Most popular vacation states in the US

Nope folks, it isn’t Hawaii, and it isn’t the lands of fruits of nuts – California, but it is just as tropical.

New research has revealed that Florida is the most popular state for a vacation. The Sunshine State receives, on average, 155,110 searches from vacation-goers every single month. In addition to visitors from other states, more than 10 million overseas tourists visit the state annually.

A study by vacation rental marketplace FloridaRentals.com analyzed Google searches for each state on vacation packages, rentals, and spots to see which states were most popular for a vacation.

Hawaii comes in second place on the list, with average monthly searches for vacations in the state sitting at 125,590. A 2019 study from the Hawaii Tourism Authority found that tourist spending in the state brought in more than $17 billion a year, supporting more than 216,000 jobs.

The state with the next highest number of searches is California, with 30,680 on average every month, giving it the third-place position. Visitation to the state is constantly increasing over the past few years, up 22% in 2022 and predicted to increase by 8% in 2023.

Colorado takes fourth place on the list, with 29,840 average vacation searches every month for the Centennial State. A study from the Colorado Tourism Office found that tourism saves every Colorado household $670 annually in taxes based on the $1.5 billion in state and local taxes paid annually by visitors.

Rounding out the top five is Maine, which receives more than 28,260 searches a month from vacation-goers. A lot of Maine’s visitation comes from Canada; in 2019, Canada accounted for 5.4 million visitors.

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for FloridaRentals said: “It’s interesting to see the huge difference in popularity and search volumes between Florida, Hawaii, and other states on the list. The sheer demand for vacations in these states may even influence vacation-goers to branch out and look elsewhere for their plans in 2023.”

This study was conducted by FloridaRentals.com, which offers Florida vacation homes with no service or booking fees in the most popular locations in the Sunshine State.