San Francisco and Los Angeles both made it to WalletHub’s list of the top 20 most fun cities in the United States for 2024, with San Diego coming in at 21st place and Sacramento at 33rd.
In its research, WalletHub compared 182 cities across the US (including the 150 most populous cities and at least two most populous cities from each state) in terms of entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and related expenses, using 65 indicators to assess these factors. WalletHub only considered each city itself in the selection process, without including its surrounding metropolitan areas.
San Francisco was the only city in California to make it into the top ten, but it ranked as the fifth most expensive city in the US in terms of entertainment expenses.
When it comes to the number of festivals per capita, San Francisco tied for first place with Honolulu and Tampa in Florida. In terms of restaurants per capita, San Francisco tied for first place with Miami, Las Vegas, and Orlando in Florida. And in the nightclub category, San Francisco tied for first place with Las Vegas and Houston.
Overall, San Francisco ranked seventh in entertainment and recreation, fifth in nightlife and parties, but 178th in affordability.
Los Angeles came in as the 18th most fun city in the US. The city ranked 12th in entertainment and recreation and 16th in nightlife and parties, but this fun comes at a cost as the “City of Angels” ranked 160th in affordability.
San Francisco and San Diego both made it to the top five cities for an active lifestyle.
Los Angeles topped the list as the best sports city, largely thanks to its numerous professional sports teams, including the Dodgers who play near downtown’s Chavez Ravine. San Francisco ranked eighth in this category.
Analyst Chip Lupo said, “Sports can create competition between cities but also foster a deep appreciation for places outside one’s hometown. Overall, the best sports cities are often those with top-performing and most popular professional teams, such as Los Angeles.”
WalletHub found that Los Angeles County and neighboring Orange County have the best climate in the US.
Earlier this year, San Diego made it into the top ten in two different lists by WalletHub – staycations and leisure activities, both ranking seventh.
In terms of fitness centers per capita, Oakland ranked third and Huntington Beach ranked fifth.
In this year’s most fun city survey, cities in California did not perform well in some key categories, including the number of parks per capita. Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, and Cincinnati tied for first place in this category, with Houston coming in fifth.
Additionally, no city in California made it to the top five in terms of park area per capita. Instead, Scottsdale, Arizona ranked fifth in this category.
Stockton in central California ranked 99th in park area per capita, while Santa Ana in southern California ranked 102nd.
In the category of “accessible bars,” no California city made it to the top five. Fort Lauderdale, Florida claimed the first spot.
Some California cities also struggled in terms of movie spending, with Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario tying for 172nd place, while Long Beach and Los Angeles tied for the last spot, ranking 181st.
Four California cities made it to the bottom 10 in the overall rankings – Oxnard at 177th, Fremont at 178th, Santa Rosa at 176th, and Chula Vista at 173rd.
Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, Associate Professor of Public Policy at Rutgers University, suggested that cities can enhance their fun factor by relaxing restrictions and regulations.
He told WalletHub that making cities more like those in Latin America or Europe, more walkable, with fewer restrictions such as visible food stalls, public drinking, music events, mixed-use areas, etc., would be beneficial.
WalletHub noted that Las Vegas was the overall most fun city, with a plethora of attractions and restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars. Some things here are relatively inexpensive, for example, the city’s burgers are the fourth cheapest in the US, and gym membership fees are the 13th cheapest.