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Houston surpasses Austin as the 6th most fun city in America in 2025

Minute Maid Stadium, Daikin Park stadium in Houston

Catching a baseball game at Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid Park) is one of the many fun things Houstonians and visitors alike can enjoy in the city.

Photo by Ty Welch on Unsplash

Houston's fun entertainment and nightlife scenes have helped the city surpass Austin in WalletHub's just-released ranking of the most fun American cities in 2025. H-Town now stands tall as the sixth most fun U.S. city this year.

WalletHub's "Most Fun Cities in America (2025)" study compared 182 U.S. cities across 65 metrics — spanning from the number of sports venues, music venues, and shopping centers per capita to the average cost for a restaurant meal — to determine how "fun" each city is. The metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

Las Vegas, Nevada continued its multi-year streak as the No. 1 most fun American city.

Across the three key dimensions, Houston scored the highest for its nightlife and parties rank (No. 10), but its costs (No. 20) and entertainment and recreation ranks (No. 21) still have room for improvement. But overall, Houston's level of "fun" is far higher than most U.S. cities.

Houston's hospitality industry particularly stood out as a cut above the rest after landing in a five-way tie for the highest number of restaurants per capita. The city also landed in a five-way tie for the No. 1 most dance clubs per capita nationwide.

Houston's current "fun" status is three spots higher than its 2024 rank as the 9th most fun American city, and it's a major hike from its No. 19 placement in 2023.

Austin, which ranked No. 6 last year, dropped two spots and now ranks as the 8th most fun city in America in 2025. Other Texas cities that appeared in the top 100 include: San Antonio (No. 23), Dallas (No. 26), Fort Worth (No. 60), El Paso (No. 62), Arlington (No. 71), Plano (No. 78), and Corpus Christi (No. 94).

"The decision of where to live could save or cost you a lot of money and fun, so it’s fair to wonder what makes a fun city," the report's author wrote. "In a city with enough variety, you won’t have to compromise with your friends, family, or even yourself about the next fun activity to do alone or together."

WalletHub's top 10 most fun U.S. cities in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Houston, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Austin, Texas
No. 9 – Portland, Oregon
No. 10 – Cincinnati, Ohio

Surprisingly, both Chicago and New York City dropped out of the top 10 most fun American cities. Chicago now ranks as No. 11, and New York City ranks 14th on the list.

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Texas cruises to the middle of America's best states for drivers 2026

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Texas residents love to debate which cities have the best — and worst — drivers in our own state, but which states boast the best conditions for drivers overall? As it turns out, Texas is only average.

SmartAsset's new study "Best and Worst States for Drivers" ranked states based on auto insurance premiums as a share of annual household income, the price of a 15-gallon tank of gas as a share of weekly household income, traffic fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, and the share of interstate highway pavement rated "good."

Texas ties with Colorado as the 26th best state for drivers. Massachusetts tops the list.

According to the report's findings, 65 percent of Texas' interstate highways are in "good condition," and there are about 1.2 auto fatalities per 100 million miles traveled in the state.

Additionally, the cost of a 15-gallon tank of gas in Texas represents 3.47 percent of a resident's median weekly income, and insurance premiums eat up 2.05 percent of earnings, the study calculated.

Considering how much gas prices have soared over the last several months, commuting to work or driving around town is taking a bigger chunk out of Texas residents' wallets than it was before. At least Houstonians have the metro rail to get around downtown, and shuttle services like Shutto or Vonlane for easy traveling to other Texas cities.

"Between loan payments, maintenance, fuel and auto insurance, the cost of owning and operating a vehicle now averages more than $11,000 per year," the report said. "Even as U.S. cities and counties increase investment in public transportation, more than 90% of American households own or lease at least one vehicle."

For comparison, South Dakota has better quality interstate highways than the rest of the nation – at 84 percent – while only 15 percent of Hawaii's highways are in good condition. Rhode Island has the lowest auto fatality rate in the U.S. at 0.5 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, and West Virginia has the highest auto fatality rate at 1.6 deaths.

After Massachusetts, the remaining top 10 best states for drivers are Minnesota (No. 2); New Jersey and North Dakota (tied for No. 3); Utah (No. 5); Connecticut (No. 6); New Hampshire (No. 7); Wisconsin (No. 8); and Indiana and South Dakota (tied for No. 9).

You might want to pump the brakes in the 10 worst states for drivers: Louisiana (No. 50); Mississippi (No. 49); Hawaii and West Virginia (tied for No. 47); Montana (No. 46); Arizona and Oregon (tied for No. 44); Maine (No. 43); New Mexico (No. 42); and Arkansas (No. 41).

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