2018’s Best & Worst Cities for Staycations named

With summer arriving and 52% of Americans reporting having unused vacation days last year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst Cities for Staycations.

To identify the best spots for staying local, the travel experts compared more than 180 cities across 40 key indicators of a fun-filled yet wallet-friendly staycation. The data ranges from movie and bowling costs to spas and wellness centers per capita to cost of house-cleaning services.

Best for Staycations Worst for Staycations
1 Orlando, FL 173 Lubbock, TX
2 Honolulu, HI 174 Warwick, RI
3 Chicago, IL 175 Aurora, IL
4 Seattle, WA 176 Anaheim, CA
5 Portland, OR 177 Nashua, NH
6 Tampa, FL 178 Yonkers, NY
7 Las Vegas, NV 179 Fremont, CA
8 San Francisco, CA 180 San Bernardino, CA
9 San Diego, CA 181 Bridgeport, CT
10 Charleston, SC 182 Oxnard, CA

Best vs. Worst

• North Las Vegas, Nev. has the most zoos & aquariums (per square root of population), 0.0187, 62.3 times more than in New York, the city with the fewest at 0.0003.

• Portland, Maine has the most parks (per square root of population), 1.2937, 22.4 times more than in Hialeah, Fla., the city with the fewest at 0.0577.

• Chicago has the most tennis courts (per square root of population), 0.3235, 25.7 times more than in Gilbert, Ariz., the city with the fewest at 0.0126.

• South Burlington, Vt. has the lowest cost of house-cleaning services, $103, 5.2 times less expensive than in St. Paul, Minn., the city with the highest at $539.

A staycation (a portmanteau of “stay” and “vacation”), also known as a holistay (a portmanteau of “holiday” and “stay”), is a period in which an individual or family stays home and participates in leisure activities within driving distance, sleeping in their own beds at night.