Las Vegas tops Fourth of July destinations as hotel rates fall

One of the nation’s favorite holidays is part of a three-day midsummer weekend and Southern Nevada hotel rates for the Fourth of July are running less than they were a year ago.

Personal finance website WalletHub, owned by Evolution Finance Inc., says Las Vegas will be the best place in the country to celebrate Independence Day this year, ranking highest among 100 destinations in four key tourism categories: Fourth of July popularity, average hamburger cost, prevalence of affordable 4.5-plus-star restaurants and legality of fireworks.

“Las Vegas is the best city for Fourth of July celebrations, in part because there’s no shortage of things to do,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “The city ranks first in entertainment and recreational facilities and has the fifth-most party supply stores per capita. In addition, people tend to stay safe after drinking, as the city has one of the lowest shares of fatal crashes due to intoxicated driving.”

Las Vegas ranked ahead of New York; Orlando, Florida; Los Angeles; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; San Francisco; Atlanta; Seattle; and Sacramento, California, as the best places to observe the Fourth of July holiday.

Las Vegas weaknesses

Despite Las Vegas being highly ranked in those four categories, the WalletHub study did show some weaknesses for Las Vegas.

Not surprisingly, Las Vegas ranked 55th in walkability — have you ever tried to make your way on foot to a place on the Strip that looked quite a bit closer than it really was?

The city also ranked 35th for traffic congestion, 36th for the lowest price of three-star hotel rooms and eighth for the average cost of beer and wine.

Even though travel expenses are abnormally high this year because the war in the Mideast has inflated fuel prices, the price at the pump is gradually declining and experts believe it isn’t going to put a damper on next weekend’s visitation outlook.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority isn’t expected to have a visitation estimate until later this week, but the cost of staying at a hotel in the city is down from last year.

Last year, the LVCVA projected 340,000 Independence Day visitors with an anticipated occupancy rate of 93.1 percent. That was off from the 344,000 visitors and 94.4 percent occupancy the city experienced in 2024.

Hotel rates

A survey of room rates listed on Hotels.com indicated the average per-night rate was $143.82 a night for a Friday and Saturday night stay in Las Vegas on July 3-4 compared with $202.75 a night last year. For downtown Las Vegas, rates averaged $94.50 a night this year compared with $114.20 a night last year.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal surveyed room rates Wednesday, checking the rates of 18 downtown properties and 152 hotels overall. Last year, the Review-Journal surveyed 20 downtown properties and 166 overall.

Several Strip hotel properties were offering rooms for under $100 a night. Among them were Circus Circus ($52 a night), The Strat ($78), Excalibur ($83) and Luxor ($88). Downtown Las Vegas as a group is offering several properties under $100 a night, including Golden Gate ($55 a night), Golden Nugget ($62), Downtown Grand ($69) and California ($74).

The usual luxury suspects are offering the most expensive rooms.

On the Strip, the highest-priced rooms were at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas ($473 a night), Wynn and Encore Las Vegas ($450), Palazzo ($442), Bellagio ($385) and The Venetian ($378).

Circa was the priciest downtown hotel at $205 a night and Durango is still getting bang for its buck with a rate of $422 a night.

Fourth of July by the numbers

-$9.4 Billion: Amount Americans plan to spend on Fourth of July food.

-150 Million: Number of hot dogs eaten each Fourth of July.

-$4+ Billion: Amount Americans plan to spend on Fourth of July beer and wine.

-$2.95 Billion: Estimated amount spent on fireworks in 2025 (66% of fireworks injuries occur within a month of July 4).

-$3.9 Million: Value of American flags imported annually.

-72.2 Million: Number of people who travel 50+ miles from home for the Fourth of July.