Best and Worst States for Summer Road Trips: Where New York Ranks

Summer is in full swing, which means tourist season is officially underway in New York.

About 75% of all Americans plan on going on a road trip this year. Of that number, 33% say they plan to vacation more than 250 miles away from home.

So, which state do Americans plan to visit most?

A new study from Wallethub ranked the best and worst states for a summer road trip, basing their score off a state's number of attractions, natural beauty, and overall cost.

The lowest-performing states were Delaware and Connecticut, which ranked 1st and 2nd worst in America, respectively.

Rhode Island nabbed a third place finish while Vermont and Montanta respectively rounded out the top 5.

On the other end of the list was New York, which officially ranks as the 2nd best state for summer road trips in 2025.

This shouldn't be too much of a surprise considering New York has the nation's best, most beautiful road trip. The Adirondack Trail was praised for offering drivers 188 miles of breathtaking views.

Looking at Wallethub's report, the Empire State ranked highly in safety and overall activities. New York also was found to had some of the most National Historic Landmarks in the country.

Wallethub added the state performed well because it has "an extremely large number of attractions and nightlife activities. It also is at the top of the country when it comes to accommodations and restaurants per capita."

Also boosting New York's score was having a low percentage of uninsured motorists, the third-most proactive driving laws in the country, and had the fourth-lowest rate of people using phones while driving.

Minnesota claimed the top spot in the national ranking while Ohio rounded out the top 3.

Last year, Wallethub ranked New York third best overall. So, we've improved in our standings!

New York remains one of the most-visited states in the summer.  The good news is, more and more tourists are exploring outside of New York City and visiting Upstate.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced last year that tourists dropped a a jaw-dropping $5.1 billion in Central New York, which amounted to about 20% of all the tourist money spent in New York State.

Of that amount, $3.7 billion of it was spent in Oneida County.

While New York is expecting a tourism boom, residents here are also planning fabulous staycations this year.

Here's a list of the state's best attractions.

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