The San Antonio area is the second-best U.S. metro for celebrating Día de los Muertos, according to a new study by relocation consulting company moveBuddha.
With the Day of the Dead fast approaching, researchers used data to rank the country’s 100 biggest metros on how big a deal they make of the annual celebration.
In addition to being ranked based on their number of public Día de los Muertos events, metros were analyzed for the size of their Hispanic and Latino populations, number of at-home Spanish speakers, number of cemeteries and number historical Hispanic buildings. Researchers then aggregated the stats into separate Culture, Muertos and Festivity categories and assigned each metro a score of one to 10.
San Antonio came in second place overall. Its score of 9.3 put it right behind Los Angeles. The Alamo City tied with Los Angeles for most public Día de los Muertos events, scoring a 10 in the Festivities category.
The study cites Hemisfair’s Muertos Fest and the Day of the Dead celebration in La Villita as notable Día de los Muertos events.
“San Antonio is tops in Día de Los Muertos festivities, tying with Los Angeles, meaning there are plenty of ways to celebrate the dead,” the study noted.
El Paso led the pack in Culture, with 83% of its population being Hispanic or Latino and 65% speaking Spanish at home, according to the analysis. El Paso ranked No. 4 overall, scoring an 8.6, just ahead of San Francisco’s 8.3.
Seven of the list’s 10 top metros were either in Texas or California, not surprising given the large Hispanic and Latino populations in both places. The remaining three were in New Mexico and Arizona.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, scored a 10 in the Muertos category, leading the nation in cemeteries and historical Hispanic buildings. It ranked No. 3 overall with a 9.2 score. Phoenix and Tucson, both in Arizona, came in at seventh and eighth place respectively.
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This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.