If you’re looking to have fun in America, there’s no shortage of ways to do it. Each state offers unique opportunities for people to enjoy themselves.
Answering which state is the “most fun” seems like an impossible task, but the folks at WalletHub attempted to do just that with their latest study. Using their own criteria, WalletHub compared all 50 states and crunched the numbers to arrive at a final set of rankings.
States were evaluated in two main categories: entertainment and recreation and nightlife. Each of those categories included several sub-categories that carried varying degrees of weight.
Overall, there were “26 key indicators of a jolly good time that won’t break the bank.” After the final averages were calculated, California ranked No. 1 overall.
The Golden State takes home the gold
California finished with a final score of 66.89, beating out Florida (63.86) and Nevada (58.17).
“California is the most fun state in 2025, 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,” the WalletHub team noted in its findings. “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’s the least expensive for wine—likely due to the abundance produced locally.”
Overall, California is tied for first nationally in restaurants, movie theaters, performing arts theaters and fitness centers per capita. It also ranks third in personal expenditures on recreational activities per capita and is tops in beach access.
“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’s not too hot to go out),” WalletHub writes.
Florida and Nevada followed California, with Illinois and New York rounding out the top five most fun states.
Don’t take the country roads home
If there is a “most fun” state, that means there has to be a “least fun” one, and according to the WalletHub survey, it is West Virginia.
The Mountain State finished dead last in entertainment and recreation and 40th in nightlife. West Virginia’s overall score of 19.18 was almost two full points lower than Mississippi, the second-least fun state (21.05).
The bottom five was completed by Rhode Island, Delaware and Arkansas.
Sin City still reigns supreme
WalletHub also ranked the most fun cities in America, and Las Vegas is still a cut above the rest.
It’s not just because of all the partying, gambling and concerts, either.
“Las Vegas is the most fun city overall, boasting an extremely large number of attractions and restaurants rated at least 4.5-stars,” WalletHub said. “Some of the venues that are especially prevalent include spas, shopping centers, sports stadiums, festivals and arcades. There are also plenty of things to do for exercise, as Las Vegas has a ton of bowling alleys, basketball courts and hiking trails per capita.”
