John Such / Unsplash
When you think of the most fun city in America there are only a handful of reasons that Las Vegas wouldn’t be #1. Firstly, if you’ve never been to Las Vegas then chances are you wouldn’t rank it as number one. Furthermore, if you’ve only been to Las Vegas for work and didn’t have a chance to really let the city reveal itself then you might not know how damn fun it is.
The last reason would be money. If you hate to spend money or don’t have money to spend then Las Vegas might not be the place for you because that city can get expensive as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck in a hurry. Despite the cost, Las Vegas still reigns supreme as the most fun city in America.
These results are based on a WalletHub study which ranked more than 180 U.S. cities using 66 different key metrics which fall under three main categories. Each city was given a rank for Entertainment & Recreation, Nightlife & Parties, and Costs. Using these rankings, WalletHub was able to give each city an overall score and rank the most fun cities in America right now.
I am a little surprised to see Orlando, Florida at #2 on the list but it also makes perfect sense. Orlando’s home to Universal Studios, Disney World and a ton of other Disney parks, and the city has countless other attractions. It’s also relatively affordable compared to cities like Los Angeles, New York, or Las Vegas. Orlando ranked #17 for ‘Costs’, #2 for Entertainment & Recreation, and #3 for Nightlight and Parties.
Here’s what the top 50 looks like with each city’s corresponding score. I’ve also included some additional information below in a graphic from WalletHub that shows which cities have the most restaurants, festivals, parks, bars, and more.
1. Las Vegas, NV — 72.39 (#1 Nightlife, #5 Entertainment + Recreation)
2. Orlando, FL — 64.30 (#2 Entertainment/Recreation)
3. New York, NY — 57.62 (#1 Entertainment/Recreation, #2 Nightlife)
4. Miami, FL — 56.41 (#4 Nightlife)
5. Chicago, IL — 55.22 (#6 Nightlife)
6. Atlanta, GA — 53.95 (#5 Nightlife)
7. San Francisco — 53.85 (#4 Entertainment/Recreation)
8. Portland, OR — 52.37 (#7 Nightlife)
9. San Diego, CA — 51.38 (#3 Entertainment/Recreation)
10. Los Angeles, CA — 50.78 (#8 Entertainment/Recreation)
11. Austin, TX — 50.23 (#11 Nightlife)
12. New Orleans — 50.22 (#9 Nightlife)
13. Honolulu, HI — 49.92 (#6 Recreation)
14. Denver, CO — 48.82 (#13 Nightlife)
15. Washington, D.C. — 47.92 (#11 Nightlife)
16. Tampa, Florida — 47.70 (#12 Entertainment/Recreation)
17. Seattle, WA — 47.54 (#10 Entertainment)
18. St. Louis, MO — 46.45 (#23 Costs)
19. Houston, TX — 45.27
20. Philadelphia, PA — 44.61 (#19 Nightlife)
21. Cincinnati, OH — 44.02
22. Salt Lake City, UT — 42.69
23. San Antonio, TX — 42.02
24. Fort Lauderdale, FL — 41.65
25. Tucson, AZ — 41.54 (#3 Costs)
26. Dallas, TX — 41.42
27. Minneapolis, MN — 40.75
28. Pittsburgh, PA — 40.18
29. Nashville, TN — 40.01
30. Scottsdale, AZ — 39.77
31. Portland, ME — 39.68
32. Sacramento, CA — 39.64
33. Reno, NV — 39.53
34. Omaha, NE — 39.45
35. Raleigh, NC — 39.44
36. Indianapolis, IN — 39.39
37. Charleston, SC — 39.35
38. Boston, MA — 39.02
39. Columbus, OH — 38.96 (#5 Costs)
40. Jacksonville, FL — 38.95
41. Milwaukee, WI — 38.77
42. Knoxville, TN –38.02
43. Richmond, VA — 37.45
44. Cleveland, OH — 36.96
45. Rochester, NY — 36.91
46. St. Pete, Florida — 36.81
47. Oklahoma City — 36.79
48. Phoenix, AZ — 36.64
49. Charlotte, NC — 36.29
49. Louisville, KY — 36.29
Now here’s a quick rundown of the best/worst cities for various aspects of ‘fun’ and a few of the metrics used to determine what made a city fun for this study:
Wallethub
I guess ‘Key West’ doesn’t qualify as a city for this study, in terms of population, because it would definitely be near the top with New York, Las Vegas, and Portland (OR) in terms of ‘most accessible bars’. Rochester, New York ranking in the top 50 has to be the biggest surprise to me. There are PLENTY of places in America I’d classify as ‘more fun’ than Rochester.
If you want to see a complete rundown of how these scores were calculated, and the Top 180 Cites (not just the top 50), you can click here to visit Wallethub’s study.