U.S. Staycation Statistics - Radical Storage Travel Guide

As people look for ways to save money and explore destinations closer to home, we wanted to find out whether people prefer a local staycation over an international vacation.

We surveyed 1,426 adults in the U.S. to analyze staycation plans for 2026 as well as understand what differs between those taking time off at home compared to those leaving the U.S. for their vacation.

Table of Contents

Key stats
Most Americans had staycations over vacations
What people consider most important on a staycation
Are staycations expected to grow in popularity?
Visiting local tourist attractions in the U.S.

Key stats

92% of respondents spend more of their annual vacation days on staycations within the U.S., compared with 8% who spend more time abroad.
96% say the cost of living has reduced how much they travel in the past 12 months.
47.3% choose staycations primarily because of cost, making it the leading reason people stay in the U.S. rather than travel abroad.
The most popular staycation types are beach trips (32.6%), cabin breaks (31.2%), and cruises (28.8%).
New York is the most visited staycation destination, with 22.8% having travelled there.
Yellowstone National Park is the top U.S. bucket-list landmark, selected by 19.5% of respondents.

Most Americans had staycations over vacations

We asked people whether they typically go on staycations within the U.S., or on international vacations in other countries. Most respondents spent more of their annual vacation days on staycations within the U.S., with 92% reporting they allocate more of their time to domestic trips and only 8% spending more days on international vacations. This could be related to cost, with 96% of respondents also saying that the cost of living has resulted in less travel in the past 12 months, despite an unsurprising majority (98%) wanting to travel more if they could.

Data shows that roughly 56% of Americans have a passport, indicating that most people who purchase one are using it, while it may be true that many don’t see the need for one.[1]

Of those who said they most often go on staycations, over half (56%) said they have been on a staycation in the last 12 months.

Despite this, many still venture further, on international vacations. When it comes to international vacations, 64% said they vacation abroad, and 89% of those who have vacationed abroad did so in the past 12 months.

How many Americans take staycations?

One survey found that 67% of Americans are either planning to take a staycation or have already taken one. When applying this to the total population of the U.S., this adds up to around 173 million people.[2]

Do Americans think staycations are better than vacations?

Interestingly, more than one-third (39%) of respondents preferred a staycation to an international vacation, while 31% said international vacations are better, and 30% had no preference either way.

Are staycations more affordable than vacations?

It’s likely that many who prefer staycations are doing so because of cost, with 47.3% of those saying it’s the main reason they choose to stay in the U.S. rather than travel abroad.

On the other hand, 80.5% of those who vacation abroad more frequently see international vacations as more affordable. This could suggest that both groups are more inclined to choose the type of vacation that they consider the most affordable, and perceptions of value will differ.

Average spend for staycationers

Of those who most often take a staycation, the average amount they spend per person is $928.11. Around a fifth (21.8%) of this group said they spend between $551 and $700 per person on a trip and 3.5% say they spend less than $100 per person, while 7.4% say they spend over $2,000 per person for a staycation.

Beach trips are most popular for staycations

Staycationers most commonly head to the beach for a domestic trip, with 32.6% choosing the beach as one of their top destinations. This was followed by cabin breaks at 31.2%, and cruise breaks at 28.8%.

Other trips people like to take in the U.S. include visiting national parks (28.2%), theme parks (28.1%), and city breaks. (27.1%).

What people consider most important on a staycation

We wanted to find out which things people feel are most important to them when planning a staycation in the U.S.

Relaxation was one of the most important factors of a staycation for more than a third (33.4%) of people. Next on the list was family time (31.8%), followed by fun and entertainment (31%).

Which aspects of a vacation are better at home than abroad?

People who prefer staycations think that most aspects of a vacation are better at home in the U.S. with these people saying they thought the food, people, and weather were all better at home than abroad. However, over half (52.3%) thought that the culture was better when they visited an international country.

	Better at home (U.S.)	Better abroad (International)
Food	70.0%	30.0%
People	55.4%	44.6%
Culture	47.7%	52.3%
Weather	55.1%	44.9%

Are staycations expected to grow in popularity?

The global staycation market is expected to hit $410.3 million (USD) by the end of 2025, and is projected to reach $943.7 million (USD) by 2035. This is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%, demonstrating that the popularity of staycations around the world is set to keep growing.[3]

Visiting local tourist attractions in the U.S.

Almost all of the people we surveyed (99.5%) said they had visited at least one of the major tourist attractions in their own state. We wanted to find out which destinations and iconic landmarks were most popular with Americans.

New York is the most popular U.S. staycation destination

22.8% of people surveyed said that they had visited New York for a staycation. Next on the list is Las Vegas, with almost a quarter (19.2%) of people having visited the famous casino capital, followed by Washington (17.2%).

The most commonly visited iconic landmark in New York is the Empire State Building at 27.3%, followed closely by the Statue of Liberty at 27% and Times Square at 26.9%.

Yellowstone National Park is the top bucket list destination for Americans

Yellowstone National Park now tops America’s bucket lists, with 19.5% of respondents saying it’s the landmark they most want to visit. Close behind is the Statue of Liberty at 18.4%, followed by the Grand Canyon at 18.3%.

What are the most visited landmarks in the U.S.?

We asked respondents which landmarks they had visited within each of the top 10 most-visited U.S. states, and several attractions stood out as the most-visited within their own states. Disney World in Florida was the top pick among Florida visitors (41%), while Disneyland led among those who had travelled to California (41.6%).

The Las Vegas Strip was the most-visited attraction among Nevada visitors (38.9%), and the Golden Gate Bridge ranked highly in California too (40.9%). These figures show which landmarks dominate tourism within their states, rather than indicating a national ranking.

Survey methodology

We surveyed 1,461 American adults in 2025, asking questions about staycations, international vacations, travel preferences, spending, and the most commonly visited destinations and landmarks across the U.S.

The survey included both single-choice and multiple-choice questions, with some state-specific landmark questions only shown to respondents who had visited that state.

This update also retains a small number of insights from our 2023 survey of 2,069 American adults, which remain relevant.