With consumers spending hundreds of dollars on Thanksgiving travel and celebrations each year, the personal-finance company WalletHub recently released its report on the Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving in 2025, along with some Thanksgiving facts and expert commentary.
California had one entry in the top 20, with San Diego ranking 17th overall on the list.
Top 20 Cities for Thanksgiving
San Antonio, Texas was the number one ranked city for celebrating Thanksgiving, followed by Atlanta, GA; Virginia Beach, VA; Dallas, TX; Scottsdale, AZ; Irving, TX; Plano, TX; Louisville, KY; Las Vegas, NV; and, rounding out the top 10, Chesapeake, Virginia.
Rated as the number 11 through 20 Thanksgiving destinations were Corpus Christi, Texas at number 11; Houston, TX; Tulsa, OK; Cincinnati, OH; Washington, DC; Austin, TX; San Diego, CA; Boston, MA; New York, NY; and at number 20, Miami, Florida.
Thanksgiving Facts
$235 – Average person’s spending over the five-day Thanksgiving period.
10 Hours – Length of time the average American male would need to spend on the treadmill to burn the 4,500 calories consumed at the average Thanksgiving meal.
$1.2B – Estimated amount Americans spend on Thanksgiving turkeys each year, with 45 million turkeys killed for the holiday.
$26 Million – Amount of property loss caused by residential building fires each Thanksgiving.
71 percent – Share of people celebrating Thanksgiving who try to avoid having to talk politics at the dinner table.
“The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history. Other features make individual cities stand out; for example, San Antonio has great weather, Atlanta has a fantastic track record for on-time flights and Virginia Beach has surprisingly affordable accommodations,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo noted. “San Antonio is the best place to go for Thanksgiving this year, and it’s an especially good place for people who want to dine out, with an extremely high number of restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars. San Antonio also helps make things festive with an abundance of pumpkin patches and holiday decoration shops. In addition, San Antonio residents get very excited about Thanksgiving, searching Google for terms related to the holiday more than people in most other cities. And if you’re looking to celebrate Thanksgiving on a budget before diving into the shopping weekend, San Antonio offers the third-cheapest Thanksgiving dinner in the country.”
Expert Commentary
What money-saving tips do you have for people who plan to travel for Thanksgiving?
“According to the latest Consumer Price Index inflation report for September 2025, the costs for people wanting to travel for Thanksgiving this year will be higher. Airline fares are 2.7 percent higher and travel lodging is 1.3 percent higher. For consumers wanting to save money during their holiday travels, booking flights and hotels early and looking for discounts will help lower travel costs. People could also cash in on travel rewards offered by many credit card companies and airlines. During the Thanksgiving holiday week, flights are often overbooked. Additionally, the busiest travel day of the year is on Sunday after Thanksgiving so try to avoid flights returning on that day if at all possible. If destinations are within driving distance, people should consider driving rather than booking last minute flights which will certainly help save money on travel costs.”
Kerri Camp, Ph.D. – Professor, University of Texas at Tyler
What tips do you have for celebrating Thanksgiving on a budget?
“Thanksgiving historically has been a time to give thanks while enjoying the harvest, such as during 1621 when the English settlers joined indigenous Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. It was not a time to focus on some lavish culinary experience that met the perceived social standards at the time. Rather, it was a time set aside to create cherished memories of the time spent with those important to us. To be grateful for the harvest. And thankfully, that is still true today. As such, we have the freedom to choose any meal, regardless of our budget, that we may enjoy as we gather around the table.”
Stephen M. Rapier, Ph.D. – Adjunct Professor, Pepperdine University
“The best tip for celebrating Thanksgiving on a budget is to spend time planning. If people are planning on cooking the Thanksgiving dinner, many grocery stores offer reduced prices on typical items needed for a Thanksgiving meal, but this often requires shopping early and looking for coupons and specials. When inviting others to a Thanksgiving celebration, it can also reduce costs to ask guests to bring a side dish or dessert. Depending on how many people will be celebrating Thanksgiving, many people opt to eat out rather than cook the meal at home. Many restaurants offer special packages that cost less than it might cost to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal.”
Kerri Camp, Ph.D. – Professor, University of Texas at Tyler
Has Thanksgiving become too commercialized in recent years?
“The degree of commercialization reflects public (consumer) demand, so any individual subjective opinion or preference is overridden by the free market. That is how it should be.”
John Gaski – Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
“It may be reasonable to assume that the essence of Thanksgiving has changed over time. From a time rooted in being grateful for our blessings during challenging times, you may easily recognize the change in many people’s expectation that they deserve more. Corresponding to a time when the challenges for many may simply be the inconvenience of the drive time to work (heaven forbid!), this expectation may be seen as fueled in part by a litany of marketing campaigns and social media depicting the time of Thanksgiving as one capable of exceeding your expectations. This social awareness may correspond to the willingness of some to jump on board and join the fun, even when the main point of the holiday has been forgotten and its legacy unlikely to be passed onto the next generation.”
Stephen M. Rapier, Ph.D. – Adjunct Professor, Pepperdine University
