North Carolina loves Christmas! But did you know that we have one of the best cities to enjoy the Christmas season? The personal-finance website WalletHub released its report today on 2021’s Best Places for Christmas Celebrations, projecting holiday spending to reach $859 billion this year, the highest amount ever.
According to WalletHub, WalletHub compared the 100 biggest U.S. cities based on 32 key indicators of a safe and affordable holiday despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This data set covers everything from the availability of Christmas traditions to the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated to the city’s overall generosity.
Well, North Carolina won the number 14 spot of one of the best cities in America to celebrate Christmas. Charlotte, North Carolina took the 43rd spot. No great, but at least we aren’t last.
some interesting facts from the study are that Miami has the most Christmas tree farms (per square root of the population), 0.025222, which is 23.4 times more than in Indianapolis, the city with the fewest at 0.001076. If you live in Orlando, Florida, you actually have the most gift shops (per square root of the population), 0.233991, which is 28.6 times more than in Garland, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.008192. That’s a lot of shopping.
Love toys? Los Angeles has the most toy stores (per square root of the population), 0.120499, which is 29.6 times more than in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the city with the fewest at 0.004071. And when it comes to food banks, Seattle has the most food banks (per square root of population), 0.024675, which is 20.4 times more than in Boston, the city with the fewest at 0.001209. You can check out the top 20 cities to celebrate Christmas below.
| Overall Rank | City | Total Score | Traditions & Fun | Observance | Generosity | Shopping | Costs |
| 1 | Atlanta, GA | 65.95 | 8 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 90 |
| 2 | Orlando, FL | 64.70 | 3 | 11 | 68 | 3 | 49 |
| 3 | Las Vegas, NV | 63.69 | 7 | 59 | 53 | 1 | 20 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh, PA | 62.06 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 69 |
| 5 | San Francisco, CA | 60.52 | 2 | 74 | 4 | 4 | 99 |
| 6 | Seattle, WA | 60.25 | 11 | 71 | 1 | 13 | 89 |
| 7 | Los Angeles, CA | 59.07 | 5 | 92 | 34 | 6 | 58 |
| 8 | Cincinnati, OH | 59.04 | 19 | 7 | 62 | 11 | 8 |
| 9 | New York, NY | 58.69 | 1 | 95 | 3 | 7 | 100 |
| 10 | Portland, OR | 58.68 | 12 | 69 | 8 | 9 | 80 |
| 11 | Miami, FL | 58.06 | 6 | 39 | 56 | 8 | 84 |
| 12 | Chicago, IL | 57.56 | 4 | 82 | 20 | 24 | 39 |
| 13 | St. Louis, MO | 57.37 | 27 | 6 | 22 | 17 | 35 |
| 14 | Raleigh, NC | 54.61 | 38 | 33 | 10 | 23 | 13 |
| 15 | Denver, CO | 54.28 | 9 | 63 | 21 | 14 | 97 |
| 16 | Honolulu, HI | 53.99 | 20 | 17 | 72 | 5 | 85 |
| 17 | Austin, TX | 53.41 | 18 | 66 | 66 | 19 | 6 |
| 18 | Cleveland, OH | 52.63 | 39 | 9 | 36 | 26 | 15 |
| 19 | Minneapolis, MN | 52.31 | 14 | 14 | 31 | 50 | 70 |
| 20 | San Diego, CA | 51.91 | 10 | 84 | 60 | 12 | 94 |