The best places to go for Thanksgiving 2024, according to research
FILE-Travelers walk through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on November 21, 2023, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Thanksgiving is not only a time to spend time with family and friends, but it is also a time when many people travel for a holiday vacation.
Whether you are planning to drive or fly for a getaway, a recent report has a list of top destinations to go to based on research from WalletHub.
WalletHub created its list of best places to travel to for Thanksgiving by comparing 100 of the most populated cities in the nation using five key categories: Thanksgiving celebrations and traditions, affordability, safety, and accessibility, giving thanks, and Thanksgiving weather forecast.
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This is how each category is described in the report, according to WalletHub.
Thanksgiving celebrations and traditions in the report factors in pumpkin patches per capita, Google search interest for Thanksgiving celebrations, and holiday decoration shops per capita.
Affordability considers the cost of Thanksgiving dinner, the prevalence of affordable restaurants with ratings, and the lowest price for a three-star hotel room for a Thanksgiving holiday.
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Safety and accessibility consist of the crime rate in a city, perception of safety (safety walking during the day and night), pedestrian fatalities per capita, DUI-related fatalities in motor vehicle crashes around Thanksgiving, the share of delayed flights near the Thanksgiving holiday, and traffic congestion.
WalletHub also describes giving thanks based on volunteer opportunities per capita, volunteer hours per capita, charity organizations per capita and the share of income donated to charity.
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And the Thanksgiving weather forecast factors in holiday temperatures compared to the average temperature, and the forecasted Thanksgiving precipitation.
The team then assessed those categories using 18 metrics which were graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for a Thanksgiving celebration.
Best places to go for Thanksgiving
- San Diego
- Atlanta
- San Francisco
- San Jose, California
- Dallas
- Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky
- San Antonio
- Las Vegas
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Orlando
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Cincinnati
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Houston
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Charlotte
- Irving, Texas
- Los Angeles
What to know about the top three cities to go to for Thanksgiving
San Diego, CA
San Diego ranked first as the best place to go for Thanksgiving in 2024, highlighted by a high number of restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars, and the city also makes things festive with a large number of pumpkin patches and holiday decoration shops.
Residents in the area also do a lot of Google searches for terms related to Thanksgiving more than individuals in other locales, and San Diego also has the 11th most charities per capita, according to WalletHub.
Moreover, the city is only projected to have a 1% chance of rain during Thanksgiving.
Atlanta
Atlanta is second on the list mainly because of a large number of holiday decoration shops and highly rated restaurants per capita. WalletHub noted that residents in the area conduct a lot of Google searches about Thanksgiving.
In terms of travel, Atlanta has only 10% of flights arriving or departing from the city that were delayed in November 2023, which is the third lowest in the U.S.
According to WalletHub, the city also ranks among top U.S. cities for its number of charities per capita, and Atlanta residents give roughly 5.5% of their income to charity on average, which is the 17th highest percentage in the nation.
San Francisco
WalletHub ranked San Francisco as the third-best city to go to for Thanksgiving in 2024 due to its affordable prices for hotels, with the lowest costs for a 3-star hotel room in San Francisco on Thanksgiving is only $60, which is the second-cheapest rate in the U.S.
The city also has a large number of pumpkin patches and holiday decoration stores and quality restaurants with 4.5 star or higher ratings. San Francisco is also expected to have nice weather for Thanksgiving with no rain in the forecast.
To see the full list of top places to go for Thanksgiving, click here.
What is the travel outlook for Thanksgiving this year?
With Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks, a recent survey offered some insight into what people may be planning for the holidays.
In a survey released by the Vacationer, a travel agency specializing in theme park excursions, cruises and resort vacations, the company noted that over 50% of people polled said they plan to travel during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
For travelers hitting the road for the holidays this year, roughly 22% are taking a trip only for Thanksgiving, while almost 29% plan to travel for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.
Separately, AAA has not released data on its 2024 Thanksgiving travel outlook yet, but FOX Weather noted that last year, AAA projected that 55.4 million people would travel for Thanksgiving and another 115.2 million would travel for the Christmas period - the second-highest number since 2000.