og:description: And the number one spot goes to... og:url: https://time.com/72014/here-are-the-funniest-cities-in-america/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt786c9e449383816c/69868bd7f983e7820504d6f8/comedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: comedy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the 10 Funniest Cities in America twitter:description: And the number one spot goes to... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt786c9e449383816c/69868bd7f983e7820504d6f8/comedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the Funniest Cities in America > Sponsored content. 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Waxman Staff Writer Apr 22, 2014 4:30 PM UTC Researchers say Chicago is the funniest city in America, according to [an article](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/sunday-review/so-these-professors-walk-into-a-comedy-club.html) in the New York _Times_‘s Sunday Review section. Below are the 10 funniest cities, according to the authors of [_The Humor Code_](http://humorcode.com/funniest-cities), Peter McGraw, director of the University of Colorado’s Humor Research Lab, and Joel Warner: 1\. Chicago 2\. Boston 3\. Atlanta 4\. Washington, DC 5\. Portland, Ore. 6\. New York City 7\. Los Angeles 8\. Denver 9\. San Francisco 10\. Seattle Based on interviews with experts in the funny business, the _Times_ [argues](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/sunday-review/so-these-professors-walk-into-a-comedy-club.html) Chicago first secured its place at the top back in 1914, with Carl Sandburg’s humorous poem “Chicago”, while The Second City improv troupe (which launched Stephen Colbert) solidified it. Portland, Oregon, is on the list because of Fred Armisen’s IFC comedy _Portlandia._ At the bottom of the ranking is Fort Worth, TX, followed by: 49\. Jacksonville, FL 48\. Miami, FL 47\. San Antonio, TX 46\. Arlington, TX 45\. Tulsa, OK 44\. Virginia Beach, VA 43\. Las Vegas, NV 42\. Tucson, AZ 41\. El Paso, TX 40\. Fresno, CA Here’s the methodology for the “humor algorithm” that produced this lineup, [according to](http://humorcode.com/funniest-cities) the book’s website (which boasts the full list of the 50 funniest cities): --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/72014/here-are-the-funniest-cities-in-america/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/72014/here-are-the-funniest-cities-in-america/"},"headline":"Here Are the Funniest Cities in America","datePublished":"2014-04-22T16:30:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:00.229Z","description":"Based on this particular ranking, Chicago is #1 while the least funny cities are mostly in the South and the Southwest.","url":"https://time.com/72014/here-are-the-funniest-cities-in-america/","keywords":["Newsfeed","nation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt786c9e449383816c/69868bd7f983e7820504d6f8/comedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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