Where Do International Tourists Visit in the U.S.?
While coastal giants like Florida, New York, and California draw the highest total volume, Hawaii and Nevada by far host the most international tourists per capita
Source: Luxury Link analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data
International tourism remains heavily concentrated in a handful of gateway states, particularly along the East and West coasts. Florida welcomes the most overseas visitors with 9.3 million, narrowly ahead of New York at 9.1 million, while California ranks third with 6.6 million. Together, those three states attract more than 25 million overseas visitors, outpacing the rest of the country combined. They are followed by Nevada (2.3 million), Texas (1.9 million), Hawaii (1.8 million), Massachusetts (1.4 million), and Illinois (1.3 million), reflecting the continued appeal of major international gateways, iconic attractions, and business hubs.
Adjusting for population, however, reveals a different picture. Hawaii welcomes the equivalent of 1,243 overseas visitors per 1,000 residents, the highest concentration in the nation and nearly twice that of second-place Nevada (718). New York (458) and Florida (417) also rank among the leaders, while smaller tourism-focused states such as Wyoming (276) and Massachusetts (199) place surprisingly high. The per-capita rankings highlight how international tourism can play an outsized role in smaller destinations, even when their total visitor counts trail those of the country's largest states.
Below are the 15 U.S. metros seeing the most international tourism. The analysis was conducted by Luxury Link using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. For additional information, refer to the methodology section below. For complete results, see U.S. Cities With the Most International Tourism on Luxury Link.
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