How Far Do Americans Plan to Travel This Holiday Season?

Most Americans will stay close to home this holiday season, but Christmas trips are set to stretch farther than Thanksgiving, according to a new survey from travel site Upgraded Points. The September 2025 poll of 2,370 U.S. adults, balanced by state and gender, examined plans between Thanksgiving and New Year’s 2025.

“Holiday travel is always a struggle between logistics and emotion,” said Keri Stooksbury, editor-in-chief at Upgraded Points. “With such long distances to cover, travelers are currently juggling budgets and schedules while also trying to preserve traditions that matter. Our latest insights can help people plan smarter – from choosing the best travel days to deciding whether to drive, fly, or stay home – so that the season feels less frantic and more festive.”

Home remains the default: 56% of Americans typically celebrate at home, 34% travel to someone else’s, and 9% opt for a vacation spot. Distance varies by holiday. Thanksgiving skews shorter, with 28% traveling 50 miles or more. Christmas travel stretches farther: 34% plan to go 50+ miles, and roughly 1 in 10 expect to cover 500+ miles.

The likelihood of traveling also differs by state. Residents in Ohio, Connecticut and Texas are among the most likely to hit the road. On the other end, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii have the highest shares of people planning to stay home. Additional high-travel states include Iowa and Washington, while Missouri and Oklahoma rank high for staying put.

Upgraded Points notes that cost, work commitments and family expectations are reshaping when and how people move during the holidays. The study calculated state-level shares from localized responses, with all percentages rounded to the nearest tenth.

For travelers weighing whether to drive, fly, or celebrate locally, these findings offer a reality check on how far Americans are going—and when longer trips are most likely.