USA Vacation Rentals & Cabins

In the mood for an out-of-this-world vacation? America's interest in astrotourism skyrocketed around April's total solar eclipse — and with meteor showers and a partial lunar eclipse still in the pipeline for 2024, it's a stellar year to look to the night skies and seek out some stunning views. For travelers intrigued by celestial trips, HomeToGo has unveiled the 2024 edition of its annual U.S. Stargazing Index.

From the East to the West Coast, the index reveals the best destinations to visit for Stateside stargazing during the year ahead, with 24 Dark Sky Places shortlisted and scored according to price, solitude, and weather conditions. Destinations across nine states in total are featured, with Colorado, Arizona, Indiana, Texas, Utah, California, Illinois, Idaho, and Florida all making appearances in the list.

Find out more about this year's top destinations for star-studded stays in the U.S. with the ranking below.

Ranked and Revealed: America's Top Destinations for Stargazing in 2024

Mapped: America's Top Destinations for Stargazing in 2024

More About America's Top Destinations for Stargazing in 2024

Information from the International Dark-Sky Association was used to collate a shortlist of Dark Sky Places for which the geographical coordinates are publicly available. The 24 least-searched locations via hometogo.com for stays between April 12, 2024 and October 1, 2024 were then shortlisted. In order to rank these Dark Sky Places, five data points were researched: the search volume for vacation rental stays in the area, the size and population of the Dark Sky Place, the average cloud cover in the location, the number of accommodation offers available in each destination, and the median nightly price thereof. After obtaining the raw data, each data point was assigned a representative numerical value between 5 and 10, with 5 representing the lowest data point and 10 representing the highest data point. The hypothetical "perfect score" would be 50 out of 50. The following equation was used in order to calculate this for every factor:

Score(i) = 5 · (x(i) - xmin ) / (xmax - xmin ) + 5

Under-the-radar Score: Exclusive internal HomeToGo demand data was used to find the search volume for vacation rental stays with a check-in date between April 12, 2024 - October 1, 2024 in each destination. The area with the lowest search volume was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining locations were awarded a score of 5 or higher.

Affordability Score: Exclusive internal HomeToGo price data was used to find the median cost per night for a vacation rental in the area between April 12, 2024 - October 1, 2024. The area with the lowest median nightly price for a vacation rental was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining locations were awarded a score of 5 or higher. Data was collected in April 2024, prices are subject to change.

Availability Score: Exclusive internal HomeToGo inventory data to find the number of accommodation offers in the vicinity of each Dark Sky Place. The area with the highest number of accommodation offers was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining areas were awarded a score of 5 or higher. Data was collected in April 2024, availability is subject to change.

Clear Skies Score: Historical weather data from Visual Crossing Weather was used to analyze the last year (April 12, 2023 - October 1, 2023) of data from the nearest weather station to each Dark Sky Place. The area with the fewest overcast or rainy days over the last summer was given a score of 10, and the remaining areas were awarded a score of 5 or higher.

Solitude Score: Data from the International Dark-Sky Association was used to determine the size of each Dark Sky Place, and population data from census.gov for the area or nearest town. The place with the lowest population density was given a score of 10, and the remaining areas were awarded a score of 5 or higher.