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Sunniest Cities in the US

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18 Sunniest Cities in the US

The American Southwest dominates this list, and for good reason: desert air is clear air. These US cities lead the country in sunny days per year, most averaging well above 280.

Desert air is clear air. The American Southwest's dominance on this list, around 61% of entries, is not a quirk of the data; it is geography. Phoenix, Arizona leads with 262 sunny days per year, and the conditions that produce that figure are the same ones you would expect: low humidity, minimal cloud cover, and a climate that keeps moisture-bearing storm tracks away.

13 states appear across the list, though the distribution is heavily weighted toward the arid West. Arizona, New Mexico, inland California, and Nevada account for most entries.

For most entries here, sunshine and heat are a package deal. The sunniest US cities regularly see summer highs above 100°F (38°C), and the combination of temperature and clear-sky intensity makes peak summer genuinely demanding. If sunshine is the goal but summer heat is a concern, coastal California cities and higher-elevation cities in the Southwest offer the best compromise, giving up some sunshine days in exchange for dramatically milder summers.

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Cities are selected for geographic diversity, so nearby cities do not crowd each other out.

  1. 1
    Phoenix
    Arizona, United States
    Sunny days262 days
    Summer high: 108°F (42°C)
  2. 2
    El Paso
    Texas, United States
    Sunny days260 days
    Summer high: 97°F (36°C)
  3. 3
    Las Vegas
    Nevada, United States
    Sunny days259 days
    Summer high: 99°F (37°C)
  4. 4
    Albuquerque
    New Mexico, United States
    Sunny days239 days
    Summer high: 92°F (33°C)
  5. 5
    Lubbock
    Texas, United States
    Sunny days238 days
    Summer high: 93°F (34°C)
  6. 6
    Honolulu
    Hawaii, United States
    Sunny days237 days
    Summer high: 80°F (27°C)
  7. 7
    Redding
    California, United States
    Sunny days221 days
    Summer high: 98°F (37°C)
  8. 8
    Los Angeles
    California, United States
    Sunny days218 days
    Summer high: 87°F (31°C)
  9. 9
    Laredo
    Texas, United States
    Sunny days191 days
    Summer high: 103°F (39°C)
  10. 10
    Cape Coral
    Florida, United States
    Sunny days190 days
    Summer high: 87°F (30°C)
  11. 11
    San Jose
    California, United States
    Sunny days190 days
    Summer high: 79°F (26°C)
  12. 12
    Casper
    Wyoming, United States
    Sunny days188 days
    Summer high: 88°F (31°C)
  13. 13
    Enid
    Oklahoma, United States
    Sunny days186 days
    Summer high: 93°F (34°C)
  14. 14
    Dallas
    Texas, United States
    Sunny days181 days
    Summer high: 94°F (35°C)
  15. 15
    Boise
    Idaho, United States
    Sunny days180 days
    Summer high: 94°F (34°C)
  16. 16
    Ogden
    Utah, United States
    Sunny days177 days
    Summer high: 89°F (32°C)
  17. 17
    Little Rock
    Arkansas, United States
    Sunny days176 days
    Summer high: 95°F (35°C)
  18. 18
    Denver
    Colorado, United States
    Sunny days176 days
    Summer high: 89°F (32°C)
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