Chicago A 'Best Place' For New Year's Eve Celebrations: WalletHub

CHICAGO, IL — If you're looking for a place to celebrate the new year without spending all of your holiday gift money, the personal finance website WalletHub just released its 2018's Best Places for New Year's Eve Celebrations report, and Chicago made the cut. According to the website, the majority of Americans spend up to $200 each year on New Year's Eve happenings. Chicago landed in the top 10 "Best Places" at No. 8.

That's much higher than the Windy City ranked last year, when it came in at No. 28.

In order to determine the best spots for celebrating New Year’s Eve, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated U.S. cities across three key dimensions: "Entertainment and Food," "Costs" and "Safety and Accessibility." Those three categories were evaluated by WalletHub using 28 metrics, graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for New Year’s Eve party attendees.

Chicago: Overall score of 64.29 -

• Entertainment and Food: 8
• Costs: 76
• Safety and Accessibility: 76.49

>> 50+ New Year’s Eve Facts – Traditions, Spending & More infographic

Best Cities for New Year’s Eve

• 1) New York, NY
• 2) Los Angeles, CA
• 3) Atlanta, GA
• 4) San Diego, CA
• 5) Las Vegas, NV
• 6) Denver, CO
• 7) Orlando, FL
• 8) Chicago, IL
• 9) Washington, DC
• 10) San Francisco, CA
• 11) Miami, FL
• 12) New Orleans, LA
• 13) Philadelphia, PA
• 14) Birmingham, AL
• 15) Seattle, WA
• 16) San Antonio, TX
• 17) Dallas, TX
• 18) Louisville, KY
• 19) Nashville, TN
• 20) Virginia Beach, VA

More New Year's Eve facts from WalletHub:

• $1.1 Billion - Estimated cost of New Year's air travel, with at least 6.4 million people expected to pay an average of $165 for a round-trip ticket.
• 8 in 10 Americans - Spend less than $200 on New Year's Eve.
• $758 - Difference in the cost for a couple to enjoy dinner and a show on New Year's Eve in the most expensive (New York) and least expensive (Philadelphia) cities.
• 360+ Million - Glasses of sparkling wine are drunk each New Year's Eve.

More details: WalletHub

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