Fun isn’t something you can scientifically measure, but that hasn’t stopped researchers at WalletHub from trying.

The personal finance website has released a list of the “Most Fun Cities in America,” and three California cities, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, made the top 20.

WalletHub ranked more than 180 cities on 65 factors including the number of attractions, restaurant diversity, bars per capita, the number of amusement parks and sports venues and costs. Cities were then scored on a 100-point scale.

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Las Vegas ranked #1 with a score of 71.38 followed by Orlando (62.42), Miami (55.91) and Atlanta (55.73). San Francisco landed at number five with 53.35 points.

“Sin City is known for partying, and it’s one of the only cities in our study where public drinking is allowed in most or all places – whether that’s a plus or not will depend on your personality, though,” WalletHub said in its report. “When it comes to activities, Vegas unsurprisingly has the largest number of casinos in the country. But it’s also renowned for its performers, especially when it comes to music. The city has a very high number of music festivals and music venues relative to others.”

San Diego (48.33) was 16th and Los Angeles (47.01) was 20th.


Los Angeles ranked first in restaurants per capita and number of attractions but received lower marks for other metrics like festivals per capita, playgrounds per capita and average beer price.

Overall rank for Los Angeles: 20th

20th – Festivals per Capita
1st – Restaurants per Capita
37th – Playgrounds per Capita
25th – Parkland Acres per Capita
6th – Dance Clubs per Capita
1st – Number of Attractions
80th – Avg. Beer Price
One Southern California city landed near the bottom of the list. With a score of just 20.20, Oxnard ranked 180th out of 182. It seems beautiful coastlines were not heavily weighted as WalletHub ranked Pearl City, Hawaii (18.51) dead last at 182nd.

Most Fun Cities in America (WalletHub)

