This city is Alabama’s best party destination, study says

This city is Alabama’s best party destination, study says

Looking for a good time — a cocktail at a reasonable price, bars that stay open late, hotels that don’t require taking out a 401K loan? We’ve got just the place.

And it isn’t Alamogordo, New Mexico.

No, according to a recent study, the best “party city” in the U.S. is Atlantic City, N.J. — but an Alabama city isn’t too far behind.

BonusFinder.com, a website with a focus on casinos, collected data on more than 100 U.S. cities across 11 different categories, including bars, music events, cost of hotel rooms, average drink price and more. The number of bars, hotels, nightclubs, casinos, strip clubs and late night food venues were calculated per 10,000 residents.

Unsurprisingly, nine Florida cities made their way into the top 50, including the usual suspects Miami Beach, Key West and Miami. New Orleans, Atlanta and Baton Rouge all made the top 20, as well.

But the city at #16 might be a surprise: Mobile, Alabama. The Port City got high marks for average drink prices and average price of hotel rooms, as well as “last call at the bar” — reflective of how late bars stay open.

On a 10-point scale, Mobile graded out at 7.4, just behind Newark, N.J., but just ahead of Tampa, Fla. (Note: each city started with a score of 5.0 in each category).

Here’s how Mobile scored across the 11 categories:

  • Music events: 5.05
  • Bars: 5.06
  • Hotels: 5.32
  • Nightclubs: 5.11
  • Average price of a drink: 8.82
  • Average price of a hotel room: 9.45
  • Casinos: 5.00
  • Late night food venues: 5.14
  • Strip clubs: 5.36
  • Average cost of a ride from the airport to city center: 7.54
  • Last call at the bar: 10

Mobile wasn’t the only Alabama city to make the top 100. Birmingham placed 41st on the list, with an overall score of 6.9, just behind Tulsa, Okla., and just ahead of Flagstaff, Ariz.

Like Mobile, Birmingham scored well for average drink price and average hotel room cost, but fared less well for last call. Here’s how Birmingham scored across the 11 categories:

  • Music events: 6.9
  • Bars: 5.21
  • Hotels: 5.38
  • Nightclubs: 5.06
  • Average price of a drink: 7.46
  • Average price of a hotel room: 9.8
  • Casinos: 5.0
  • Late night food venues: 5.3
  • Strip clubs: 5.4
  • Average cost of a ride from airport to city center: 9.41
  • Last call at bar: 6.0

As noted, Atlantic City took the top spot as the best party city, followed by Miami Beach. The rest of the top 10: Hoboken, N.J.; Key West, Fla.; Miami, Fla.; Las Vegas, N.V.; Baton Rouge, La.; New Orleans, La.; Reno, Nev.; Shreveport, La.

One other fun fact: Coming in dead last, at #101, was New York City.