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