This Utah city is one of 2025’s hottest summer travel destinations: WalletHub

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A recent report from WalletHub determined the top 100 travel destinations in the United States for summer 2025 — and one Utah metro area ranked among the top 10 locations.

The Salt Lake City metro area came in at number seven in WalletHub’s latest rankings, which compared the locations with a focus on “cost and convenience of traveling.” According to WalletHub, the top 10 destinations that “offer the most bang for the buck” are as follows:

1. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area
2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area
4. Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area
5. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area
6. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area
7. Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area
8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area
9. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area
10. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area

“When picking a summer travel destination, it’s easy to focus just on the types of activities you want to do or certain cities you’ve always wanted to see,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “However, choosing a destination that’s not only entertaining but also affordable is important when travel, dining and activity costs have surged so much in recent years.”

A further breakdown of the rankings shows that Salt Lake ranked as one of the cities with the lowest travel costs and fewest travel hassles, coming in third place after Santa Rosa, California (number 1), and Atlanta, Georgia (number 2). A smaller number means better conditions for each respective category, with one being the best and 100 being the lowest rank.

To determine the lowest travel costs, WalletHub looked at the cost of the cheapest flight from the six largest airport hubs, as well as the duration of the cheapest flight, the cost of the shortest flight, and more.

Salt Lake was ranked relatively high for weather (at number 11) and activities (number 28). Some of the activities used to determine a city’s rank in the report included restaurants, amusement parks, shopping centers, music venues, parks, hikes, and more.

Salt Lake scored lower in the safety category (ranked 61/100) and local costs (number 56). For the safety category, WalletHub looked at the violent crime and property crime rates. As for local costs, WalletHub weighed the cost of living, average gas prices, lowest rates for a three-star hotel, and the average price of a meal for two.

The rankings explained

The 100 locations included in the ranking are the country’s 100 most populated metro areas, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. The six categories compared were travel costs and hassles, nearby attractions, local weather, activities, safety, and local costs.

An interactive map showing all 100 locations is included below.

“We determined each metro area’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample,” WalletHub explains.

For WalletHub’s full list of this summer’s best travel destinations, and to learn more about the methodology used, you can see the full breakdown on WalletHub’s website.