Best Cities to Celebrate New Year’s in the US

If you are shopping around for where to spend NYE 2016, you may have noticed that some places are friendlier on the pocketbook than others. But while a place may look fun and seem inexpensive, is it really? Thankfully, the guys at WalletHub are looking out for savvy U.S. travelers looking to save some money but still have a great time this New Year’s Eve and have compiled a list of the best and worst places to ring in the New Year best on overall spend – so this is not to say that celebrating in NYC isn’t a blast, it’s just a bit more of an investment overall.

WalletHub used several components to determine which cities were the best – and the worst – when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck on the last night of the year. The three key dimensions were: entertainment and food, costs and safety and accessibility. Then, things get more complicated as WalletHub added 17 different metrics, such as overall popularity, number of festivals, ticket prices for events, average price of accommodations and the list goes on. You can check out the full breakdown, but here are is the list of cities that are the best.

Orlando, Fla.

San Francisco

Atlanta

San Diego, Calif.

Scottsdale, Ariz.

Minneapolis, Minn.

Portland, Ore.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Las Vegas

Honolulu

Worst NYE Cities

Applying the same methodology, WalletHub also listed the worst cities to celebrate New Year’s. Whether it’s a lack of entertainment options or the cost versus the value, these are the cities that you might want to think twice about visiting on NYE.

San Bernardino, Calif.

Arlington, Texas

Charlotte, N.C.

Garland, Texas

Laredo, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Hialeah, Fla.

Jersey City, N.J.

Newark, N.J.

North Las Vegas, Nevada

Fun Facts

WalletHub’s survey also revealed some other fun facts about New Year’s Eve. The most expensive city to part in: Miami, which had the highest average price of a New Year’s Eve party ticket – but that’s not really surprising.

For cheap wine, you should head to Indianapolis. Atlanta, however is serving up the most expensive glasses of wine – but also the most restaurants per captia (North Las Vegas had the fewest number of restaurants). Lowest price for a three-star hotel stay can be found in Tucson, Ariz. The highest: Honolulu.

For more New Year’s Eve analysis, visit WalletHub.com.