New Study Says Colorado is Not Great for Thanksgiving

Whenever November rolls around, it feels like we jump pretty quickly to hyping up Christmas in the United States.

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We immediately start prepping for the holidays next month, but before then, we have to make a pitstop at Thanksgiving, first.

For many people, Thanksgiving is a fantastic opportunity for them to be able to reconnect with their family each year and to celebrate what they’re thankful for.

Of course, you’ve got your Thanksgiving faux pas, like bringing up politics, that people seem to find a way to sneak into the event as well (For some reason, I can see that being a problem this year).

However, we often don’t think about the best places to celebrate the holiday.

People always seem to come up with lists about the best places to celebrate Christmas, and of course people are more likely to plan a trip during then, but what’s the best places for Thanksgiving?

As a matter of fact, the good people over at WalletHub have created a list of the best cities for the holiday. 

However, Colorado may not have that much to offer in that department.

Two Major Colorado Cities Ranked Below Average For Thanksgiving

In their study, WalletHub looked at the top 100 cities in terms of population and ranked them based on four rankings: celebrations & traditions, affordability, safety & accessibility, and “giving thanks”. They rank each city based on a final score. 

The two biggest cities in Colorado, Denver and Colorado Springs, both appear, but they both have either average or below average results.

Denver is the highest in terms of rankings. It lags behind in affordability and safety & accessibility, ranking 67th and 60th in both respectively.

However, Denver seems to be a pretty thankful city, given it places 27th for its “giving thanks” rank.

Its highest mark comes from celebrations & traditions, which makes sense because if you’ve ever done Thanksgiving in Denver, each family seems to have their unique spin on things.

All of this together gives Denver a final score of 51.27, which is good for 51st. That’s just below average. All things considered, though, it appears the Mile High City has Thanksgiving down on the two biggest elements of the holiday. 

Colorado Springs generally has lower rankings, only edging out Denver with a 28th place finish for safety & accessibility and affordability & accessibility at 61st. 

It also does pretty well in celebrations & traditions, where they rank 34th, but drops the ball in terms of “giving thanks” at 76th.

This gives the Springs a final score of 48.37, which is good for 67th.

While we can't say these cities absolutely drop the ball when it comes to celebrating Thanksgiving, it seem they don't really offer too much at the same time.

What is the Best and Worst City for Thanksgiving?

While Colorado doesn’t seem to knock it out of the part for Thanksgiving, WalletHub believes San Diego, California is the place to be.

However, it only ranks above average in two categories, one of them being safety & accessibility, which is at 32nd.

What brings San Diego to the top is its first place finish for celebrations & traditions, which goes to show how heavily that category is weighted in this study. Its total score is 63.89, just barely beating Atlanta, Georgia at 63.73. 

The worst city to celebrate Thanksgiving, according to WalletHub, is yet another California city: Stockton.

Well below average across the board, Stockton is particularly brought down by two second to last place finishes in affordability and “giving thanks”.

It also has a 92nd place finish in safety & accessibility, and its highest ranking is traditions & celebrations at 73rd. 

This gives Stockton a final score of 25.02. Unlike San Diego, it ran away with the last spot, with Hialeah, Florida taking second worst at 33.41.