NATIONAL -- With New Year’s Eve around the corner and the majority of Americans spending up to $200 each on the occasion per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2018’s Best Places for New Year’s Eve Celebrations.

WalletHub compared the 100 biggest cities across 28 key metrics. The data set ranges from legality of fireworks to average price of a New Year’s Eve party ticket to forecasted precipitation for Dec. 31. Unsurprisingly, New York City -- which has the most restaurants and night life options per capita -- was rated the Best City for New Year’s Eve. Interestingly, Jersey City and Newark made the list, but not Atlantic City, which jacks up the price of hotel rooms as much as 500 percent, according to WalletHub.

 
Overall Rank
 City Entertainment & Food Rank Costs Rank Safety & Accessibility Rank Total Score
1 New York 1 100 23 68.27
2 Los Angeles 3 75 70 66.92
3 Atlanta 4 51 93 66.91
4 San Diego 7 68 61 66.28
5 Las Vegas 5 74 72 66.03
6 Denver 11 38 47 65.92
7 Orlando 12 9 94 65.33
8 Chicago 8 76 49 64.29
9 Washington, DC 10 78 10 64.02
10 San Francisco 2 96 64 63.83
13 Philadelphia 14 73 21 60.29
88 Jersey City 81 89 4 41.77
95 Newark 80 87 80 36.82

New Year’s Facts and Figures 

  • $1.1 Billion: Estimated cost of New Year's air travel, with at least 6.4 million people expected to pay an average of $165 for a round-trip ticket.
  • 8 in 10 Americans spend less than $200 on New Year's Eve.
  • $758: Difference in the cost for a couple to enjoy dinner and a show on New Year's Eve in the most expensive (New York) and least expensive (Philadelphia) cities.
  • 360+ Million: Glasses of sparkling wine are drunk each New Year's Eve.