Counties That Traveled the Most During Thanksgiving

With the coronavirus pandemic worsening in the United States, many governmental and health authorities have advised against traveling during the holidays to reduce the spread of the virus. In this analysis, AdvisorSmith examined anonymized data from mobile devices to determine the U.S. counties and states where residents took the most trips over the Thanksgiving holiday.

AdvisorSmith considered trips that were at least 100 miles or longer. We counted the average number of trips on a population-adjusted basis to find the U.S. counties where the most number of people traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday. All trips taken between November 20, 2020, and November 29, 2020, were included in our analysis. On average nationwide, there were 0.033 trips taken per person per day over Thanksgiving week. 

Large Counties With the Most Thanksgiving Travel

Among large counties with over 100,000 residents, the average number of trips per person per day taken over Thanksgiving week was 0.035. Texas had the most large counties with residents who took the most trips, with 7 of the top 50 counties, followed by Georgia with 6 counties, and California with 5 counties.

Rank	County	State	Trips Per Capita
1	Webb County	TX	0.101
2	Coconino County	AZ	0.086
3	Woodbury County	IA	0.083
4	Lowndes County	GA	0.083
5	Houston County	GA	0.076
6	Navajo County	AZ	0.075
7	Washington County	UT	0.073
8	Midland County	TX	0.072
9	San Juan County	NM	0.072
10	La Crosse County	WI	0.070
11	Douglas County	GA	0.069
12	St. Lawrence County	NY	0.069
13	Shasta County	CA	0.066
14	Boone County	MO	0.063
15	Tom Green County	TX	0.061
16	Lexington County	SC	0.061
17	Clayton County	GA	0.060
18	Winnebago County	WI	0.059
19	Minnehaha County	SD	0.059
20	Imperial County	CA	0.059
21	Doña Ana County	NM	0.059
22	Deschutes County	OR	0.058
23	Lackawanna County	PA	0.058
24	Madera County	CA	0.057
25	Robeson County	NC	0.057
26	Brown County	WI	0.056
27	Yakima County	WA	0.056
28	Smith County	TX	0.056
29	Greene County	MO	0.056
30	Kern County	CA	0.056
31	Onondaga County	NY	0.056
32	Elkhart County	IN	0.056
33	Ector County	TX	0.055
34	DeSoto County	MS	0.055
35	Jefferson County	NY	0.055
36	Randall County	TX	0.054
37	Mohave County	AZ	0.054
38	Bibb County	GA	0.054
39	Hamilton County	TN	0.054
40	Cumberland County	PA	0.053
41	Blount County	TN	0.052
42	Shelby County	TN	0.052
43	Columbia County	GA	0.052
44	Oswego County	NY	0.052
45	El Paso County	TX	0.051
46	Pitt County	NC	0.051
47	Washington County	MD	0.051
48	Hanover County	VA	0.051
49	Lycoming County	PA	0.051
50	Fresno County	CA	0.051

Midsize Counties With the Most Thanksgiving Travel

The average number of trips in midsize counties was 0.047 over Thanksgiving week. Wisconsin had the highest number of midsize counties whose residents traveled the most, with 7 of the top 50, followed by Georgia with 6, and, Missouri and New Mexico with 5 each.

Rank	County	State	Trips Per Capita
1	Sunflower County	MS	0.108
2	Howell County	MO	0.107
3	Adair County	MO	0.107
4	Maverick County	TX	0.107
5	Texas County	MO	0.101
6	McKinley County	NM	0.099
7	Ford County	KS	0.099
8	Copiah County	MS	0.097
9	Leflore County	MS	0.096
10	Monroe County	WI	0.096
11	Lea County	NM	0.095
12	Chatham County	NC	0.095
13	Ellis County	KS	0.094
14	Sanpete County	UT	0.093
15	Lincoln County	WI	0.093
16	Amherst County	VA	0.092
17	Adams County	MS	0.092
18	Gladwin County	MI	0.091
19	Webster County	MO	0.091
20	Laurens County	GA	0.091
21	Curry County	NM	0.090
22	Baker County	FL	0.087
23	Otero County	NM	0.087
24	Jones County	GA	0.086
25	Iron County	UT	0.085
26	Douglas County	MN	0.085
27	Marlboro County	SC	0.084
28	Eddy County	NM	0.083
29	Buffalo County	NE	0.082
30	Coffee County	GA	0.082
31	Finney County	KS	0.082
32	Lyon County	MN	0.082
33	Sullivan County	NY	0.081
34	Lyon County	KS	0.081
35	Vernon County	WI	0.081
36	Elko County	NV	0.081
37	Dickinson County	MI	0.080
38	Tift County	GA	0.080
39	LaGrange County	IN	0.080
40	Oconto County	WI	0.080
41	Stone County	MO	0.079
42	Columbus County	NC	0.079
43	Glenn County	CA	0.079
44	Marinette County	WI	0.079
45	Harris County	GA	0.078
46	Perry County	KY	0.078
47	Laramie County	WY	0.078
48	Sumter County	GA	0.078
49	Calumet County	WI	0.078
50	Trempealeau County	WI	0.078

Small Counties With the Most Thanksgiving Travel

In small counties with between 10,000 and 25,000 residents, the average number of trips per person per day over Thanksgiving week was 0.058. Minnesota led with the most small counties with residents who traveled the most, with 7 of the top 50, followed by Georgia with 6, and Missouri and Kentucky with 5 each.

