There's no such thing as a free pizza, but a new graph from NPR can tell you where to order the cheapest one in Los Angeles. Using data from Grubhub Seamless, the graph shows pizza prices in 44 Greater Los Angeles neighborhoods from Chatsworth to Long Beach. The project is only the latest in NPR's string of pizza-crazed economics experiments including Planet Money's mathematically-backed theory that you almost always get a better deal when you buy a bigger pizza and the counter-argument that more pizza is actually worse than less pizza. 
 
NPR's latest foray into the economics of pizza has named Echo Park as the most expensive L.A. neighborhood to order a pizza. The hilly 'hood just northwest of downtown is a sure bet for inexpensive tacos, from Guisado's to Taco Zone truck to Tacos Arizas, but pizza comes at a premium here. The median price of a cheese pizza in Echo Park is $18 – the highest in the city – according to data from Grubhub Seamless.

The estimate is on-the-money for Two Boots, the Echo-adjacent pizzeria that caters to late-night crowds. Their large cheese pizza will set you back $17.50. Up the street at Masa of Echo Park, a deep-dish cheese pizza costs $14.95 (although the vegan “lilac” pizza is $17.95), and nearby Pizza Buona offers the best bargain large cheese pizza for $12.20 (although, if you add toppings, your total quickly hits the magic number: $17.95.) 
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See also: 10 Best Pizza Restaurants in L.A. 

Koreatown didn't fare so well either when it came to inexpensive pizza. In a neighborhood dominated by Korean barbecue joints, it'll cost you just under $18 to find a large cheese pizza. Pricey pizza – about $16 for a large cheese – can be found from west to east, West L.A. and West Hollywood to East Los Angeles and Atwater Village.

Want cheaper pizza? Cross the border into Silver Lake, and a large cheese will only set you back $15, according to median prices. Glendale and Brentwood are the two neighborhoods with the most pizza joints (about ten each), but if you want to find the best bargain for your pizza, head deep into the Valley, where the median price of a cheese pizza is only $9 in Tarzana.

How does your neighborhood stack up? Check out NPR's pizza map and find out.  

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