Best, Worst U.S. Cities for Layovers

Don’t let a long layover damper your family travel plans. Pick a location where you can explore a city before heading to your final destination. Lawn care service provider Lawn Love recently conducted a study on the best and worst U.S. cities to spend a long layover.

Lawn Love analyzed 130 U.S. cities across 19 key metrics, including share of delayed and canceled flights, average departure delay time, easily navigable cities and attractions in the city.

The best U.S. cities for a long layover are:

1. New York City, New York
2. Chicago, Illinois
3. Los Angeles, California
4. Houston, Texas
5. Miami, Florida
6. Las Vegas, Nevada
7. Dallas, Texas
8. Boston, Massachusetts
9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10. (TIE) Orlando, Florida, and San Francisco, California

The worst U.S. cities for a long layover are:

1. Hilo, Hawai’i
2. Kailua Kona, Hawai’i
3. Kahului, Hawai’i
4. Anchorage, Alaska
5. Fairbanks, Alaska
6. Lihue, Hawai’i
7. Kalispell, Montana
8. Billings, Montana
9. Chattanooga, Tennessee
10. Spokane, Washington

New York City has a high rate of departure delays and numerous tourist attractions, placing it in the top spot of best cities. Chicago and Los Angeles take the second and third spots, also for high delay rates and number of tourist attractions.

Hawai’i ranked high on the worst cities list due to its timely flight rankings. Travelers are unlikely to have long layovers in these cities. Alaska also ranked in the top 10, as it isn’t easy to get around in those cities from the airport.

For a full list and more information about methodology, visit the website.