In merry and bright news, Dallas has landed a coveted spot near the top of a 2025 ranking of America's most festive cities.
Home services platform Thumbtack analyzed holiday light installation requests from customers from October 2024 to 2025 to determine the most festive U.S. cities. Rankings were based on the "relative frequency" of requests after being adjusted for the population of each state and metro area.
Dallas comes in at No. 2.
Dallas has been resting easy at the top of Santa's nice list since 2022. But the city's festive spirit has yet to dethrone Austin, which has held on to the top spot for four years in a row.
There's plenty of dazzling shows illuminating Dallas-Fort Worth for the holidays, including drive-thru light parks and CultureMap's very own ice rink at Main Street Garden in downtown Dallas.
Other festive holiday events happening around Dallas include many more local ice rinks, pop-up bars, plus volunteer opportunities to give back to the local community. Readers can also keep up with all of Dallas' holiday happenings in CultureMap's season-long editorial series.
Other big Texas cities like Houston and San Antonio also all landed top-10 spots, proving the Lone Star State is much more festive than the rest of the country.
"From Texas to Florida, the South is setting the standard for holiday spirit, and in true Texas fashion, bigger is definitely brighter," the report said. "Mild winters and a strong sense of community keep the Lone Star State shining at the top."
Thumbtack's top 10 most festive U.S. cities in 2024 are:
- No. 1 – Austin, Texas
- No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
- No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
- No. 4 – Las Vegas, Nevada
- No. 5 – Sacramento, California
- No. 6 – Houston, Texas
- No. 7 – San Francisco, California
- No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
- No. 9 – San Antonio, Texas
- No. 10 – Atlanta, Georgia
