In 2015, my daughter and I had the opportunity to visit Ireland.
We had heard from a woman who shares the same Irish ancestors about research she’d done. She told us our ancestor, Henry Baylee, had lived in Kilkishen, County Clare.
Ireland is wonderful. When we flew into Dublin, it felt like I was coming home. It’s very green, just like the Seattle area where I live. The weather is similar – lots of rain.
Having visited Ireland makes celebrating St. Patrick’s Day here even more fun.
Where are the best places in the United States to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year?
To identify the top places to celebrate, WalletHub, a personal finance, analyzed 200 of the nation’s largest cities across 15 key metrics, including the number of Irish pubs and restaurants per capita, the lowest available rate for a three-star hotel on St. Patrick’s Day, and the forecasted weather. Here are its findings:
| Top 20 cities for St. Patrick’s Day | |
| 1. Boston | 11. Chicago |
| 2. Reno | 12. Madison, Wis. |
| 3. Savannah | 13. Las Vegas |
| 4. Overland Park, Kan. | 14. San Francisco |
| 5. Henderson, Nev. | 15. Santa Rosa, Calif. |
| 6. Omaha | 16. Pittsburgh |
| 7. New York | 17. Springfield, Mo. |
| 8. St. Paul, Minn. | 18. Providence, R.I. |
| 9. Worcester, Ma. | 19. Amarillo, Texas |
| 10. Buffalo, N.Y. | 20. Minneapolis, Minn. |
In its report, WalletHub said Naperville, Ill., has the highest share of Irish population, which is 48 times greater than in Hialeah, Fla., the city with the lowest.
On parades, Boston, the best city for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day 2026, is known for its huge parade, which brings about a million visitors per year. It dates back to 1724, before the U.S. was an independent country.
In Reno, the second-best city for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this year, the Reno Leprechaun Crawl, a downtown bar crawl features themed events and drink deals, and the Annual Leprechaun Race 5K, a race where runners dress in their best St. Paddy’s garb, are some of its highlights.
Savannah, the third-best city for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in 2026, gets about a half a million visitors during the holiday who come to experience traditions such as the parade, the seventh-oldest in the country, and the Celtic Cross Ceremony.
“St. Patrick’s Day works in America because it is rooted in immigration history but has evolved into something universal,” Andrew Burnstine, Ph.D., associate professor at the College of Business and Management at Lynn University, said.
Burnstine said the holiday endures because it is inclusive, adding it’s the one day when identity expands rather than divides – everyone gets to feel a little Irish.
With more than $7 billion expected to be spent on St. Patrick’s Day this year, it’s going to be quite a celebration. More than 31.6 million people in the U.S. claim Irish ancestry – that’s nearly six times the population of Ireland.
