Pittsburgh ranks as 4th best city to celebrate Christmas

Merry Christmas, Pittsburgh.

You’re apparently a stellar Yuletide spot.

WalletHub evaluated the county’s 100 biggest cities in 33 key metrics and dropped Pittsburgh in the No. 4 slot, one notch better than we ranked last year.

The site’s annual Best Places for Christmas Celebrations looked at things like traditions, observance, generosity, shopping and costs.

Atlanta moved into the No. 1 position in 2019, after placing fourth last year. (Maybe that bodes well for the Steel City in 2020.) Orlando came in second, followed by New York. Chicago placed fifth. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland rounded out the Top 10.

Pittsburgh placed highest in observance, coming in as the second best city for it — ranking high for its share of Christian population and churches per capita. New York was tops in the category.

When it comes to most toy stores and hobby shops per capita, Pittsburgh placed fifth, with Las Vegas and Orlando tying for the top spot.

Pittsburgh also ranked as the seventh most generous city and the fifth best when it comes to shopping.

As for neighboring cities, Cincinnati landed in the No. 19 spot, Philadelphia came in at 21, Baltimore at 30, Buffalo at 32, and Cleveland at 45.

WalletHub, a personal finance website, says the average American will spend about $1,047.83 on Christmas this year. As a whole, the National Retail Federation says we are set to spend up to $730 billion over the holidays.