Omaha Forums

Methodology

In order to determine the best cities for tourists, we looked at 21 data points from eight reputable sources. Not all data points had data available for every city. In these cases, cities without a data figure were given a last-placed ranking in that specific category. Incomplete data points were given a lower weighting (in parenthesis below).

For tourists, there’s a balance that needs to be found between cost and enjoyment. Tourists want to experience a city but not empty their wallet while doing it. We had this mindset when compiling our rankings and creating our two categories.

For data point nine, we felt that a higher wage for tour guides would equal a better tour. There may be an added cost passed onto the tourists.

Safety is also an important value for tourists when traveling to a new city. Less crime and more police officers ranked a city higher in our study.

Below, we break down each statistic and point to its origin.

The Attractions

Number of museums, historical sites and other institutions / U.S. Census Bureau, 2014
Number of amusement, gambling and recreation industries per 1,000 members of the population / U.S. Census Bureau, 2014
Walkability Rankings (.5) / Walk Score, 2016
Number of breweries per 1,000 members of the population / U.S. Census Bureau, 2014
Number of wineries per 1,000 members of the population / U.S. Census Bureau, 2014
Average cost of three-course meal at a mid-range restaurant (.5) / Numbeo, 2016
Best Cities for Music Fans / ValuePenguin Research, 2016
Number of tour guides per 1,000 members of the population / Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015
Median hourly pay for tour guides / Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015

The Stay

Number of hotels per 1,000 members of the population / U.S. Census Bureau, 2014
Average number of days per year with precipitation / National Centers for Environmental Information, 2014
Average number of days per year with a temperature below 32 and above 90 / National Centers for Environmental Information, 2014
Hotel Price Index (.5) / Numbeo, 2016
Airfare costs by airport / Cheapflights.com, 2015
Taxi cab start cost Numbeo, 2016
Taxi cab cost per 1km / Numbeo, 2016
Number of taxi cab drivers employed per 1,000 members of the population / Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015
One-way local transportation ticket cost (.5) / Numbeo, 2016
Travel costs per day (.5) / Numbeo, 2016
Instances of violent crime per 100,000 members of the population / FBI, 2014
Number of police officers per 1,000 members of the population / Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015