Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for Road Trips Awards

If you’re planning for a road trip this summer, be sure to stop in these cities on your way.

Nothing says summer quite like a road trip. Whether you’re traveling down the coast, through the plains, or over the mountains, there is a bounty of remarkable sights to see across the United States.

Taking a stop to refill the gas tank, grabbing a bite to eat at a local restaurant, and seeing the unique local sights are all part of the quintessential summer road trip experience. And in each state, there are some cities with particularly novel and exciting opportunities to soak up some of the local history and culture without breaking the bank.

From underrated smaller communities to large metropolises, these are the cities you want to hit on your road trip this summer in 2021.

Selection Process for Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for Road Trips Awards

To determine the best city in each state to visit on a road trip, the research team at Insurify, a site to compare auto insurance quotes, referred to proprietary and publicly available data. They rated cities on hospitality and tourism industry size, historic landmark presence, travel affordability, and driving safety.

Insurify’s data scientists referred to data from the U.S. Census Bureau to identify the number of employees in the hospitality and tourism industry across metropolitan areas. The number of designated historic landmarks by city was derived from the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places, an official list of preserved historic landmarks in America. Cities with a higher proportion of employees in the hospitality and tourism industry and a higher number of historic landmarks received a higher score.

Insurify’s research team determined travel affordability by city based on regional gas prices and meal costs. Regional gas prices were derived from GasBuddy, a travel app that publishes timely data on fuel costs across U.S. cities, and restaurant meal costs were derived from Numbeo. Cities with lower gas prices and meal costs received a higher score.

Insurify’s data scientists referred to their database of over 4 million car insurance applications to determine citywide rates of dangerous driving. In this study, dangerous driving behavior was determined using the proportion of drivers in each city with one or more of the following violations on their record: at-fault accidents, DUIs, and speeding tickets. Cities with a lower share of drivers with these violations received a higher score.

States with insufficient municipal data (Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Vermont) were excluded from the analysis.

Winners of Insurify’s 2021 Best Cities for Road Trips Awards

Alabama: Mobile

Alaska: Anchorage

Arizona: Tucson

Arkansas: Paragould

California: Redding

Colorado: Pueblo

Connecticut: Stamford

Delaware: Wilmington

Florida: Jacksonville

Georgia: La Grange

Hawaii: Honolulu

Idaho: Pocatello

Illinois: Rockford

Indiana: Bloomington

Iowa: Davenport

Kansas: Topeka

Kentucky: Somerset

Louisiana: Lafayette

Maryland: Frederick

Massachusetts: Cambridge

Michigan: Muskegon

Minnesota: Minneapolis

Mississippi: Jackson

Missouri: Florissant

Montana: Billings

Nebraska: Lincoln

Nevada: Reno

New Jersey: Trenton

New Mexico: Albuquerque

New York: The Bronx

North Carolina: Raleigh

Ohio: Columbus

Oklahoma: Tulsa

Oregon: Portland

Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh

Rhode Island: Pawtucket

South Carolina: Orangeburg

South Dakota: Sioux Falls

Tennessee: Knoxville

Texas: Lufkin

Utah: Sandy

Virginia: Arlington

Washington: Kent

West Virginia: Charleston

Wisconsin: Madison

Wyoming: Cheyenne

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please contact insights@insurify.com.