WalletHub analysts found Phoenix, and Tucson among Best Cities for Winter Holiday Travel after crunching the numbers to find the most fun-filled and wallet-friendly winter destinations in the U.S. Phoenix was the fourth-best warm-weather vacation spot in the nation, followed immediately by Tucson.
WalletHub analyzed two weeks of flight data for the 69 of the largest metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across 26 key metrics. Their data set ranged from the cost of the cheapest flight to the number of attractions in each winter vacation spot.
According to WalletHub, Americans aren’t cutting back on their winter travel spending this year. In fact, more than a third plan to increase their leisure travel spending, according to the most recent State of the American Traveler survey.
Rank | Warm Destination (MSA) | Overall Score | ‘Travel Costs & Hassles’ Rank | ‘Local Costs’ Rank | ‘Attractions’ Rank | ‘Weather Conditions’ Rank | ‘Warm-Weather Activities’ Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 69.05 | 7 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 66.80 | 17 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 66.16 | 12 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 65.78 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 18 |
| 5 | Tucson, AZ | 64.09 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | 62.82 | 10 | 36 | 2 | 16 | 2 |
| 7 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 61.57 | 8 | 28 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
| 8 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 60.46 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 9 |
| 9 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 60.43 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 24 | 8 |
| 10 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 57.95 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 33 | 4 |
| 11 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 57.89 | 16 | 33 | 18 | 6 | 16 |
| 12 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 57.83 | 1 | 12 | 17 | 31 | 7 |
| 13 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 57.10 | 11 | 24 | 14 | 18 | 20 |
| 14 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 56.71 | 14 | 13 | 21 | 21 | 19 |
| 15 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 56.36 | 30 | 1 | 25 | 19 | 26 |
| 16 | Salinas, CA | 55.74 | 33 | 2 | 20 | 20 | 34 |
| 17 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | 55.00 | 26 | 22 | 29 | 10 | 24 |
| 18 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 55.00 | 28 | 27 | 31 | 1 | 23 |
| 19 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 54.96 | 24 | 8 | 26 | 17 | 25 |
| 20 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | 54.11 | 6 | 25 | 5 | 34 | 11 |
| 21 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 53.93 | 31 | 18 | 24 | 7 | 32 |
| 22 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 52.35 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 17 |
| 23 | Jacksonville, FL | 51.84 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 36 | 10 |
| 24 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 51.38 | 20 | 34 | 11 | 27 | 14 |
| 25 | Lafayette, LA | 50.54 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 26 | 28 |
| 26 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 50.48 | 34 | 3 | 32 | 25 | 27 |
| 27 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 50.28 | 13 | 35 | 28 | 11 | 33 |
| 28 | Mobile, AL | 49.99 | 21 | 19 | 23 | 29 | 29 |
| 29 | Killeen-Temple, TX | 49.97 | 25 | 9 | 35 | 23 | 35 |
| 30 | Baton Rouge, LA | 49.29 | 19 | 21 | 27 | 32 | 15 |
| 31 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 49.14 | 22 | 15 | 34 | 30 | 21 |
| 32 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 48.29 | 29 | 14 | 37 | 9 | 37 |
| 33 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 48.14 | 35 | 31 | 30 | 22 | 31 |
| 34 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 47.99 | 32 | 29 | 36 | 13 | 30 |
| 35 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 46.77 | 36 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 36 |
| 36 | Corpus Christi, TX | 44.65 | 27 | 11 | 22 | 35 | 22 |
| 37 | Honolulu, HI | 30.23 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 28 | 12 |