Top travel destinations for Americans in 2025

With summer underway, many Americans are planning their 2025 travels According to YouGov DestinationIndex data, most intend to stay within the country, with Canada and the United Kingdom being the furthest destinations under consideration. Warm-weather states like Florida and California are popular across age groups.

Florida is the only destination to appear in the top two spots across all age groups, and its appeal increases with age — from 6.6% among 18–34-year-olds, to 13.6% for those aged 35–49, and peaking at 15.3% among adults 50 and older. New York is most popular with younger (8.5%) and middle-aged (8.9%) Americans but less so among the oldest group, at 5.5%.

International destinations such as the United Kingdom (5.7%) and Canada (5.5%) are exclusive to the top five for 18–34-year-olds, but those over 50 also claim Canada (6.1%). Las Vegas shows mid-tier appeal, taking spots four and three for the 35–49 group (6.5%) and the 50+ group (6.2%), respectively, but it does not appear among the top destinations for younger Americans.

What makes these destinations appealing?

The radar chart below shows how the top destinations chosen by 35-49-year-old Americans stack up on four key metrics tracked by YouGov DestinationIndex: Impression, Quality, Value, and Satisfaction. Distance from the centre point represents the destination’s score.

Impression measures the net percentage of people who say they have a generally positive impression of a destination, while Quality reflects the proportion who believe a destination represents good (versus poor) overall quality. Value gauges whether people believe a destination offers a lot in return for the price paid. Customer Satisfaction captures whether visitors were satisfied or dissatisfied with their experience.

California and New York lead on three of the four metrics 

Among the top three destinations for 35-49-year-olds, California and New York perform particularly well in terms of overall consumer perception. Both receive the highest Impression score at 32.2 and 32.7, respectively.

When it comes to overall satisfaction with the travel experience, California and New York are nearly tied, scoring 28.1 and 27.3 respectively. These results indicate that travelers are consistently pleased with their visits to these destinations.

Quality scores are not far behind with both these destinations scoring 25.4 and 27.1, suggesting that Americans see both as high-quality destinations.

Florida stands out for value

Where Florida differentiates itself is in value for money. Its Value score of 12.6 is the highest of the three destinations tracked by DestinationIndex. In contrast, New York and California and receive modest scores of 9.3 and 8.3, respectively, suggesting that while these destinations are popular, they are not considered a great deal financially by this age group.

As Americans plan their summer getaways, DestinationIndex reveals not only where they intend to go, but also how they feel about those places. Whether it’s the affordability of Florida, the cultural appeal of New York, or the reliability of California, each destination offers a distinct combination of strengths that influence consumer decision-making.

Methodology: YouGov DestinationIndex tracks consumer perceptions toward travel destinations on a daily basis in 30 countries worldwide. The key metrics discussed in this article are derived from net scores ranging from –100 to +100, calculated as the percentage of positive responses minus the percentage of negative responses.

• Purchase Intent is based on the question: “Of the destinations considered, which are you most likely to visit?”
• Impression is based on: “Overall, of which of the following destinations do you have a generally POSITIVE/NEGATIVE impression?”
• Quality is based on: “Which of the following destinations do you think represents GOOD/POOR quality?”
• Value is based on: “Which of the following destinations do you think represents GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY? By that we don’t mean ‘cheap,’ but that the destinations offer a visitor a lot in return for the price paid. / Now which of the following destinations do you think represents POOR VALUE FOR MONEY? By that, we don’t mean ‘expensive,’ but that the destinations do not offer a visitor much in return for the price paid.”
• Customer Satisfaction is based on: “Of which of the following destinations would you say that you are a SATISFIED/DISSATISFIED visitor?”

Data referenced in this article comes from surveys of adults aged 18 years and above residing in the US between January and June 2025.

Image: Getty Images