Rank	County	State	Trips Per Capita
1	Sevier County	UT	0.197
2	Millard County	UT	0.174
3	Oregon County	MO	0.168
4	Macon County	GA	0.156
5	Oglala Lakota County	SD	0.152
6	Prowers County	CO	0.152
7	Bullock County	AL	0.146
8	Bacon County	GA	0.140
9	Grayson County	VA	0.136
10	Chickasaw County	IA	0.135
11	Buckingham County	VA	0.135
12	Archuleta County	CO	0.133
13	Aitkin County	MN	0.132
14	Reeves County	TX	0.131
15	Adair County	KY	0.128
16	Charlton County	GA	0.124
17	Decatur County	TN	0.121
18	Morrow County	OR	0.121
19	Wayne County	MO	0.118
20	Cottonwood County	MN	0.117
21	Houston County	MN	0.116
22	Roosevelt County	NM	0.116
23	Wadena County	MN	0.115
24	Garrard County	KY	0.114
25	Pecos County	TX	0.112
26	Crisp County	GA	0.112
27	Casey County	KY	0.112
28	Holt County	NE	0.111
29	Todd County	SD	0.111
30	Pushmataha County	OK	0.110
31	Ripley County	MO	0.109
32	Dallas County	MO	0.109
33	Hale County	AL	0.109
34	Patrick County	VA	0.109
35	Rabun County	GA	0.108
36	Las Animas County	CO	0.108
37	Douglas County	MO	0.108
38	Russell County	KY	0.108
39	Alcona County	MI	0.107
40	Grant Parish	LA	0.107
41	Wilcox County	AL	0.105
42	Noxubee County	MS	0.105
43	Walthall County	MS	0.104
44	Cassia County	ID	0.104
45	Todd County	MN	0.104
46	Dimmit County	TX	0.104
47	Martin County	MN	0.103
48	Pope County	MN	0.103
49	Cook County	GA	0.103
50	Wayne County	KY	0.102

States With the Most Thanksgiving Travel

The amount of travel on a per capita basis in the states and the District of Columbia varied widely. Wyoming led the way with almost double the number of trips compared with the nationwide average, while residents of Hawaii had the least number of trips.

Rank	State	Trips Per Capita
1	Wyoming	0.065
2	South Dakota	0.064
3	New Mexico	0.060
4	Kansas	0.052
5	Iowa	0.052
6	North Dakota	0.051
7	Nebraska	0.050
8	Mississippi	0.048
9	Georgia	0.047
10	Arkansas	0.045
11	Kentucky	0.045
12	Wisconsin	0.044
13	North Carolina	0.044
14	Missouri	0.044
15	Montana	0.044
16	Tennessee	0.043
17	Utah	0.043
18	South Carolina	0.043
19	Idaho	0.042
20	Oklahoma	0.039
21	Virginia	0.039
22	Minnesota	0.039
23	Louisiana	0.039
24	Alabama	0.038
25	Indiana	0.038
26	Michigan	0.036
27	Texas	0.034
28	West Virginia	0.033
29	Arizona	0.033
30	Colorado	0.033
31	Illinois	0.033
32	Nevada	0.032
33	Ohio	0.031
34	Maine	0.031
35	Pennsylvania	0.030
36	Florida	0.029
37	Oregon	0.028
38	California	0.027
39	Vermont	0.026
40	New York	0.025
41	Washington	0.025
42	Maryland	0.024
43	Delaware	0.021
44	Alaska	0.021
45	New Jersey	0.020
46	Connecticut	0.018
47	New Hampshire	0.016
48	Rhode Island	0.016
49	Massachusetts	0.016
50	Washington, D.C.	0.014
51	Hawaii	0.007

Methodology

To determine the U.S. counties with the most travel over Thanksgiving, AdvisorSmith examined data published by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This data set included anonymized cell phone location data from multiple data sources that tracked the number of trips taken by county residents from over 3,000 U.S. counties. This data set counted a trip if a mobile device spent more than 10 minutes in a location away from home.

To find the counties with the most Thanksgiving travel, we counted the average number of trips over 100 miles that were taken by residents of each county on a per capita basis. Counties with the highest number of trips per capita were determined to have the highest number of trips over the Thanksgiving holiday. We considered all travel between the dates of November 20, 2020, and November 29, 2020, to be Thanksgiving travel.

Our analysis segmented counties into three categories based upon the population size of each county. Counties with between 10,000 and 25,000 residents were considered small counties. Counties with between 25,000 and 100,000 residents were midsize counties, and large counties were those with over 100,000 residents.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Trips by Distance (Data Provided by Maryland Transportation Institute and Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory at the University of Maryland)