15 Most Glamorous Cities in the U.S.

Wealthy businesswoman in New York City
Nick Starichenko / Shutterstock.com

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.

Many of us dream of a “Real Housewives” lifestyle: the mansion, the Bentley, the Rolex, the country club membership — minus the drama.

But which U.S. cities serve up ritz and glitz versus Ritz crackers and grits?

Ahead of New York Fashion Week, LawnStarter ranked 2023’s Most Glamorous Cities.

We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on six categories broken down into 39 glam factors. They include metrics like the share of million-dollar homes, access to Michelin-starred restaurants, and the number of exclusive yacht clubs.

Does your city have the “It” factor? Find out in our ranking below, followed by some highlights and lowlights.

1. New York, NY

New York City coastline
IM_photo / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 69.89
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 1
  • Clubs Rank: 1
  • Fine Dining Rank: 1
  • Beauty Rank: 61
  • Fashion Rank: 1
  • Entertainment Rank: 1

2. Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles
ESB Professional / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 41.66
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 3
  • Clubs Rank: 2
  • Fine Dining Rank: 6
  • Beauty Rank: 54
  • Fashion Rank: 2
  • Entertainment Rank: 2

3. San Francisco, CA

San Francisco, California
IM_photo / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 34.76
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 7
  • Clubs Rank: 4
  • Fine Dining Rank: 2
  • Beauty Rank: 66
  • Fashion Rank: 9
  • Entertainment Rank: 6

4. Miami, FL

Miami, Florida
littleny / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 34.52
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 6
  • Clubs Rank: 78
  • Fine Dining Rank: 4
  • Beauty Rank: 1
  • Fashion Rank: 4
  • Entertainment Rank: 5

5. Chicago, IL

DuSable bridge at twilight, Chicago.
Oleg Podzorov / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 29.4
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 22
  • Clubs Rank: 8
  • Fine Dining Rank: 3
  • Beauty Rank: 77
  • Fashion Rank: 3
  • Entertainment Rank: 7

6. Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas by night, with mountains
egd / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 27.52
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 29
  • Clubs Rank: 51
  • Fine Dining Rank: 15
  • Beauty Rank: 2
  • Fashion Rank: 5
  • Entertainment Rank: 3

7. Houston, TX

Houston, Texas
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 26.66
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 12
  • Clubs Rank: 5
  • Fine Dining Rank: 39
  • Beauty Rank: 83
  • Fashion Rank: 11
  • Entertainment Rank: 4

8. Atlanta, GA

Atlanta, Georgia
f11 photo / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 25.63
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 2
  • Clubs Rank: 21
  • Fine Dining Rank: 16
  • Beauty Rank: 39
  • Fashion Rank: 16
  • Entertainment Rank: 9

9. Dallas, TX

Dallas, Texas
Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 24.27
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 8
  • Clubs Rank: 7
  • Fine Dining Rank: 51
  • Beauty Rank: 58
  • Fashion Rank: 12
  • Entertainment Rank: 11

10. Washington, D.C.

Washington D.C.
f11photo / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 21.65
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 5
  • Clubs Rank: 40
  • Fine Dining Rank: 5
  • Beauty Rank: 125
  • Fashion Rank: 19
  • Entertainment Rank: 28

11. Seattle, WA

Seattle, Washington
dibrova / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 21.1
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 14
  • Clubs Rank: 19
  • Fine Dining Rank: 7
  • Beauty Rank: 137
  • Fashion Rank: 26
  • Entertainment Rank: 15

12. Orlando, FL

Orlando skyline
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 20.16
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 31
  • Clubs Rank: 26
  • Fine Dining Rank: 24
  • Beauty Rank: 3
  • Fashion Rank: 17
  • Entertainment Rank: 10

13. Scottsdale, AZ

Scottsdale, Arizona
BCFC / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 19.56
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 15
  • Clubs Rank: 22
  • Fine Dining Rank: 76
  • Beauty Rank: 12
  • Fashion Rank: 18
  • Entertainment Rank: 24

14. Portland, OR

Aerial view of Portland with Mount Hood in the background.
josemaria-toscano / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 19.31
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 23
  • Clubs Rank: 11
  • Fine Dining Rank: 11
  • Beauty Rank: 67
  • Fashion Rank: 23
  • Entertainment Rank: 13

15. Fort Lauderdale, FL

Florida
GagliardiImages / Shutterstock.com
  • Overall Score: 19.12
  • Status and Wealth Rank: 20
  • Clubs Rank: 13
  • Fine Dining Rank: 25
  • Beauty Rank: 6
  • Fashion Rank: 34
  • Entertainment Rank: 65

Methodology

A man studies financial data at his computer
NicoElNino / Shutterstock.com

For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below.

We then grouped those factors into six categories: Status and Wealth, Clubs, Fine Dining, Beauty, Fashion, and Entertainment.

Next, we calculated weighted scores for each city in each category.

Finally, we averaged the scores for each city across all categories.

The city that earned the highest average score was ranked “Best” (No. 1).

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