Overall Rank City Total Score
1 Las Vegas, NV 71.38
2 Orlando, FL 62.42
3 Miami, FL 55.91
4 Atlanta, GA 55.73
5 San Francisco, CA 53.35
6 New Orleans, LA 52.49
7 Austin, TX 51.60
8 Chicago, IL 50.57
9 Honolulu, HI 49.98
10 New York, NY 49.35
11 Cincinnati, OH 49.22
12 Denver, CO 48.99
13 Portland, OR 48.86
14 St. Louis, MO 48.78
15 Washington, DC 48.67
16 San Diego, CA 48.33
17 Tampa, FL 47.83
18 Fort Lauderdale, FL 47.40
19 Houston, TX 47.28
20 Los Angeles, CA 47.01
21 Philadelphia, PA 45.35
22 Seattle, WA 44.90
23 Salt Lake City, UT 44.25
24 Pittsburgh, PA 44.24
25 San Antonio, TX 44.12
26 Richmond, VA 43.35
27 Tucson, AZ 43.29
28 Reno, NV 42.80
29 Charleston, SC 42.31
30 Phoenix, AZ 41.97
31 Dallas, TX 41.60
32 Knoxville, TN 41.03
33 Scottsdale, AZ 41.00
34 Sacramento, CA 40.88
35 Minneapolis, MN 40.19
36 Nashville, TN 40.18
37 Jacksonville, FL 40.15
38 St. Petersburg, FL 40.13
39 Birmingham, AL 40.04
40 Milwaukee, WI 39.77
41 Indianapolis, IN 39.64
42 Louisville, KY 39.61
43 Fort Worth, TX 39.48
44 Boston, MA 39.34
45 Omaha, NE 39.22
46 Chattanooga, TN 39.19
47 Oklahoma City, OK 38.76
48 Cleveland, OH 38.73
49 Kansas City, MO 38.67
50 Raleigh, NC 38.64
51 Charlotte, NC 38.61
52 Tulsa, OK 38.54
53 Buffalo, NY 37.99
54 Baton Rouge, LA 37.94
55 Columbus, OH 37.92
56 Albuquerque, NM 37.80
57 Rochester, NY 37.48
58 Portland, ME 37.21
59 El Paso, TX 37.15
60 Madison, WI 37.14
61 Columbia, SC 36.98
62 Tempe, AZ 36.72
63 Colorado Springs, CO 36.38
64 Memphis, TN 36.00
65 Henderson, NV 35.84
66 Grand Rapids, MI 35.78
67 Mobile, AL 35.59
68 Virginia Beach, VA 35.17
69 Wichita, KS 35.13
70 Boise, ID 35.09
71 Plano, TX 35.02
72 Baltimore, MD 35.00
73 Springfield, MO 34.85
74 Lincoln, NE 34.84
75 Arlington, TX 34.72
76 Oakland, CA 34.32
77 Huntsville, AL 34.29
78 Providence, RI 34.27
79 Rapid City, SD 34.16
80 Durham, NC 34.09
81 Detroit, MI 33.91
82 Tallahassee, FL 33.60
83 Missoula, MT 33.57
84 Long Beach, CA 33.17
85 Norfolk, VA 33.15
86 Gulfport, MS 32.87
87 Akron, OH 32.61
88 St. Paul, MN 32.42
89 Garden Grove, CA 32.23
90 Greensboro, NC 32.17
91 Anaheim, CA 32.04
92 Corpus Christi, TX 32.04
93 Glendale, AZ 32.01
94 Fort Smith, AR 31.84
95 Overland Park, KS 31.82
96 Bakersfield, CA 31.78
97 Toledo, OH 31.68
98 Billings, MT 31.62
99 Sioux Falls, SD 31.52
100 Cape Coral, FL 31.49
101 Chandler, AZ 31.20
102 Huntington Beach, CA 31.14
103 Montgomery, AL 31.06
104 Fargo, ND 31.04
105 Mesa, AZ 31.01
106 Anchorage, AK 30.97
107 Lubbock, TX 30.90
108 Lexington-Fayette, KY 30.90
109 Irvine, CA 30.79
110 Des Moines, IA 30.64
111 Huntington, WV 30.58
112 San Jose, CA 30.52
113 Winston-Salem, NC 30.35
114 Fayetteville, NC 30.35
115 Chesapeake, VA 30.29
116 Shreveport, LA 30.28
117 Spokane, WA 30.19
118 Amarillo, TX 29.98
119 Tacoma, WA 29.86
120 Modesto, CA 29.85
121 Salem, OR 29.66
122 Cedar Rapids, IA 29.50
123 Jackson, MS 29.45
124 Wilmington, DE 29.17
125 Fort Wayne, IN 29.05
126 Augusta, GA 28.99
127 Little Rock, AR 28.95
128 Newport News, VA 28.92
129 Fresno, CA 28.78
130 Aurora, CO 28.55
131 Jersey City, NJ 28.55
132 Newark, NJ 28.51
133 Columbus, GA 28.44
134 Worcester, MA 28.42
135 Hialeah, FL 28.33
136 Irving, TX 28.31
137 Charleston, WV 28.27
138 New Haven, CT 28.14
139 Riverside, CA 27.98
140 North Las Vegas, NV 27.98
141 Glendale, CA 27.92
142 Pembroke Pines, FL 27.84
143 Casper, WY 27.75
144 San Bernardino, CA 27.74
145 Gilbert, AZ 27.72
146 Las Cruces, NM 27.63
147 Santa Ana, CA 27.45
148 Vancouver, WA 27.25
149 Port St. Lucie, FL 27.21
150 Juneau, AK 26.77
151 Burlington, VT 26.72
152 Columbia, MD 26.70
153 Santa Clarita, CA 26.39
154 Stockton, CA 26.32
155 Peoria, AZ 26.24
156 Garland, TX 26.19
157 Bismarck, ND 26.09
158 Oceanside, CA 26.08
159 Laredo, TX 25.42
160 Moreno Valley, CA 24.82
161 Ontario, CA 24.34
162 Aurora, IL 24.21
163 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 24.09
164 Chula Vista, CA 23.90
165 Fontana, CA 23.77
166 Grand Prairie, TX 23.77
167 Lewiston, ME 23.70
168 Warwick, RI 23.61
169 Manchester, NH 23.60
170 West Valley City, UT 23.53
171 Brownsville, TX 23.01
172 Nampa, ID 22.98
173 Bridgeport, CT 22.75
174 Cheyenne, WY 22.73
175 Fremont, CA 22.58
176 Dover, DE 22.42
177 Santa Rosa, CA 21.80
178 Yonkers, NY 21.41
179 Nashua, NH 20.76
180 Oxnard, CA 20.20
181 South Burlington, VT 20.11
182 Pearl City, HI 18.51
Most Fun Cities in America 2023 (WalletHub)