For the second year running, a national analysis has slotted Atlanta as a top five U.S. city for generally having a good time without breaking the bank, ahead of famed party towns including New Orleans and Austin. 

The latest “Most Fun Cities in America” list by personal finance website WalletHub has ranked ATL at No. 4 this year—the same slot as 2024.

Only Las Vegas (No. 1), Orlando, and Miami, respectively, ranked higher. Ditto for last year. 

According to the study, Atlanta finished No. 4 among 180 cities when it comes to sheer variety of fun things to do, including options that don’t necessarily cost money, such as visiting a park or checking out a neighborhood festival. 

Each city was evaluated on 65 key metrics across three categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and costs. On a per capita basis, everything from beer halls, dance clubs, music venues, comedy clubs, movie theaters, hiking trails, playgrounds, gyms, and public park space was considered.

Midtown's Piedmont Park in autumn. Shutterstock

In terms of wallet consciousness, average beer and wine prices, restaurant meal costs, three-star hotel room prices, and general cost of living were taken into account, per WalletHub.

Unsurprisingly, Atlanta shined in the festivals per capita rank (No. 7) as well as proliferation of fitness centers (No. 8), but it was solidly mid (No. 91) when it comes to costs. A quick breakdown: 

Overall rank for Atlanta: 4th

(1=Most Fun; 91=Average):

  • 7th – Festivals per capita
  • 9th – Restaurants per capita
  • 17th – Playgrounds per capita
  • 51st – Bar accessibility
  • 48th – Parkland acres per capita
  • 7th – Fitness centers per capita
  • 10th – Dance clubs per capita
  • 19th – Number of attractions

WalletHub considered only the city proper in each case—and not the broader metro areas. 

Their Top 30 rundown of most fun American cities right now looks like this:

Elsewhere in Georgia, Augusta (No. 139) and Columbus (No. 142) made the most-fun cut. Thoroughly entertaining cities such as Savannah, Athens, and Decatur did not rank. Hmm. 

That’s because WalletHub’s rundown considered only the top 150 most populated cities in the country, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state, with those being Columbus and Augusta, respectively, in Georgia’s case.  

All of this sound about right—or way off base? 

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