Employees in These Cities to Take the Most Vacation Days This Summer

May 21, 2019 by Douglas A. McIntyre

With Memorial Day coming at the end of this week, and the official start of summer a month away, American workers have begun to make vacation plans, if they have not done so already. The number of vacation days that people plan to take varies from city to city. Where they plan to go also varies widely.

A new study from Accountemps found that 58% of workers surveyed save their vacation time for June, July and August. The survey shows that the average number of days the respondents plan to take is 10. People in San Francisco plan to take the most a 13. Miami and New York follow San Francisco at 12 days of vacation each.

The study included responses from 2,800 workers over the age of 18 who work in “office environments.” Presumably, this does not include people who work remotely or from home, which currently makes up about 5% of the workforce.

In terms of the percentage of workers who are saving some number of days for vacation, Los Angeles ranks first at 74%. Detroit and New York follow at 71% each. Miami rounds out the first four at 69%.

Leading the cities where the fewest people will put aside time for summer vacation are Phoenix at 44%, Tampa at 46% and Nashville at 48%. Notably, this may not be because any of the three cities get unusually hot in the summer, and people want to leave. None of the three is among the hottest cities in each state.

The number of vacation days that people plan to take this summer varies considerably. Thirty-one percent plan to take one to five days, followed by 29% who plan to take six to 10 days. Sixteen percent plan to take seven to 10 days, followed by people who plan to take the longest number of days. That is, 9% with 21 days or longer. The lowest number, 6%, plan to take 16 to 20 days. Eight percent plan to take no time at all.

What kinds of workers are most likely to take a vacation or spend the most time away from work? The new study does not say. However, the industry people work in could have an effect. San Francisco is among the 15 U.S. cities with the most high-tech jobs.