Tampa, Seattle, Chicago most caffeinated U.S. cities

A barista makes espresso during training at Starbucks in New York, February 26, 2008.

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Tampa, Florida tops the charts as the most caffeinated city in the United States, followed by Seattle and Chicago, according to a new poll.

But the southern city did not earn the distinction simply due to its residents' fondness for coffee. People living in Tampa admitted to being the most likely to take pain relievers containing caffeine daily and to drinking lots of tea, the study showed.

"Despite Tampa being the most caffeinated, respondents in Tampa rank number one in saying they're least likely to be addicted to caffeine," said Todd Smith of HealthSaver, a healthcare discount service which commissioned the survey.

"They are number one in pain reliever consumption and they are also third most likely to do energy drink consumption," he added in an interview.

New York and Los Angeles rounded out the top five most caffeinated cities in the telephone poll of 2,005 people living in 20 major metropolitan areas in the United States.

People living in the twin cities Riverside/San Bernardino in California consumed the least amount of caffeine in the country, followed by Atlanta, San Diego, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas.

Tampa moved into first place from second in 2007, while second-place Seattle, the home of coffee shop giant Starbucks, ranked the highest in coffee consumption for the second straight year.

The poll conducted by Prince Market Research looked at caffeine consumption including coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, pain relievers and caffeine pills. It also questioned people about their attitudes and habits.

Forty-nine percent of all people said they drink caffeinated coffee daily, with cola and tea tied at a 20 percent daily consumption rate.

Sweets containing chocolate ranked fourth among caffeine products, with 13 percent of people saying they ate it daily.

But nearly three quarters of people who took part in the poll said they are not addicted to caffeine. Women were more likely than men to say they are addicted to caffeine, the poll showed.

The older the consumer was, the more likely they were to say that coffee would be the most difficult caffeinated product to give up.

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson; editing by Patricia Reaney)