Hottest Cities in United States

Two major cities contend for the title of hottest city in the United States. The city that comes out on top depends on how you measure heat.

Phoenix, Arizona excels at extreme hot weather. It consistently ranks number one for the most days a year when temperatures rise into the 90s or 100s Fahrenheit. It's the only large city to measure over 100 days a year of temperatures in the 100s, and over 160 days a year of at least 90 degrees.

Challenging Phoenix for top spot on hottest year-round temperatures are Honolulu, Hawaii and Miami, Florida. Neither city normally has 100-degree weather. But the Hawaiian and southern Florida cities stay hot enough all year to run average temperatures that are slightly above Phoenix's.

These ratings of hottest cities use long-term temperature averages, based on weather data collected from 1991 to 2020 for the US National Centers for Environmental Information. The major cities included in these weather rankings represent the 56 metropolitan areas in the United States with the most people, all those with over one million residents in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau.

Highest Temperatures

Most major cities do get 100–degree temperatures. But for most of them, it's uncommon, typically showing up just one or two days a year. For the cities listed here, temperatures in the 100s happen more often.

Number of days per year when temperature climbs to at least 100 °F (37.8 °C).
City Days
Phoenix, Arizona 111
Las Vegas, Nevada 78
Tucson, Arizona 68
Fresno, California 38
Austin, Texas 29
Sacramento, California 23
Dallas, Texas 22
Riverside, California 22
San Antonio, Texas 18
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 13
Salt Lake City, Utah 8
Houston, Texas 3
Jacksonville, Florida 3
Kansas City, Missouri 3
Memphis, Tennessee 3
St. Louis, Missouri 3

City links take you to more detailed information on temperatures for that location. You can also view a summary of temperature averages for all major US cities and city temperatures in recent years and a complete list of America's 56 largest urban centers.

Some cities that rarely, if ever, see a day above 100 degrees do endure a lot of days in the 90s. These cities average 90 or more days a year when the thermometer reaches at least 90 °F.

Number of days per year when temperature climbs to at least 90 °F (32 °C).
City Days
Phoenix, Arizona 173
Tucson, Arizona 158
Las Vegas, Nevada 137
Austin, Texas 123
San Antonio, Texas 122
Fresno, California 113
Orlando, Florida 111
Dallas, Texas 108
Houston, Texas 101
Riverside, California 101
Jacksonville, Florida 96
Tampa, Florida 94
Miami, Florida 91
Sacramento, California 90

Warmest Climates

Ten major US cities have a daily mean temperature of 70 °F (21 °C) or more.

US cities with the highest daily mean temperature
City Mean °F Mean °C
Honolulu, Hawaii 78 26
Miami, Florida 77 25
Phoenix, Arizona 76 24
Tampa, Florida 75 24
Orlando, Florida 74 23
Jacksonville, Florida 71 22
Houston, Texas 71 22
New Orleans, Louisiana 71 21
Tucson, Arizona 71 21
Las Vegas, Nevada 70 21
Austin, Texas 70 21
San Antonio, Texas 70 21

Hottest Days

The hottest US cities have daily high temperatures, averaged throughout the year, that are in the 80s. For Miami, Tampa, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Honolulu, that means every day is a least 50 °F, and all but a few days each year are over 60 °F.

Cities with the highest maximum temperature, averaged for a year
City High °F High °C
Phoenix, Arizona 87 31
Honolulu, Hawaii 85 29
Miami, Florida 84 29
Tucson, Arizona 84 29
Tampa, Florida 83 28
Orlando, Florida 83 28
Austin, Texas 81 27
Las Vegas, Nevada 81 27
San Antonio, Texas 80 27
Jacksonville, Florida 80 27
Houston, Texas 80 27
Riverside, California 80 26
Reference

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Climate Normals.

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