San Francisco was the only city in California to make it into the top 10 most fun cities in America, according to WalletHub’s list for 2024. However, Los Angeles has a bonus: it is just a four-hour drive away from the liveliest city in America.
Both San Francisco and Los Angeles made it to WalletHub’s top 20 most fun cities in America list for 2024, with San Diego narrowly missing out at 21st place and Sacramento ranking 33rd.
San Francisco
San Francisco was the only city in California to break into the top 10. Despite this, it was ranked as the fifth most expensive city for fun activities.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles secured the 18th spot on the list of most fun cities in America. It ranked 12th for entertainment and recreation, and 16th for nightlife and parties, but at a cost—Los Angeles was placed 160th in terms of value for money.
Residents of Los Angeles have the advantage of living in a highly ranked California city and can easily drive to the top-ranked city in the country, Las Vegas, in just about four hours.
California Cities Excel in Various Categories
San Francisco and San Diego were among the top five best cities for active lifestyles. San Francisco also claimed the eighth spot for being the best sports city, while Los Angeles secured the first position in this category, largely due to its numerous professional sports teams, including the Dodgers.
According to analyst Chip Lupo, cities with high-performing and popular professional sports teams tend to be the best sports cities overall, like Los Angeles.
WalletHub found that Los Angeles County and neighboring Orange County offer some of the best weather conditions in the nation.
Earlier this year, San Diego made it to the top 10 on two separate lists by WalletHub—for staycations and recreation, coming in at No. 7 on both lists.
Oakland ranked third and Huntington Beach ranked fifth in the fitness centers per capita category.
Areas Where California Falls Short
California cities did not perform well in certain key categories in this year’s most fun cities survey, including park playgrounds per capita. Cities like Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, and Cincinnati tied for the top spot in this category, with Houston ranking fifth.
Additionally, no California city made it into the top five for acres of parkland per capita. The closest city to California’s border in the top five was Scottsdale, Arizona, which ranked fifth.
Stockton in Northern California ranked 99th and Santa Ana in Southern California ranked 102nd for acres of parkland per capita.
No California city ranked in the top five for “accessible bars,” with Fort Lauderdale, Florida taking the top spot. However, some California cities ranked poorly in this category, with Fontana at 178th and Moreno Valley at 181st. Fremont was in the bottom five for dance clubs per capita at 156.
Certain California cities also fared poorly in terms of high movie costs, with Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario tied for 172nd place, and Long Beach and Los Angeles tying for last place at 181st.
Four California cities ranked in the bottom 10 overall. Oxnard was in the 177th position, followed by Fremont in 178th place, Santa Rosa in 176th place, and Chula Vista in 173rd place.
Factors Contributing to a Fun City
Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, associate professor of Public Policy at Rutgers University, suggested that cities can enhance their appeal by relaxing restrictions and regulations, making them more like Latin American or European cities—more walkable, less restrictive, and with a mix of amenities like food stands, public drinking, and music.
According to him, the U.S. has a contradictory nature, being both puritanical and uptight in some aspects, while facing urban challenges like those seen in San Francisco and Philadelphia.
WalletHub highlighted Las Vegas as the most fun city overall, offering a wide range of highly-rated attractions and restaurants. The city is also relatively affordable, ranking as the fourth-cheapest city for grabbing a burger and having the 13th-cheapest average fitness club membership cost.
In its study, WalletHub evaluated 182 cities, including the 150 most populated cities in the U.S. and at least two of the most populated cities in each state, based on entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and costs. The analysis was conducted using 65 metrics.
WalletHub calculated the weighted average for each city and used these scores to rank them. The assessment focused solely on each city proper, excluding their surrounding metro areas.
