'Best 4th of July Cities' List Ranks Boston Surprisingly Low

Boston, MA - A 2016 ranking of "Best & Worst Cities for Fourth of July Celebrations" is out and Boston - home of Paul Revere, John Hancock and the Boston Pops - somehow made a pretty poor showing.

Not to get up on a high horse here, but how did we possibly rank 15th? Sure, we here at Patch try to take all online "best of" lists with a grain of salt, but it's still hard not to scratch your head over Wallethub's thinking on this one.

Coming in at No. 1 is Seattle, a city that wasn't even a glimmer in our nation's eye when Independence Day happened. Dead last is Laredo, Texas, which incidentally is not somewhere most people would think to head anyway.

• "Fourth of July 2016 Massachusetts Fireworks Schedule"

Anyway, here's how it broke down.

The personal finance site, known for spinning out such rankings, explains their scale this way: "WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities based on how well they balance holiday cost and fun. We did so using 16 different metrics such as the duration of fireworks shows, average gas prices, weather forecasts and more."

While Boston fared well enough on "attractions," it suffered on "entertainment and food," and "Fourth of July weather forecast."

Here's the Top 15 from Wallethub. You can find its full list and methodology (and maybe lodge your complaints) here.

1. Seattle, WA
2. Minneapolis, MN
3. New Orleans, LA
4. Washington, DC
5. Portland, OR
6. St. Louis, MO
7. San Diego, CA
8. Milwaukee, WI
9. San Francisco, CA
10. Orlando, FL
11. Madison, WI
12. New York, NY
13. Omaha, NE
14. Cincinnati, OH
15. Boston, MA

Patch readers: Any thoughts? Are we belly-aching for no reason, or is this actually as unfair as it feels? Weigh in in the comments section below, or through Facebook and Twitter.

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