Californians won’t have to go far to celebrate New Year’s Eve

Nine California cities are included in the top 20 cities to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Some, like Riverside, are in our back yard.

With New Year’s around the corner but the scale of celebrations limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best Cities for New Year’s (as well as accompanying videos).

To determine which cities are the best for safely ringing in the new year without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared the 100 biggest cities across 15 key metrics. The data set ranges from safety and COVID-19 cases to quality food delivery options and costs.

Best Cities for New Year’s

1. Virginia Beach, VA
11. Raleigh, NC
2. Honolulu, HI
12. Chesapeake, VA
3. Plano, TX
13. San Jose, CA
4. Fremont, CA
14. Norfolk, VA
5. Irvine, CA
15. Colorado Springs, CO
6. Chula Vista, CA
16. Riverside, CA
7. Lincoln, NE
17. Austin, TX
8. Santa Ana, CA
18. Madison, WI
9. San Diego, CA
19. Pittsburgh, PA
10. Anaheim, CA
20. San Francisco, CA

Key Stats

  • Honolulu has the fewest COVID-19 cases in the past week (per 100,000 residents), 1,544.12, which is 6.7 times fewer than in Lubbock, Texas, the city with the most at 10,405.57.
  • Gilbert, Arizona, has the lowest property crime rate (per 1,000 residents), 12.03, which is 5.3 times lower than in Oakland, California, the city with the highest at 64.21.
  • Miami has the most beer, wine and spirits shops (per square root of population), 0.333293, which is 27.2 more than in Garland, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.012259.
  • Indianapolis has the lowest average wine price, $3.63, which is 4.1 times lower than in Seattle, the city with the highest at $14.89.
  • St. Paul, Minnesota, has the lowest pedestrian-fatality rate (per 100,000 residents), 0.32, which is 23.5 times lower than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the highest at 7.53.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, click here.