Chicago Is No. 1 Best City For St. Patrick's Day

CHICAGO, IL — St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Illinois are always a good time, but have you ever wondered how the festivities compare to celebrations across the country?

If the answer is yes, you’re in luck.

The personal finance website WalletHub recently released its rankings for “2020’s Best Cities for St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations.”

Chicago ranked No. 1 overall among the best cities to celebrate the Irish American holiday, and nearby Naperville came in at No. 6. Here’s other information about how our Chicago fared.

• St. Patrick’s Day traditions: 2
• Costs: 35
• Safety and accessibility: 57
• St. Patrick’s Day weather: 7

Here's a look at what's going on in Chicago and nearby for St. Paddy's:

• South Side Irish Parade
• Your Tinley Park Irish Parade Survival Guide
• Oak Forest Fleadh 2020
• St. Patrick's Day Parade/Dyeing of the Chicago River
• West Suburban Irish Parade
• Plainfield Hometown Irish Parade

While Chicago ranked as the best city in the United States for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, according to WalletHub, it was followed by Boston and Philadelphia.

Detroit finished as the city with the lowest average price for a St. Patrick’s Day party ticket in 2020. And Chicago took home the top spot for the most St. Patrick’s Day parties and celebrations per capita.

On the other end of the rankings, Brownsville, Texas, finished as the very worst city in which to celebrate the March 17 holiday. Additionally, Phoenix was ranked as the city with the fewest St. Patrick’s Day festivities per capita, and Savannah, Georgia, was listed as having the highest average price for a party ticket on the day.

WalletHub compared 200 of the most populated cities in the United States across 17 relevant metrics, including the number of St. Patrick’s Day parades, share of Irish population in the community and the Google search interest for “St Patrick’s Day Events.”

Each relevant metric was then listed with its corresponding weight, and the cities were subsequently graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best possible St. Patrick’s Day celebration experience.

Here are the top 15 places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in 2020, according to WalletHub:

1. Chicago, Illinois: 74.34
2. Boston, Massachusetts: 72.87
3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 69.56
4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 68.99
5. Tampa, Florida: 65.69
6. Naperville, Illinois: 64.56
7. New York, New York: 64.15
8. Buffalo, New York: 63.59
9. Cleveland, Ohio: 62.29
10. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: 62.02
11. Las Vegas, Nevada: 61.98
12. Denver, Colorado: 61.61
13. Omaha, Nebraska: 61.36
14. Syracuse, New York: 61.12
15. Boise, Idaho: 60.84

The full list is available on WalletHub.