Cookie hustlers, swathed in badges and Brownie uniforms, operate one of the last door-to-door businesses in the U.S.—and with success. Last year, the Scouts sold 207 million boxes of the classic confections. But in cookie land, some cities are sweeter than others.
To find out which region has the strongest affinity for the cookies, as well as a robust Scout membership, The Daily Beast reached out to the Girl Scouts. The organization provided data on Scout membership as of September 2011 and last season’s cookie sales for more than 100 American chapters. To calculate which areas are the cookie capitals, the boxes-per-Scout statistic was weighted 50 percent of the final rank and the statistics on sale participation and membership were each weighted 25 percent. In other words, these are the cities where Scouts are strong, but the sales ethic (or hunger for the annual treats) reigns supreme.