Calling all snowbirds: Austin has landed among the top three best warm-weather winter destinations in America for 2025.
WalletHub’s collection of the “Best Winter Holiday Destinations” is an annual ranking of the largest 69 U.S. metros to determine the ultimate “warm” and “cold” weather destinations for the upcoming winter season. Every metro was analyzed using 37 relevant metrics across six key dimensions, such as travel costs and hassles, local costs, attractions, weather, activities, and safety.
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada, retained its position as the No. 1 best warm-weather winter destination for the fourth consecutive year. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California, claimed No. 2 for the third year in a row.
Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown ranked as the No. 3 best warm-weather destination this year, moving up one spot from its 2024 ranking and flip-flopping with Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, which ranked fourth this year. Austin previously claimed the coveted No. 1 spot in 2021, slipped into No. 2 in 2022, and last ranked in third place in 2023.
This is how the report broke down Austin’s rank across the six key dimensions:
No. 2 – Travel costs and hasslesNo. 6 – WeatherNo. 9 – AttractionsNo. 10 – Local costsNo. 13 – Warm-weather activitiesNo. 19 – Safety
In all, Texas metros dominated the top 10. After Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land ranked 6th on the list, and San Antonio-New Braunfels rounded out the top 10 by landing in the No. 9 spot.
Other Texas metros that landed on the list include: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (No. 24), Killeen-Temple (No. 29), Beaumont-Port Arthur (No. 31), Brownsville-Harlingen (No. 35), and Corpus Christi (No. 36).
“When the mercury drops, some Americans welcome the chill while others follow the sun,” the report said. “This year, the winter promises to be a warmer one. The Old Farmer’s Almanac forecasts a temperate and uneventful winter across most of the U.S.”
Meanwhile, WalletHub named Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin as the No. 1 best cold-weather destination for 2025.
For the purpose of the study, warm and cold cities were based on their 50-year average December temperatures. “Cold” weather was determined to be less than or equal to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, while “warm” weather was greater than or equal to 57 degrees.
The top 10 best warm-weather winter destinations in 2025 are:
No. 1 – Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NevadaNo. 2 – San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CaliforniaNo. 3 – Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TexasNo. 4 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TexasNo. 5 – Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, ArizonaNo. 6 – Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TexasNo. 7 – Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FloridaNo. 8 – San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CaliforniaNo. 9 – San Antonio-New Braunfels, TexasNo. 10 – Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California