BISMARCK, N.D. (KXNET) — Summer is a great time to consider hitting the road for a vacation… but on the off-chance you don’t have the time, money, or gas to consider a long trip, perhaps you’d rather have a ‘Staycation’ instead. This trend of avoiding heading out in favor of staying in and around your community is one that has gained a lot of traction in recent years — and as a new study shows, there are a few cities in North Dakota that are great places to do just that.
In order to determine the best places in the US for a Staycation, WalletHub measured 182 cities in the country (including the 150 most populated cities, and at least two in each state) across three key dimensions — Recreation, Food/Entertainment, and Rest/Relaxation. These dimensions were evaluated using 42 relevant metrics, and then averaged to calculate the city’s overall score. The lower each of these individual scores was, the higher the overall score.
When the results were tallied and ranked, two cities in North Dakota made it onto the list of the 100 best places for a Staycation — Bismarck and Fargo. Below is a list of their total scores across WalletHub’s metrics.
Rank | North Dakota City | Total Score | Recreation Score | Food/Entertainment Score | Rest/Relaxation Score |
84 | Bismarck | 40.52 | 89 | 111 | 69 |
90 | Fargo | 39.90 | 140 | 38 | 127 |
In this study, Bismarck received a somewhat high score thanks to above-average numbers in the Recreation and Rest/Relaxation values, but a low score in terms of Food and Entertainment. In an opposite case, Fargo places above the 100 mark for a very high Food/Entertainment score, but lower Recreation and Rest/Relaxation values.
In contrast, the top ten cities in the US for a Staycation are as follows:
Rank | City/State | Total Score | Recreation Score | Food/Entertainment Score | Rest/Relaxation Score |
1 | Honolulu, HI | 59.46 | 1 | 10 | 70 |
2 | Orlando, FL | 58.22 | 18 | 1 | 38 |
3 | Las Vegas, NV | 57.63 | 17 | 2 | 27 |
4 | Tampa, FL | 56.27 | 30 | 9 | 6 |
5 | Salt Lake City, UT | 55.17 | 8 | 27 | 12 |
6 | Charleston, SC | 54.21 | 27 | 18 | 15 |
7 | Chicago, IL | 53.97 | 9 | 19 | 31 |
8 | San Diego, CA | 53.72 | 11 | 29 | 19 |
9 | Cincinnati, OH | 53.67 | 6 | 7 | 74 |
10 | New Orleans, LA | 52.93 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
To view the full study, featuring results from 182 cities across the US and more specific categories such as the number of golf courses, swimming pools, and spas in a city, visit this results page on WalletHub’s website.