NOAA rankings · updated August 2026
Hottest cities in the U.S.
Ranked by NOAA 1991–2020 mean annual temperature across 3,917 U.S. cities and towns, every incorporated place and census-designated place with a mapped NOAA station.
- 2 co-leaders
- 78.8°F2 co-leaders: 78.8°F. Benchmark context: 25-city displayed ranking cohort.
- Leader benchmark
- 25-city cutoff
- 75.1°F25-city cutoff: 75.1°F. Benchmark context: 25-city displayed ranking cohort.
- Cutoff benchmark
- List median
- 76.1°FList median: 76.1°F. Benchmark context: 25-city displayed ranking cohort.
- Cohort median
- cities shown
- 25Cities shown: 25. Benchmark context: 25-city displayed ranking cohort.
- Cohort coverage
The hottest U.S. cities, the verdict
2 U.S. cities share the highest annual mean of 78.8°F; the list cutoff is 75.1°F across 25 displayed cities (spread 3.7°F, median 76.1°F).
- 78.8°F
- shared by 2 co-leading cities
- 75.1°F
- 25-city list threshold
- 16
- of the 25 displayed cities are in FL
- 1991–2020
- NOAA 30-year normals window
Mean annual temperature is the 30-year average of daily readings, a long-run normal, not a record high.
The bar to make this hottest-cities list
Where the 25-place cutoff sits among every rankable U.S. city
75°F List threshold 75.1°F is the coolest annual mean that still makes this 25-city list (3,917 cities)
- 10°F–15°F: 2 rankable U.S. cities (0%). Below this entry.
- 15°F–20°F: 0 rankable U.S. cities (0%). Below this entry.
- 20°F–25°F: 9 rankable U.S. cities (0%). Below this entry.
- 25°F–30°F: 19 rankable U.S. cities (0%). Below this entry.
- 30°F–35°F: 12 rankable U.S. cities (0%). Below this entry.
- 35°F–40°F: 119 rankable U.S. cities (3%). Below this entry.
- 40°F–45°F: 508 rankable U.S. cities (13%). Below this entry.
- 45°F–50°F: 829 rankable U.S. cities (21%). Below this entry.
- 50°F–55°F: 809 rankable U.S. cities (21%). Below this entry.
- 55°F–60°F: 588 rankable U.S. cities (15%). Below this entry.
- 60°F–65°F: 575 rankable U.S. cities (15%). Below this entry.
- 65°F–70°F: 284 rankable U.S. cities (7%). Below this entry.
- 70°F–75°F: 137 rankable U.S. cities (3%). Below this entry.
- 75°F–80°F: 26 rankable U.S. cities (1%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 · 1991–2020
Each point is one location already listed above. The dashed midlines are this list’s median annual temperature and precipitation, so they compare climates within the hottest-city cohort rather than set a comfort or safety threshold.
The 25 hottest U.S. cities
| # | Location, State | Mean Temp | Avg High | Precip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Key West FL | 78.8°F (26.0°C) | 83.2°F | 43.6" |
| 2 | Marathon FL | 78.8°F (26.0°C) | 84.5°F | 39.7" |
| 3 | Tavernier FL | 77.8°F (25.4°C) | 83.1°F | 45.0" |
| 4 | Duck Key FL | 77.5°F (25.3°C) | 82.6°F | 40.4" |
| 5 | Miami FL | 77.4°F (25.2°C) | 84.2°F | 67.4" |
| 6 | Kahului HI | 77.1°F (25.1°C) | 86.1°F | 16.2" |
| 7 | Hialeah FL | 76.6°F (24.8°C) | 83.6°F | 72.9" |
| 8 | Lihue HI | 76.3°F (24.6°C) | 81.6°F | 36.2" |
| 9 | Brownsville TX | 76.2°F (24.6°C) | 85.4°F | 26.8" |
| 10 | Coral Springs FL | 76.2°F (24.6°C) | 84.3°F | N/A |
| 11 | Needles CA | 76.2°F (24.6°C) | 88.1°F | 4.3" |
| 12 | Everglades FL | 76.1°F (24.5°C) | 85.3°F | N/A |
| 13 | Hollywood FL | 76.1°F (24.5°C) | 83.2°F | 65.0" |
| 14 | Miami Beach FL | 76.1°F (24.5°C) | 81.2°F | 57.2" |
| 15 | Juno Beach FL | 76.0°F (24.4°C) | 83.4°F | 72.2" |
| 16 | Fort Lauderdale FL | 75.9°F (24.4°C) | 83.6°F | 68.8" |
| 17 | Kaneohe HI | 75.9°F (24.4°C) | 81.4°F | 50.9" |
| 18 | Punta Gorda FL | 75.8°F (24.3°C) | 86.8°F | 54.0" |
| 19 | West Palm Beach FL | 75.8°F (24.3°C) | 83.0°F | 61.8" |
| 20 | Harlingen TX | 75.6°F (24.2°C) | 85.8°F | 28.2" |
| 21 | Phoenix AZ | 75.6°F (24.2°C) | 87.1°F | 7.2" |
| 22 | Mcallen TX | 75.5°F (24.2°C) | 86.3°F | 18.7" |
| 23 | Marco Island FL | 75.3°F (24.1°C) | 83.9°F | 53.3" |
| 24 | Stuart FL | 75.3°F (24.1°C) | 83.1°F | 62.7" |
| 25 | Palm Springs CA | 75.1°F (23.9°C) | 88.8°F | 5.1" |
Regional concentration
FL (16 cities), HI (3 cities), TX (3 cities), CA (2 cities) account for the most entries. The warmest U.S. cities cluster in a narrow band of the South and Southwest, with Key West, FL setting the benchmark. States outside this belt rarely appear because even a single cold season lowers the annual mean below the list threshold.
Temperature spread on this list
The gap between #1 and #25 on this list is only 3.7°F, meaning a single-degree shift in a station's 30-year mean can move it several positions. That sensitivity is why we show every tie at the cutoff rather than arbitrarily capping the list. The list median is 76.1°F.
How this ranking is built
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a station's mean annual temperature is the 30-year average of its daily readings under the 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals program, published in May 2021. We rank the 3,917 U.S. cities and towns that carry a temperature normal, every incorporated place and census-designated place matched to a NOAA station, drawn from more than 15,000 stations, from warmest to coolest. Weather stations that never matched a Census place (national parks, airports, reservoirs and similar sites) are excluded: their readings are real, but they are not cities, and ranking them here would answer a different question than this page asks. Because these are long-run averages, a single hot summer day or record high does not change a record's position. The full derivation is documented in our methodology.
Caveats
Coastal and island locations stay warm year-round with little seasonal swing, while desert locations pair very hot summers with cooler nights and winters, two different routes to a high annual mean. Station coverage is sparser in some rural areas, and these normals end in 2020, so they do not capture warming since then. For monthly detail, frost dates, and humidity, open any location profile.
What a high annual mean really means
The warmest locations share a number, not a feel.
- Florida and Hawaii locations are humid and mild year-round; Southwest locations are dry with extreme summer peaks. Most comfortable
- Heat plus humidity drives perceived comfort; assess humidity separately because it is not an input to the climate comfort score. Humidity & comfort
- Looking for the opposite? See the coldest U.S. cities. Coldest cities
NOAA 1991–2020 normals are typical-year averages, not forecasts, and exclude post-2020 trends.