The best place to party in Texas is not in North Texas, according to this list
Looking to party in Texas? Forget Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio or Dallas. El Paso is the best party city in Texas, according to a new ranking from a casino review website.
Bonus Finder, a Finland-based casino review portal, released in March its ranking of “The Best Party Cities in the US for 2025.” It had some interesting data about the party scene in Texas.
“We tend to think that the best parties are held in the biggest cities in the world. However, when comparing more than 170 US cities in 14 different categories, ranging from the number of nightclubs and top casinos to the average price for a drink and a night in a hotel, our research found that this is not always the case,” according to the list.
While Fort Worth or Dallas don’t top the list, they still ranked — even though they came in lower than some other North Texas cities. Here’s what Bonus Finder found.
What are Bonus Finder’s top party cities in Texas?
Texas pops up on the list 11 times because of the state’s affordability when it comes to partying.
A few things to note:
When Bonus Finder refers to a “nightlife ranking,” it is using Niche’s nightlife score that they have assigned to every city based on U.S. Census Bureau data, reviews, professional analysis and Niche user insights.
Ranking high for prices means that the city offers affordable prices for those categories.
The safety index is sourced from Numbeo, a crowd-sourced database that measures cost of living numbers
Here are the Texas cities that made Bonus Finder’s Best Party Cities 2025:
No. 42 El Paso: ranked high for nightlife rating (9/10), average hotel room price and average drink price.
No. 58 Frisco: ranked high for nightlife rating (8.5/10), hotel room prices, average price of a meal in a fast food restaurant and safety index.
No. 64 Plano: ranked high for nightlife rating (9.5/10), hotel room prices, average price of a meal in a fast food restaurant and safety index.
No. 78 Arlington: ranked high for nightlife (8.5/10), price for drinks, hotel room prices and fast food restaurant prices.
No. 87 Austin: ranked high for nightlife (9.5/10), price for hotel and price for fast food restaurants.
No. 98 Corpus Christi: ranked high for nightlife (9/10), drink prices, hotel prices and fast food restaurant prices.
No. 105 Fort Worth: ranked high for nightlife (8.5/10), drink prices, hotel prices and fast food prices.
No. 108 San Antonio: ranked high for nightlife (9/5/10), drink prices and hotel room prices.
No. 128 Dallas: ranked high for nightlife (9.5/10) and hotel room prices.
No. 131 Houston: ranked high for nightlife (9/10), hotel prices and fast food restaurant prices.
No. 144 Lubbock: ranked high for nightlife (9/10) and hotel room prices.
How did Bonus Finder come up with its rankings?
To determine the best party cities in the United States, Bonus Finder said it analyzed each city based on 14 key factors, including:
Number of late-night food venues per 10,000 people
Number of hotels
Number of casinos and cardrooms
Time of last call at the bar
Average number of parties on a special weekend (sourced from Facebook events labeled “‘New Year’s,” “St. Patrick’s Day” and “Spring Break”)
Average number of concerts on a regular weekend
Average number of festivals
Average price of a meal at a fast food restaurant
Safety index
Each city was given a normalized score out of 10 on each factor before getting an average total normalized score to reach the final overall score out of 10, Bonus Finder said. Sources for data included the U.S. Census Bureau, Ticketmaster, Tripadvisor and Music Festival Wizard.