santa loves sunshine
Houston heats up as 6th best winter travel destination in U.S. for 2024
There are plenty of things to do around Houston during the winter season.
Mariah Carey isn't the only one defrosting in preparation for the winter season: Houston has warmed up as one of WalletHub's top 10 best warm weather travel destinations for 2024.
Every year, WalletHub's analysts divide nearly 70 of the biggest U.S. metropolitan areas into two categories: the top "warm" and "cold" weather destinations. The study evaluated every metro based on 37 factors, including travel costs, local costs, weather predictions, and safety.
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land earned a score of 65.05 out of 100 possible points to claim the sunny No. 6 spot nationally, moving up two spots from its previous No. 8 rank in 2023.
The top five best warm weather winter destinations are Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada (No. 1); San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California (No. 2); Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (No. 3); Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown (No. 4); and Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Arizona.
The Houston metro has the No. 1 lowest travel costs and hassles nationwide, showing major favorability towards the busy yet efficient Houston airport system. Houston's numerous attractions and relative affordability earned No. 6 and No. 8 in the respective "attractions" and "local costs" rankings out of all 69 U.S. metros.
Here's how Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land performed in the remaining three categories:
- No. 9 – Warm weather activities rank
- No. 23 – Weather rank
- No. 33 – Safety rank
As in previous years, the highest concentration of top warm weather destinations was in Florida (10 metros), followed by Texas (nine metros), then California (eight metros).
Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio-New Braunfels slipped from No. 5 in 2023 to No. 11 this year.
Atlanta, Georgia ranked No. 1 once again on the list of best cold weather destinations for winter vacations, outdoing New York City, New York (No. 2), Washington, D.C. (No. 3), and Chicago, Illinois (No. 4).
"Whether you love to have a chill in your bones during the winter travel season or prefer to escape to somewhere sunny, the top travel destinations can cost as little as $200-$300 to reach by plane from major U.S. cities, with no connections," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "In addition to being affordable, the top cities also have an abundance of attractions that fit their weather patterns, along with high-quality restaurants and relatively low crime rates."
The top 10 best warm weather destinations for winter vacations are:
- No. 1 – Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada
- No. 2 – San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California
- No. 3 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
- No. 4 – Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas
- No. 5 – Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Arizona
- No. 6 – Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
- No. 7 – San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, California
- No. 8 – Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
- No. 9 – Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina
- No. 10 – Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida
For the purpose of the study, "cold" weather was determined to be less than or equal to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, while "warm" weather was greater than or equal to 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Both guidelines were analyzed based on the 50-year average December temperatures.
The full report and its methodology can be found on wallethub.com.
