The Fourth of July is one of the most significant travel periods of the year in the United States, combining a major national holiday with the peak of the summer vacation season.
With schools out across much of the country, many families use the holiday to take extended trips, visit relatives, or gather for celebrations. The result is a surge in travel activity that ripples through airports, hotels, restaurants, and tourism destinations nationwide.
The scale of that demand is reflected in broader summer travel trends, where AAA projected that a record 45.1 million Americans would travel at least 50 miles from home during the 2026 Memorial Day holiday period. Together, strong leisure demand, America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, and the FIFA Men’s World Cup are likely to put added pressure on air travel during the holiday period.
While Independence Day travel affects virtually every region of the country, the impact is not distributed evenly.
Some destinations experience dramatic increases in incoming flights as travelers flock to outdoor recreation areas, coastal communities, and seasonal tourism hubs. Other markets see relatively modest changes in traffic levels or even decreases.
Examining these differences provides insight into how Americans choose to spend the holiday and which regions bear the greatest transportation and tourism impacts during one of the nation’s busiest travel weeks.
To better understand these patterns, researchers at Luxury Link, an online booking platform specializing in luxury travel, analyzed domestic airline schedules and operational performance data surrounding the Fourth of July holiday period.
The analysis examines seasonal trends in U.S. airline traffic, measures how flight delays and cancellations change during the holiday, and identifies the destinations that experience the largest increases in incoming air travel during Independence Day week. Learn more about the methodology at the end.
Here are the most popular states for the Fourth of July.
10. Vermont
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +23.8%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 30.5
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 24.6
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +268.9%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +140.9%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +71.9%
9. Oregon
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +24.2%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 319.2
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 257.1
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +20.7%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +54.3%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +44.1%
8. Washington
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +26.7%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 737.8
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 582.3
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: -1.6%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +39.7%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +52.6%
7. South Carolina
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +29.0%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 251.6
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 195.1
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +227.4%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +110.1%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +64.8%
6. West Virginia
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +29.3%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 18.9
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 14.6
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +168.5%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +39.8%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +58.5%
5. Puerto Rico
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +31.3%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 131.8
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 100.4
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +167.9%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +124.6%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +79.2%
4. Wyoming
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +41.8%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 47.7
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 33.7
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +63.1%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: -26.3%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +51.6%
3. Montana
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +49.9%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 130.4
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 87.0
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +135.4%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +152.7%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +93.0%
2. Maine
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +50.9%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 75.0
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 49.7
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: +326.0%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +113.9%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +110.9%
1. Alaska
- Change in daily arrival flights during July 4th week: +51.7%
- Average daily arrival flights (July 4th week): 173.7
- Average daily arrival flights (rest of year): 114.5
- Change in daily flight cancellations during July 4th week: -45.3%
- Change in daily flights delayed >3 hours during July 4th week: +85.4%
- Change in daily flights delayed >15 min. during July 4th week: +46.1%
Methodology
The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Airline On-Time Performance database.
Researchers at Luxury Link analyzed domestic commercial flight activity and operational performance surrounding the Fourth of July holiday period, using data from 2023 through 2025. To reduce the impact of year-to-year anomalies, all flight, delay, and cancellation metrics were calculated using three-year daily averages.
For the airline traffic analysis, arriving flights were defined as domestic commercial flight segments operated by reporting carriers. The data exclude cargo-only flight operations, general aviation flights, and commercial flights operated by airlines that account for less than 0.5% of domestic scheduled passenger revenue.
Researchers compared average daily flight activity during the week ending on July 4th with average daily activity during the remainder of the year. Flight delays were categorized using Bureau of Transportation Statistics definitions, including flights delayed by at least 15 minutes and flights delayed by more than three hours.
To identify the destinations experiencing the largest Independence Day travel surges, researchers calculated the percentage difference between average daily arriving flights during the week ending on July 4th and average daily arriving flights during the rest of the year for each state.
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