Is it too early to be thinking about New Year’s Eve? It can’t be! Times Square may not be in your future (if it is, congrats and wear your sequined parka!), but there are plenty of other great places to reflect on the old year’s doings and toast the new year’s promise. Although this isn’t a holiday that requires us to spend a ton of money, frugal planning can bring us to the place where festivities won’t clean out our wallet before the year’s even underway (restaurants with your ‘special’ NYE menu, we’re looking at you).
WalletHub recently released a report of which states are best for ringing in 2023. The list’s based on data-crunching everything from whether fireworks are legal there and the number of party supply stores to obtain noisemakers and glitter tiaras, to taxi fare, delayed flight percentages, likelihood of rain that night and even pedestrian fatality rate.
A few interesting tidbits to mull over: more than 80 million Americans will travel for this holiday, about half of them by car. It’s a rare American who eats out for NYE or attends a public event: just 37 percent—and maybe this next figure explains why. The average cost for a couple to enjoy dinner and a show on NYE in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago is $865. If you want to locate the lowest price NYE party ticket, it’s in Durham, NC (the highest was a tie between New York City, Miami, New Orleans and Cleveland). Wine can be found most cheaply in Indianapolis, IN and most dearly in Detroit, MI (not Napa? Wow). A three-star hotel room can be had for the lowest price in Houston, TX, but is most expensive in Honolulu. The most nightlife options? Unsurprisingly, it’s Las Vegas (Garland, TX lags behind on the bottom of the list, but that’s wild because its very name is about holiday decorating!)
Here, party people, is the list of the 20 best cities for experiencing that Dec. 31 countdown:
1. New York, NY
2. Orlando, FL
3. Las Vegas, NV
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Atlanta, GA
6. Denver, CO
7. Washington, DC
8. Chicago, IL
9. Los Angeles, CA
10. Seattle, WA
11. Miami, FL
12. Austin, TX
13. San Antonio, TX
14. San Diego, CA
15. Nashville, TN
16. Louisville, KY
17. Boston, MA
18. Philadelphia, PA
19. El Paso, TX
20. New Orleans, LA
The countdown starts now.
Are you really just looking for which cities are the most fun? Same.
Are you less about fireworks and more about stars? That’s cool, too.