Best Christmas Town Jolly As GA Tops National Ranking

ATLANTA, GA — Santa Claus' reindeer may visit Atlanta soon as the popular city was deemed the best Christmas town in the U.S.

WalletHub awarded the Georgia town with the moniker in a recent ranking. With an overall score of 63.65, Atlanta beat out major national cities, including Las Vegas and New York City.

At No. 1, Atlanta ranked as follows:

• Traditions and Fun: 7
• Observance: 28
• Generosity: 14
• Shopping: 6
• Costs: 60

No other Georgia cities made the U.S. ranking.

"Atlanta is the best city for Christmas celebrations this year, with plenty of stores to help you prepare for the holiday, including an extremely high number of bakeries, holiday decoration shops and card shops per capita," WalletHub experts said.

"Atlanta is also one of the best cities when it comes to the prevalence of affordable restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars if you want to eat out for the holiday (or want a break from cooking afterward). It has the ninth-most Christmas tree farms per capita, too. In addition, Atlanta residents get very excited about Christmas, searching Google for terms relating to the holiday more frequently than people in most other cities. The giving spirit can also be felt by Atlanta residents and visitors alike, as the city has the ninth-highest percentage of people who donate clothing to charity, along with the 13th-most online donations per capita."

There are a plethora of options in Atlanta to celebrate Christmas, which is observed annually on Dec. 25.

Patch has compiled a few you may want to add to your calendar:

• Holidays at the Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta (Georgia Aquarium)
• IllumiNights at the Zoo, Atlanta (Zoo Atlanta)
• Atlanta Ballet's The Nutcracker, Atlanta (Cobb Energy Center)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Atlanta (Center For Puppetry Arts)
• A Christmas Carol, Atlanta (Coca-Cola Stage)
• Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, Atlanta (Botanical Gardens)

Here are the top 10 best Christmas towns, per WalletHub:

1. Atlanta, Georgia
2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3. Seattle, Washington
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Orlando, Florida
6. San Francisco, California
7. St. Louis, Missouri
8. Miami, Florida
9. Chicago, Illinois,
10. New York, New York

See WalletHub's full methodology here.