While Philadelphia, Boston, and Pittsburgh are the best cities for celebrating on March 17, North Texas has developed its own St. Patrick’s Day hub in McKinney.
The WalletHub 2022 Best Places for St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations study found that McKinney ranked No.124 out of 200 American cities.
“McKinney’s strong points are the fact that it has a St. Patrick’s Day parade, a low crime rate, and a higher-than-average forecasted temperature for St. Patrick’s Day,” said Jill Gonzalez, an analyst with WalletHub.
About 7.90% of the population in McKinney is Irish, according to the data.
“The areas where McKinney could improve include bar accessibility, a higher search interest for St. Patrick’s Day events, and lower beer and hotel prices,” Gonzalez told The Dallas Express. She added McKinney would also need to rank higher in terms of traffic congestion and walkability, and have less forecasted precipitation for that day.
Philadelphia landed the top spot partly due to its 250 years of Patrick’s Day history, as well as the abundance and affordability of its Irish pubs and restaurants.
“The city also scores [highly] in terms of walkability and has a low number of DUI-related fatalities in motor vehicle crashes,” Gonzalez said in an interview.
Most Irish immigrants settled on the East Coast, which is why Philadelphia, Boston, and Pittsburgh ranked at No.1, 2, and 3, respectively, according to Gonzalez.
“Boston and Pittsburgh have fewer and less affordable Irish pubs and restaurants than Philadelphia and a lower search interest for St. Patrick’s Day events,” she said. “Boston and Pittsburgh also have higher prices for St. Patrick’s Day party tickets and beer, and more forecasted precipitation for that day.”
Boston and Pittsburgh outrank Philadelphia in some areas, however, including in Irish population, bar accessibility, and share of fully vaccinated residents, while also maintaining a lower crime rate.
The WalletHub study found that the share of Irish population is 10.4% in Philadelphia, 13.4% in Boston, and 14.6% in Pittsburgh.
“The share of Irish population had triple weight in the methodology,” Gonzalez said.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, St. Patrick was British; however, he lived in Ireland for six years as a prisoner and eventually became a bishop there.
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, which is believed to be the anniversary of his death.
“The holiday would probably be as popular regardless of the day or season it’s celebrated,” Gonzalez added.
Gonzalez also said that corned beef, cabbage, and green clothing define St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the U.S. because of their popularity in Ireland, but none more so than beer.
In fact, the WalletHub study found that beer sales increased by 174% on this day compared to the rest of the year.
“St. Patrick’s Day is one of the most popular drinking occasions,” she said. “This year Americans are projected to spend almost $6 billion on the holiday, so Texas cities would benefit financially from promoting more St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.”