4 Valley cities among the best places to go for Thanksgiving, per WalletHub

PHOENIX — Four Valley cities ranked in the top-12 of WalletHub’s 100 best places to go for Thanksgiving 2023.

Scottsdale ranked No. 4, Phoenix was slotted at No. 7, Mesa placed No. 11 and Gilbert was right behind at No. 12.

Arizona cities were littered throughout the top 100, with Tucson coming in at No. 20, Chandler at No. 34 and Glendale at No. 70.

What criteria was used to rank the best cities to go to for Thanksgiving 2023?

WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated U.S. cities across five different dimensions:

• Thanksgiving celebrations and traditions
• affordability
• safety and accessibility
• giving thanks
• Thanksgiving weather forecast

WalletHub then evaluated those variables by using weighted averages for 18 additional related metrics, such as pumpkin patches per capita and Thanksgiving temperature vs. average temperature.

How did Phoenix make it onto the list?

On a scale of one to 100, with one being the best and 100 being the worst, Phoenix ranked No. 1 in holiday decoration shops per capita. Phoenix’s rankings for some of the other key categories are listed below:

• No. 52 – cost of Thanksgiving dinner
• No. 10 – pumpkin patches per capita
• No. 18 – total volunteer hours per residents age 16 and over
• No. 27 – weather forecast

The best city in the nation to visit for Thanksgiving this year is San Francisco, California, according to WalletHub, while the worst is Stockton, California.

“Surprisingly, San Francisco is the place to be if you’re looking for highly-rated yet affordable restaurants for celebrating Thanksgiving this year,” Cassandra Happe, WalletHub Analyst, said in a press release. “The city also has pretty good weather this time of year and offers lots of opportunities for sightseeing and other outdoor fun that won’t require spending a ton of money.”

The average person spends $325 over the five-day Thanksgiving period, according to WalletHub. In total, Americans spend $949 million on turkeys, with 40 million turkeys killed.

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