San Antonio might have a bone to pick with personal finance site FinanceBuzz after the release of its latest report. In late June, it ranked Alamo City the sixth most boring city in America.
To reach its conclusion, FinanceBuzz crunched data from 75 of the biggest cities in the U.S., considering the culinary scene, outdoor activities, and event schedules. Only one other Texas city made the ignominious list, No. 3 Corpus Christi.
“What makes a city boring?” wrote study author Josh Koebert. “While most urban cores have their own brand of charm, some fall flatter than others when it comes to culture, nightlife, and things to do.”
The report acknowledged San Antonio’s wealth of tourist attractions, but said the city ranked in the bottom 10 of several per capita data points, including nightclubs, annual celebrations and events, and concert venues.
San Antonio rarely comes up a winner when only raw statistics are considered. British gambling company Betway left us off a May ranking of the coolest cities in America, a list that considered factors like the number of tattoo parlors, street art murals, and vegan/vegetarian restaurants.
For the record, we think it’s all hogwash. Yes, major concerts like Shakira’s latest show are few and far between, and perhaps locals don’t spend late nights ordering bottle service at luxe discotheques, but is waiting for Tiësto’s next beat drop really all that exciting?
Does Bar Loretta look boring to you?Bar Loretta/ Facebook
FinanceBuzz noted that “hip, trendy, and award-winning local restaurants are more appealing to foodies than chain restaurants,” of which San Antonio has more than its fair share. But the city also has the Michelin-starred Mixtli, several entries on Texas Monthly’s top 50 barbecue list, and plenty of places that double as restaurants and nightlife hubs, like Pumpers, Gimme Gimme, and Bar Loretta.
If the website is looking for local celebrations, maybe it could consider Fiesta or Día de los Muertos — or really any weekend when locals feel like letting loose. San Antonio also has a monthly tradition of First Friday art walks in Southtown and a vibrant underground scene.
The study also assumes that youth automatically makes a city more exciting, saying, “cities that are more laid-back and slower-paced appeal to older Americans.” The authors have obviously never been to one of Alamo City’s many backyard pachangas or crawfish boils, where grandparents unfailingly bring the party quicker than their younger kin.
Longtime locals have a sense of humor about its supposedly boring culture. In the mid-2010s, “Keep San Antonio Lame” became a cheeky rallying cry for a city grappling with an influx of new development. As late CultureMap columnist Ken Hoffman noted in 2024, such studies are silly and have little relation to what’s happening on the ground.
And at least one group of critics keeps finding reasons to play in San Antonio — the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. Alamo City was voted the publication’s 12th best U.S. travel destination, a designation that placed it in the World’s Best Awards Hall of Fame for winning for 10 consecutive years.
Maybe FinanceBuzz needs to put down the calculator and actually pay San Antonio a visit.
FinanceBuzz’s top 10 most boring cities in the U.S. are as follows:
- No. 1 — Jacksonville, Florida
- No. 2 — Wichita, Kansas
- No. 3. — Corpus Christi, Texas
- No. 4 — Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- No. 5 — Memphis, Tennessee
- No. 6 — San Antonio, Texas
- No. 7 — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- No. 8 — Columbus, Ohio
- No. 9 — Tallahassee, Florida
- No. 10 — Phoenix, Arizona