{"id":377319,"date":"2026-08-21T09:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/377319\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:32:16","slug":"california-trumps-florida-as-the-most-fun-state-in-america-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/377319\/","title":{"rendered":"California trumps Florida as the most \u2018fun\u2019 state in America. Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The Sunshine State turned out to be the second-most \u201cfun\u201d state in the nation, according to WalletHub\u2019s most recent ranking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But one other state managed to come out on top: California.<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES \u201cFUN\u201d MEAN?<\/p>\n

WalletHub compared all 50 states using 26 indicators related to entertainment, recreation and affordability, including:<\/p>\n

Restaurants, amusement parks and arcades per capita<\/p>\n

Music festivals and nightlife options<\/p>\n

Marinas and shoreline access<\/p>\n

Movie theaters and fitness centers<\/p>\n

Access to national parks<\/p>\n

State and local spending on parks and recreation<\/p>\n

Variety of arts, entertainment and recreation establishments<\/p>\n

WHY DID FLORIDA RANK SO HIGH?<\/p>\n

Florida ranked first nationally for the number of restaurants, amusement parks, arcades and music festivals per capita. It also ranked fourth for total attractions and seventh for the variety of arts, entertainment and recreation establishments.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s outdoor amenities helped strengthen its overall ranking. Florida has more marinas per capita than any other state and ranks second for shoreline mileage, giving residents and visitors numerous opportunities for boating, fishing and other water-based activities.<\/p>\n

Florida also ranked 12th for overall weather, despite its hot summers. State government spending on parks and recreation ranked 18th nationally, while the average Floridian spends nearly $2,300 per year on recreation\u2014also 18th-highest in the country.<\/p>\n

CALIFORNIA TAKES NO. 1<\/p>\n

California took the top spot overall, while Illinois, Nevada and New York rounded out the top five. <\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is the most fun state in 2026, with an especially large number of restaurants, amusement parks, movie theaters, and fitness centers per capita. It also boasts the second-most attractions per capita overall.<\/p>\n

For those who enjoy nightlife, the Golden State has a very high number of performing-arts establishments and music festivals per capita, along with the ninth-best access to bars. And even though California is one of the most expensive states for beer, it\u2019s the least expensive for wine \u2013 likely due to the abundance produced locally.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the outdoors, California has the most scenic byways per capita and the sixth-longest ones in the country. It also has the best beach access in the country and the fourth-best weather (at least, when it\u2019s not too hot to go out).”<\/p>\n

WalletHub, “Most Fun States in America (2026)”<\/p>\n

FULL RANKING<\/p>\n

Overall RankStateTotal ScoreEntertainment & Recreation RankNightlife Rank1California67.35142Florida64.14273Illinois59.87324Nevada58.76715New York58.40436Colorado56.155107Washington55.75688Texas53.678129Minnesota49.4810910Arizona48.0192111Oregon47.45121512Louisiana47.2418613Pennsylvania47.22141114North Carolina46.67111915Ohio46.50161316Wisconsin45.4923517Missouri44.42221418Maryland43.24133019Michigan43.18211720Georgia42.31153721South Carolina41.82173222Hawaii39.65194423Tennessee39.48272224New Mexico39.37242925Utah38.44204826Virginia38.24253927South Dakota37.52292028Montana37.30321629Massachusetts37.23282730Idaho37.12264031Oklahoma36.88302332Iowa34.41361833Wyoming33.42314234Nebraska33.22342835Alaska32.92334136Indiana31.76392537New Jersey31.58353838Kentucky30.08383339Kansas29.93403440North Dakota28.91423141Maine28.87374542Alabama28.13423443New Hampshire27.33414744Connecticut26.67434945Rhode Island24.79482646Delaware24.57455047Arkansas24.00464648Vermont23.97473649Mississippi21.62502450West Virginia20.574943<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The Sunshine State turned out to be the second-most \u201cfun\u201d state in the nation, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4535,104,6919,28,30,29,785],"class_list":["post-377319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-california","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-ranked"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}