A recent study by WalletHub ranks Dallas, Austin and Houston, in the top 40 fun cities in the United States. Austin, and Houston outranked Dallas as some of 2021’s Most Fun Cities in America.
“Being a fun city is important because you always have something entertaining to do, whether with your family, your friends, or by yourself,” said Jill Gonzalez, a WalletHub analyst.
The WalletHub Most Fun Cities 2021 report placed Austin in 7th place compared to Houston at No. 19 and Dallas at No. 36 out of 182 cities that were evaluated.
“Some of the things that landed Austin and Houston among the top 20 include the number and diversity of restaurants, the number of ice cream and frozen yogurt shops, public swimming pools, playgrounds, movie theaters, and arcades per capita,” Gonzalez told The Dallas Express. “Both cities also offer plenty of nightlife choices, such as pool halls, lounges, beer gardens, music venues, dance clubs, and arts and crafts establishments.”
WalletHub looked at all types of activities people consider fun to measure a city’s fun factor. For example, they looked at the number of coffee shops, restaurants, sports venues, amusement parks, hiking trails, spas, beaches, shopping centers, movie theaters, parks, and nightlife options.
“WalletHub defines a fun city as one that has a little bit of everything for everyone,” Gonzalez said in an interview. “Having fun plays an important role in people’s lives constantly, not just during the holidays. It helps people unwind and keep a positive state of mind, which has been difficult to do these past two years since the pandemic started.”
“In terms of nightlife, Dallas ranked high for the number of pool halls, music venues, dance clubs, and arts and crafts establishments,” Gonzalez said.
The study further discovered that Dallas is the 36th most fun city due to a large number of tennis courts per capita and the prevalence of affordable restaurants.
“The more entertainment and recreation opportunities a city has, the more attractive it is for people who are looking to relocate,” Gonzalez said. “Being a fun city encourages people to go out, which benefits local business and the city’s economy.”
But, overall, fun is more expensive in Dallas. The average price of a party ticket is $35.70 in Dallas compared to $34.27 in Houston and $33.89 in Austin, according to WalletHub data. The average wine price is $9.21 in Dallas compared to $8.22 in Houston and only $6.96 in Austin.
To be more fun, Dallas would need to open more bowling centers, golf courses, boat tours, water sports, sports venues, fitness centers, and arcades per capita, according to Gonzalez.
“It would also need to have more bar accessibility and longer open hours for breweries,” she said. “The city should be more affordable as well with lower prices for party tickets, lower beer prices, lower bowling costs, and smaller fees for fitness clubs.”
Fort Worth, Arlington, and Plano ranked lower than Dallas but still in the top half of the list at No. 54, No. 73, and No. 75, respectively.
“To rank higher on the fun cities list, they would need to have more attractions, more fishing facilities, shopping centers, movie theaters, and festivals per capita,” Gonzalez said. “They should also have more lounges, music venues, and dance clubs per capita and have lower prices for things like beer and bowling.”
Although located not too far from Kaluanui Beach, Pearl City in Hawaii ranked the lowest for fun at No. 182.
“Access to a beach makes a city fun, but Pearl City lacks a diversity of options,” Gonzalez added. “It has a small number of attractions, coffee and tea shops, restaurants, ice cream and frozen yogurt shops, bowling centers, boat tours and water sports, shopping centers, fitness centers, recreational sports centers, sporting events, movie theaters, performing arts theaters, festivals, and arcades per capita. It also lacks bar accessibility and has very few lounges and dance clubs per capita. Plus, it’s the second least affordable city on the list.”