Getting into the Christmas spirit is easy when you know where to go.
The team at personal finance website WalletHub recently compared the 100 biggest U.S. cities based on more than two dozen key factors of Christmas bliss across five categories, including traditions and fun, observance, generosity, shopping, and costs.
Atlanta is once again the best U.S. city for a Christmas celebration, according to WalletHub. The sprawling Southern metropolis earned an overall score of 63.36, ranking inside the top 10 for traditions and fun and shopping, and 39th or better in the other three categories.
Atlanta Christkindl Market in Centennial Olympic Park. (photo by Kim Banocy)
Trailing Atlanta is San Francisco, which boasts the most food banks per capita. The Bay Area ranks second for generosity, third for Christmas traditions and fun and seventh for shopping. However, San Francisco comes with a hefty price tag, ranking 94th out of 100 cities for cost.
Coming in third, Seattle has the lowest Christmas observance rank at 84th, but finished first for generosity and 10th for traditions and fun.
Orlando and Las Vegas round out the top five for 2025.
The Theme Park Capital of the World has the most gift shops per capita, while Sin City is home to the most toy stores per capita.
Seventh-ranked Miami is tied for the most Christmas tree farms per capita and ranks fourth for both Christmas traditions and fun and shopping.
NOLA Christmas Fest (Photo Credit: New Orleans & Company/Paul Broussard)
Rounding out the top 10 are Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Cincinnati. The Steel City and the Big Easy rank third and fourth, respectively, in the all-important observance category, which comprises 30 of the possible 100 points and considers factors such as share of Christian population and churches per capita.
Best US Cities to Celebrate Christmas in 2025
- Atlanta, Georgia
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Orlando, Florida
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Miami, Florida
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Cincinnati, Ohio
On the other end of the spectrum, Hialeah, Florida, outside of Miami, ranks the worst for a wallet-friendly Christmas celebration in 2025, earning a dismal score of 32.34 and ranking 97th for shopping and dead last (100th) for observance.
Other notable low-ranked cities include Anchorage, Alaska (93rd) and Detroit, Michigan (90th).
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