better luck next year
Houston declines on list of best places for celebrating July 4th
Houston is the best city for celebrating Independence Day in Texas.
A new national report delivers good news and bad news when it comes to celebrating the 4th of July in Houston: The city is one of the most affordable places in the country for star-spangled celebrations, but it's falling behind overall as a great place to celebrate the holiday.
A new WalletHub study, "Best & Worst Places for 4th of July Celebrations (2025)," deems Houston the 39th best U.S. city for celebrating Independence Day, a steep decline from last year's ranking of No. 25. It ranked 15th in 2023.
WalletHub annually compares the 100 biggest U.S. cities across 18 metrics like affordability, the variety of celebrations on July 4th, weather favorability, safety, and more.
On the upside, Houston is the third most affordable U.S. city for celebrating Independence Day in 2025, and WalletHub found it's the city with the second-cheapest three-star hotels nationwide.
Houston also ranked 14th in the category for the most "attractions and activities" surrounding the holiday. Festivities in the region start as early as July 3rd, with numerous suburbs hosting their own 4th of July celebrations with fireworks and other festivities. But a predictably low score in the "weather" category lowers the hot and humid city's overall ranking.
This is how WalletHub ranked Houston in the remaining three categories in the study:
- No. 40 – 4th of July celebrations rank
- No. 92 – Safety and accessibility rank
- No. 94 – 4th of July weather rank
Though Houston earned a middling national rank, it still ranked as the No. 1 city for celebrating Independence Day in Texas. Corpus Christi (No. 93), the Dallas suburb Garland (No. 94), and Laredo (No. 98) all ranked near the bottom as the worst cities for celebrating the holiday state- and nationwide.
The best place for celebrating Independence Day in 2025 is none other than Los Angeles. Rounding out the top five cities are New York City (No. 2), Seattle (No. 3), Las Vegas (No. 4), and Minneapolis (No. 5).
"The 4th of July is one of the most beloved holidays in America, allowing many of us to not only celebrate our independence but also get a day off of work and gather together with family and friends," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "The best cities for the holiday help you make the most of your day, with affordable food options, good weather, fun recreation choices and long, spectacular fireworks shows."
Here's how other Texas cities fared on WalletHub's list of the best cities for celebrating the 4th of July:
- No. 40 – Dallas
- No. 49 – Fort Worth
- No. 73 – Arlington
- No. 80 – San Antonio
- No. 82 – Plano
- No. 85 – Irving
- No. 88 – Austin
An additional Fourth of July report by WalletHub (created from an online survey of "over 200 Americans") revealed public sentiment regarding the federal holiday has soured, with 38 percent of respondents saying they "don't feel financially independent this fourth of July." Additional economic issues that are concerning Americans include rising inflation rates, tariff woes, and others.
"More than half of Americans say inflation is affecting their 4th of July plans," the survey said. "7 in 10 Americans think the founding fathers would not be satisfied with the current economy."
Despite these worries, WalletHub discovered one in four Americans say celebrating Independence Day "is worth going into debt" for.
Other intriguing observations made by the survey include 65 percent of Americans claim they are "making a bigger effort" to buy U.S.-made products, though nearly one in three people say they aren't willing to pay more money to purchase things made in the U.S.
Additional findings from the survey include:
- 79 percent of Americans say U.S. independence is threatened by the rising federal debt
- 53 percent of Americans plan to spend less money this Fourth of July than they did last year
- 48 percent of people say tariffs are affecting their Fourth of July plans
- Nearly 2 in 3 people believe access to credit should be a basic American right
