In its survey released Monday, the personal finance website WalletHub ranked Virginia Beach as the sixth-best place in the country to go to for Thanksgiving
As the website pointed out, Thanksgiving is one of America’s most beloved holidays, giving families a chance to share a meal together and reflect on all the things for which they are grateful. The first Thanksgiving dates back to Plymouth, Mass., in 1621, and each U.S. president declared a yearly celebration of the holiday until Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Thanksgiving into law permanently in 1941.
But even though Thanksgiving is centered on family and gratefulness, it’s still become a highly commercialized holiday. That’s apparent from the fact that the next day is Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, and a few days later is Cyber Monday, which brings scores of online deals. Last year, consumers spent around $312 per person during the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. Luckily, though, it doesn’t cost too much to make a Thanksgiving feast for your family – less than $50 on average for 10 people.
To help Americans find the best places to go for Thanksgiving without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities based on 20 key metrics across five dimensions.
Those five dimensions were 1) Thanksgiving Celebrations and Traditions with the metrics, pumpkin patches per capita, Google search interest for Thanksgiving celebrations, and holiday shops per capita 2) Affordability with the metrics cost of Thanksgiving dinner, the prevalence of affordable restaurants with ratings of 4.5+ stars, and the lowest price for a three-star hotel room for a Thanksgiving holiday; 3) Safety and Accessibility with the metrics the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated, the crime rate, the perception of safety, pedestrian fatalities,
DUI-related fatalities in motor vehicle crashes around Thanksgiving, the share of delayed flights near the Thanksgiving holiday, and traffic congestion 4) Giving thanks with the metrics volunteer opportunities per capita, the volunteer hours per capita, the charity organizations per capita, and the share of income donated to charity, and 5) the Thanksgiving weather forecast with the metrics Thanksgiving Temperature vs. average temperature: and the forecasted Thanksgiving precipitation.
The five cities that ranked ahead of Virginia Beach as the best places to go for Thanksgiving were 1) Atlanta 2) Orlando 3) Scottdale, Ariz. 4) Miami and 5) Raleigh.
