Copyright Newsweek
A new report from personal finance website WalletHub reveals the best cities in the U.S. to go for Thanksgiving in 2025. Why It Matters The report noted that Thanksgiving is one of the nation’s most beloved holidays. Last year, the American Automobile Association projected that nearly 80 million people would travel at least 50 miles from home during the holiday period. What To Know WalletHub ranked San Antonio, Texas, first overall. The city boasts an unusually high number of restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars, along with a wealth of pumpkin patches and decoration shops, it said. Residents’ enthusiasm for the holiday was reflected in high search interest for Thanksgiving-related terms. San Antonio also had the third-lowest cost for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and only a 1 percent chance of precipitation forecast for the holiday, the report said. The city rose to first place in 2025 from last year’s iteration of the report. Atlanta was awarded second place thanks partly to its dense selection of highly rated restaurants and decoration retailers, WalletHub said. It also has one of the lowest flight delay rates in the country—just 12 percent of flights were late around Thanksgiving last year, ranking 11th nationally, the report found. Charitable giving is another area where Atlanta excels, with residents donating an average of 5.3 percent of their income and the city ranking high in charity organizations per capita, according to WalletHub. In third place, Virginia Beach, Virginia, earned praise for its affordable lodging—the lowest price for a three-star hotel during Thanksgiving was just $41, second only nationwide. The city also offers a broad selection of 4.5-star or better restaurants and ranks among the cities with the lowest crime rates in the study, WalletHub said. Nearly 5.8 percent of resident income is donated to charity, placing it 15th overall in generosity, and it ranks among the highest in volunteering rates nationwide, according to the report. The overall top 10 cities in WalletHub’s report were as follows: San Antonio, Texas Atlanta Virginia Beach, Virginia Dallas Scottsdale, Arizona Irving, Texas Plano, Texas Louisville, Kentucky Las Vegas Chesapeake, Virginia How It Was Calculated WalletHub analyzed the 100 most populated U.S. cities across five categories: Thanksgiving Celebrations & Traditions (30 points), Affordability (25 points), Safety & Accessibility (20 points), Giving Thanks (15 points), and Thanksgiving Weather Forecast (10 points). Each category included multiple metrics—for example, the affordability score factored in dinner cost, affordable quality restaurants, and hotel prices. Safety scores combined crime rates, pedestrian fatalities, DUI incidents, traffic congestion, and flight delays. Giving Thanks included volunteer opportunities, charitable donations, and charities per capita. Weather metrics compared forecast precipitation and expected temperature differences from annual averages. Each city’s final score was a weighted average across these factors, standardized on a 100-point scale. Data sources included the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, AccuWeather, Google Ads, Yelp, Kayak, and VolunteerMatch, among others. What People Are Saying WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo told Newsweek: “San Antonio jumped from seventh to first place this year thanks to big gains in affordability and holiday excitement. The city ranked among the top five for both the cost of Thanksgiving dinner and overall affordability, making it one of the best places to enjoy the holiday without breaking the bank. “San Antonio also scored high for its many great restaurants, pumpkin patches, and holiday decoration shops, in addition to residents’ strong enthusiasm for the holiday, as evidenced by some of the nation’s highest internet search interest in Thanksgiving-related topics. “Add nearly perfect weather and just a 1 percent chance of precipitation, and it’s easy to see why San Antonio claims the top spot for Thanksgiving in 2025.” What Happens Next WalletHub releases its “Best Place to Go for Thanksgiving” report annually.
