ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Finance company WalletHub has released a list of the top 100 U.S. Cities for celebrating an affordable Christmas, and two Tampa Bay destinations were ranked within that study.
Tampa and St. Petersburg landed spots on the list, with the former coming in at No. 26 and the latter earning a No. 67 ranking.
To determine the best spots for celebrating the holiday, analysts compared the 100 cities across five different categories, including:
- Traditions & Fun
- Observance
- Generosity
- Shopping
- Costs
Based on a point system regarding those dimensions, Tampa scored an overall 52.13 points while St. Pete earned an overall 45.07 points.
"With inflation making Christmas celebrations, gifts, food and travel more expensive, certain cities are much better for your wallet than others during the holiday," WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo stated in the study. "In addition to being affordable, the best cities have a large number of people celebrating, plenty of places for Christians to worship, populations who give generously to charity, and plenty of fun activities to enjoy with family and friends.”
Tampa and St. Pete weren't the only Florida cities receiving kudos this holiday season. Orlando (5th) and Miami (8th) were ranked within the top 10, with both receiving top honors for two different sub-categories.
Wallethub's study had Miami tied with four other U.S. cities for Christmas Tree Farms per Capita while Orlando was tied for first within the Gift Shops per Capita list.
The top 5 best cities for Christmas are as follows, according to WalletHub:
- Atlanta, GA
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Seattle, WA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Orlando, FL
Click here to view the full study.
