The Cities and Countries With the Most Michelin Stars

Updated October 9, 2026 · Star counts and prices checked October 2026

Tokyo has the most Michelin star restaurants of any city in the world: 156, holding 204 stars between them, ahead of Paris (123) and Kyoto (97). France has the most of any country, with 646, and New York leads US cities with 69.

These rankings count every restaurant starred in the current MICHELIN Guide editions, 3,885 in 51 countries and territories, from the same list that powers The Starred Bill’s price pages, and they are rebuilt whenever a guide changes. Because we also know what each restaurant charges, every table adds what a star costs: the typical dinner tasting menu and the price per star, in US dollars. New to the stars? Start with what a Michelin star means.

What city has the most Michelin star restaurants?

Tokyo, by a distance. Its 156 starred restaurants split into 11 three-star, 26 two-star and 119 one-star, and on its own the city has more starred restaurants than 43 of the 51 countries and territories in the guide. Paris is second with 123, then Kyoto (97), London (84) and Osaka (81). In all, 48 cities have ten or more.

Every Michelin-starred restaurant on The Starred Bill, from the current MICHELIN Guide editions. Each city counts the restaurants on our page for it: New York includes all five boroughs, Los Angeles Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, Copenhagen Hellerup and Gentofte, and Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau each count as one city. “Typical tasting menu” is the median price of the main dinner tasting menu, per person before service and drinks, in US dollars at recent exchange rates; “price per star” divides each menu by its restaurant’s stars and takes the median. Both need at least 5 published menu prices, so they are blank where fewer restaurants publish one, as in mainland China, where restaurants publish typical spends rather than menus. Tap a column heading to sort. Last checked October 2026.

Japan’s hold on the top of the list is the striking thing. Three of the five most starred cities are Japanese, and Nara, a small city of temples and deer an hour from Osaka, has 22 starred restaurants, about as many as Rome (20). Japanese restaurants tend to be small and specialized: an eight-seat sushi counter, a tempura bar, a kaiseki house with a handful of private rooms. A city full of tiny, focused kitchens gives inspectors far more to star than one built around big dining rooms. When the MICHELIN Guide first came to Tokyo in November 2007, it awarded 191 stars to 150 restaurants, more stars than Paris held at the time, and Tokyo has topped the count ever since.

Paris and London are the only European cities in the top ten. The rest of France’s 646 starred restaurants are spread across the country, in regional cities such as Lyon and in villages with a single starred inn, which is why France leads the countries with only one city near the top.

Which city has the most Michelin stars?

Count stars rather than restaurants, so that a three-star restaurant counts three, and Tokyo still leads, with 204. It also has the most three-star restaurants, 11, ahead of Paris with 9. Sort the table by “Total stars” and cities with several two- and three-star restaurants, such as Hong Kong and San Francisco, climb past those whose stars are mostly single ones.

What a Michelin star costs, city by city

This is where our prices come in. Divide each restaurant’s dinner tasting menu by its stars and the median comes to $170 per star worldwide. Among the cities in the table, a star is cheapest in Nara, at about $105, and dearest in Copenhagen, at about $270. Copenhagen looks expensive partly because Danish menu prices already include service and 25% VAT, which most countries add on top.

Japan, Taiwan and Thailand are where stars come cheapest. A star costs about $120 in Bangkok, $135 in Taipei and $140 in Osaka, against $190 in Paris, $180 in New York and $225 in Los Angeles. A typical tasting menu in New York costs $275 before tax and tip; in Tokyo it is $200. Mainland Chinese cities are blank in the price columns, because their restaurants rarely publish a set menu price; our pages list what a meal there typically costs instead.

The price per star is a median, so every city has restaurants well below it, especially at lunch. For the cheapest single meals, from noodle counters to set lunches, see the cheapest Michelin star meals in the world.

US cities with the most Michelin star restaurants

New York has the most Michelin star restaurants in the US, 69 across its five boroughs, 5 of them with three stars. San Francisco (25) and Los Angeles (25) come next, then Washington DC (20).

US cities and towns with Michelin-starred restaurants, from the current MICHELIN Guide editions for each state. “Typical tasting menu” is the median price of the main dinner tasting menu, per person before service and drinks, in US dollars at recent exchange rates; “price per star” divides each menu by its restaurant’s stars and takes the median. Both need at least 5 published menu prices, so they are blank where fewer restaurants publish one. Tap a column heading to sort. Last checked October 2026.

The MICHELIN Guide covers only parts of the US, state by state, so a food city outside its guides has no stars, however good its restaurants. The San Francisco figure counts the city alone: the wine country and the rest of the Bay Area, from Healdsburg to the Napa Valley, are on our California page. By state, California leads with 83 starred restaurants, ahead of New York State with 71.

Which country has the most Michelin star restaurants?

France is the country with the most Michelin star restaurants: 646, holding 785 stars, more than any other country by either count. France also has the most three-star restaurants, 30, ahead of Japan with 20. Italy is second by restaurants, with 379, but count stars and Japan moves ahead: it has 457 stars to Italy’s 444, because more of its restaurants hold two or three.

Countries and territories ranked by their total stars (a three-star restaurant counts three), from the current MICHELIN Guide editions; Hong Kong and Macau are counted on their own, as the MICHELIN Guide does. “Typical tasting menu” is the median price of the main dinner tasting menu, per person before service and drinks, in US dollars at recent exchange rates; “price per star” divides each menu by its restaurant’s stars and takes the median. Both need at least 5 published menu prices, so they are blank where fewer restaurants publish one. Tap a column heading to sort. Last checked October 2026.

Europe fills most of the top places because the guide began in France in 1900 and spread through Europe long before it reached New York in 2005 and Tokyo in 2007. For every country and US state, including those with only one or two starred restaurants, see how many Michelin star restaurants each country has.

Which country has the most Michelin stars per person?

Switzerland, among countries of a million people or more: it has 14.8 starred restaurants for every million people, ahead of Austria (10.9) and Belgium (10.5). France has 9.4, the UK 2.9 and the US 0.8.

Countries and territories of 1 million people or more, by starred restaurants per million people. Populations are approximate 2024 figures from the UN’s World Population Prospects and national statistics offices, rounded. Last checked October 2026.

The smallest places beat them all. Monaco has 9 starred restaurants for about 38,000 people, Macau 21 for fewer than 700,000, many of them in its casino resorts, and Luxembourg 12 for about 670,000.

Big food cities with no Michelin stars

Some of the world’s great eating cities are missing from these tables because the MICHELIN Guide has never covered them. Sydney and Melbourne have no stars, although Michelin’s first Australian guide, for South Australia, reveals its stars on 14 October 2026, as our guide to Michelin star restaurants in Australia explains. Mumbai and Delhi have none because there is no guide for India yet, which our page on Michelin stars and India follows, and Cape Town has none for the same reason, as our guide to Michelin star restaurants in South Africa explains.

How we count

Stars come only from the MICHELIN Guide, from the current edition for each country and territory; restaurants that have closed or lost their stars are left out. Each city counts the restaurants on our page for it, so boroughs and districts count under their city, while nearby towns count on their own: Yountville is not part of San Francisco, nor Bray part of London. Prices are each restaurant’s main dinner tasting menu, per person before service and drinks, converted to US dollars at recent exchange rates. Figures last checked October 2026.

Using these figures? Please credit The Starred Bill and link to this page; the tables update whenever a MICHELIN Guide edition changes.