City Stories Index · United States · 2026 edition
New Orleans vs San Francisco
Not opinions, measured walking data. On what we can measure, New Orleans leads 5–1. Character is a different question: New Orleans is the creole port; San Francisco is the gold rush city.
Change the matchup
| What we measure | New Orleans | San Francisco | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places with a storyspots where a route tells you what happened there | 83 | 60 | New Orleans |
| How often you pass a storymetres from one story to the next; fewer is better | 208 | 329 | New Orleans |
| Historical figuresreal people you meet in its stories | 15 | 4 | New Orleans |
| Instagrammabilityscore /100, on the index’s fixed scale | 34 | 23 | New Orleans |
| Group outingsof every 100 plays, how many bring a group of 3+ | 25 | 22 | New Orleans |
| International visitors% of player reviews written in a foreign language | 0 | 6 | San Francisco |
Differences under 5% count as ties. Sample sizes and definitions on the methodology page.
What their stories are about
How many places with a story each city has per theme: New Orleans in orange, San Francisco in blue. All bars share one scale, so lengths are comparable everywhere on the chart.
New OrleansSan Francisco
26 places
legends & myths1 place
20 places
arts & culture11 places
13 places
guilds & trade7 places
11 places
faith & churches4 places
9 places
crime & dark history7 places
6 places
industry & modern era9 places
9 places
parks & leisure9 places
New Orleans scorecard →
The creole port
San Francisco scorecard →
The gold rush city