Every Fourth of July, tens of thousands of walkers, runners and joggers don their patriotic apparel for the world's largest 10-kilometer race right here in Atlanta. With the annual AJC Peachtree Road Race, celebratory brews at the Georgia Aquarium and fireworks galore at Stone Mountain Park, it's no surprise Atlanta once again ranks among the best cities in the country to celebrate Independence Day.
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The ranking comes from analysts at personal finance site WalletHub who compared the 100 largest U.S. cities based on five key star-spangled dimensions: Fourth of July celebrations, affordability, attractions/activities, safety/accessibility and holiday weather forecast.
They further evaluated the dimensions using 20 relevant metrics, such as fireworks laws, number of festivals and performances, average beer/wine costs, walkability, crime rate and more.
Of the 100 cities on the list, New York earned the top spot, followed by Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas.
California’s San Bernardino ranked last.
Atlanta came in seventh, a one-spot-drop from its place at sixth last year.
Here’s more on how the metro fared:
- Overall rank: 7
- Fourth of July celebrations: 3
- Affordability: 36
- Attractions/activities: 15
- Safety/accessibility: 72
- Fourth of July weather: 80
- Average beer/wine prices: 96
While Atlanta’s variety of patriotic events make quite the impression, the city’s high beer and wine prices and its low safety and weather-related scores kept it from moving up even higher on the 2019 list.
The metro has seen high violent crime rates in recent years, but according to a previous AJC report, overall crime has dropped.
As for the upcoming forecast, it’s possible we’ll be seeing some scattered thunderstorms next Thursday.
Explore the full WalletHub ranking at wallethub.com.
More Fourth of July coverage from AJC:
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