Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and if you’re still deciding where to spend the holiday, this Texas city might be the perfect place. Dallas, Texas, has just been named the best place in the U.S. to celebrate Thanksgiving in 2026 by WalletHub’s latest ranking. What’s even more exciting is it’s not the only Southern city on the list. As a matter of fact, the top four are all Southern cities.
For its annual study, WalletHub looked at 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 18 metrics designed to assess how much fun, affordable, and convenient each city is for the holidays. The metrics covered the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the availability of highly rated restaurants, holiday decorations, volunteer opportunities, flight delays, the Thanksgiving weather forecast, and more.
Dallas took first place with an overall score of 68.83/100. It ranked second in Thanksgiving celebrations and traditions. It also ranked 11th for affordability and 9th for its Thanksgiving weather forecast.
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According to WalletHub, Dallas stands out for the number of highly rated restaurants and holiday decoration shops. There’s a clear enthusiasm for the holidays among residents, as evidenced by the volume of searches for Thanksgiving activities and traditions on Google. There are also plenty of opportunities to give back, with the city ranking 25th for charities per capita.
Atlanta, Georgia, came in second at 67.07. It was ranked first in Thanksgiving celebrations and traditions, largely due to the number of shops in the city that specialize in holiday decorations, the quality of the restaurants, and residents’ interest in the holiday. It also scored very well for on-time flight performance, with only 16% of flights arriving or departing late last November.
San Antonio, Texas, took third with 66.62. Its biggest strength was affordability. It ranked No. 1 in that category and had the third-cheapest Thanksgiving dinner in the country. It also ranked in the top tier for restaurants and holiday activities. Louisville, Kentucky, completed the Southern sweep at No. 4. The rest of the top 10 were Las Vegas, Nevada; Scottsdale, Arizona; Houston, Texas; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Boston, Massachusetts; and Chesapeake, Virginia. Houston ranked No. 7 overall.
WalletHub evaluated the cities across five criteria: Thanksgiving traditions and celebrations, affordability, safety and accessibility, giving thanks, and weather. Data came from a range of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Yelp, Kayak, AmeriCorps, and AccuWeather.
Read the original article on Southern Living
