Researchers from WalletHub analyzed the 80 largest areas across the United States to figure out the best to place to vacation. WalletHub looked at the most budget-friendly and fun-filled summer destinations. WalletHub’s data set ranges from “cost of the cheapest flight” to “number of attractions” to “diversity of activities.”
Best Summer Travel Destinations
1 Las Vegas, NV 11 Tulsa, OK
2 Salt Lake City, UT 12 St. Louis, MO
3 Orlando, FL 13 Chicago, IL
4 Los Angeles, CA 14 Albuquerque, NM
5 Atlanta, GA 15 Oklahoma City, OK
6 Dallas, TX 16 Columbia, SC
7 Greenville, SC 17 Austin, TX
8 Charleston, SC 18 Cincinnati, OH
9 Houston, TX 19 Phoenix, AZ
10 Sacramento, CA 20 New York, NY
Comparing the Best & Worst
The average flight to a popular summer destination costs $304, lasts four hours and 28 minutes, and has 0.5 connections.
Apparently, vacationers love what happens in Vegas and visit there quite often…The Las Vegas metro area is the most attractive destination on the West Coast of the United States and the New York area is the favorite on the East Coast. California, South Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma are home to the top summer destinations in the U.S., each with at least two cities in the top 15.
Oppositely, Connecticut and New York are each home to the largest numbers of the most unpopular summer destinations.
If a tourist is looking to save money on hotel stay, then the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina has the lowest cost of a three-star hotel, $31, which is nearly six times less expensive than in Cleveland, the city with the highest, $184.
Salt Lake City has the most diversity of attractions, which is two times more than in Akron, Ohio, the metro area with the lowest.