The Texas Capital is resting easy at the top of Santa’s nice list for the fourth year in a row: Austin has once again topped Thumbtack’s annual ranking of the most festive American cities in 2025.
Home services platform Thumbtack analyzed holiday light installation requests from customers from October 2024 to 2025 to determine the most festive U.S. cities. Rankings were based on the “relative frequency” of requests after being adjusted for the population of each state and metro area.
Austin first scored the title as America’s most festive city in 2022, and has held the top spot ever since.
From longtime staples like Mozart’s Festival of Lights on Lake Austin and Zilker Park’s Trail of Lights, to newer traditions like the Longhorn Lights at the University of Texas at Austin, there’s plenty of dazzling shows illuminating the city for the holidays. Locals and visitors searching for an “old Austin” vibe can check out 37th Street Lights, which promises “the weirdest lights you will see this holiday season.”
Other festive (and local) holiday light shows happening around Austin include Peppermint Parkway at Circuit of the Americas, The Light Park at Round Rock’s Dell Diamond, and The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (which runs until November 30).
Other big Texas cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio also all landed top-10 spots, proving the Lone Star State is much more festive than the rest of the country.
“From Texas to Florida, the South is setting the standard for holiday spirit, and in true Texas fashion, bigger is definitely brighter,” the report said. “Mild winters and a strong sense of community keep the Lone Star State shining at the top.”
Thumbtack’s top 10 most festive U.S. cities in 2024 are:
- No. 1 – Austin, Texas
- No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
- No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
- No. 4 – Las Vegas, Nevada
- No. 5 – Sacramento, California
- No. 6 – Houston, Texas
- No. 7 – San Francisco, California
- No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
- No. 9 – San Antonio, Texas
- No. 10 – Atlanta, Georgia
