We're having a blast
This is how fun Dallas is, according to a new national report
As that bridal party sipping cocktails in Uptown will tell you, Dallas knows how to have a good time. As the families who make yearly pilgrimages to the State Fair can attest, Dallas sure is fun. In fact, the authors of a new national study should pay the city a visit to see just how fun it is.
Personal finance site WalletHub just released the results of its new report, an investigation to uncover the 2018 Most Fun Cities in America because, as they explain, "everyone likes to have fun." In order to quantify fun, a process which seems inherently not fun, thus negating the fun study, the researchers looked at 80 U.S. cities based on 65 relevant metrics.
Dallas ranks 27th out of 80 cities. As far as Texas cities, that's somewhere between No. 14 Austin and No. 56 Fort Worth. Houston and San Antonio, apparently, are bigger barrels of laughs than Dallas, clocking in at No. 18 and 22, respectively.
According to WalletHub, Americans spend nearly $3,000 on entertainment each year, so this fun study is actually about money. At No. 14, Austin took the No. 1 spot among Texas cities.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Live Music Capital of the World scored its highest marks in the "Nightlife & Parties" (13) and "Entertainment & Recreation" (19) categories. Austin didn't do as well in the "Costs" column, earning a paltry 54. (Strangely, Austin did not land among the top five cities for festivals. Instead, that honor went to Honolulu. No disrespect to Honolulu, but seriously? Austin hosted a festival entirely for cats, and they didn't even get an honorable mention? That's just ridiculous.)
How did Dallas compare? In "Entertainment & Recreation," 44; "Nightlife & Parties," 20; and "Costs," 56. Its total average score of 40.06 sandwiches it between sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida (No. 26) and hot Tucson, Arizona (No. 28).
Elsewhere in Texas and DFW, El Paso and Arlington rank at Nos. 73, and 86, respectively. Plano is at 121. Irving comes in at a pretty boring 148, Grand Prairie at 151, and Garland at 152. And sadly, at No. 170, Brownsville wears the tiny sad crown as the least fun place in Texas.
So where is the ultimate fun city in the U.S.? That precious honor was bestowed upon Las Vegas. Orlando, Florida, and New York City round out the top three spots.