80% of Americans are planning to take a summer road trip this year, and according to a recent report from WalletHub, we know where they won’t be going. That is every state in New England, except Maine. We’re humbled, but on the bright side, traffic should lighten up?
The WalletHub report assessed all 50 states on 32 various factors pertaining to summer road trip affordability, convenience, amenities, activities and more. These key metrics determined which states outperformed and which are not worth the trip. Then all 50 states were ranked from highest performing (meaning the most exciting and ROI road trips) to the lowest performing road trips where there is a lack of fun and a heightened amount of traffic or literal road bumps.
The 3 key dimensions used for WalletHub expert methodology include: cost, safety, and activities– and these 3 categories branch into 32 unique data points. Examples include gas prices, car rentals, and hotels for cost. Safety assessments looked at factors including interstate congestion, quality of roads, crimes, and car thefts. Lastly, the activities category dove into summer fun such as national parks per capita, number of attractions, scenic byways, miles of shoreline, summer weather, food establishments and more.
Maine proves a solid summer road trip destination with an overall rank of 10 among all 50 states. However, for the other 5 New England states, the news is not so fortunate. Vermont came in at 27, New Hampshire at 34, Massachusetts at a sad 44, Connecticut at and even sadder 49, and Rhode Island ranked as the worst summer road trip destination in America at number 50.
We’re just as appalled as you are! Luckily WalletHub also ranked Mass as the best state in America to raise a family.
The top 10 summer road trip destinations according to the WalletHub report:
- Texas
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Florida
- Wyoming
- Minnesota
- Maine
We still love a New England summer, no matter what the stats say.