St. Patrick's Day is crazy popular--maybe it's because there aren't a lot of holidays between now and Memorial Day, maybe it's because people enjoy celebrating their Irish heritage, maybe it's because we'll use anything as an excuse to gather in mass quantities and drink ourselves silly. I'm not exactly sure WHAT the reasons are, but Americans will spend approximately $5.6 billion on St. Patrick's Day this year, or around $40 per person. 

Chicago River dyed green for St. Patrick's Day
Frank Polich/Getty Images
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But some places just know how to celebrate better than others. WalletHub compared 200 of the most populated U.S. cities across four key dimensions (St. Patrick’s Day traditions, costs, safety & accessibility, and St. Patrick’s Day weather) to find out which U.S. cities do it best.

Chicago is far and away the #1 (I mean, come on, they dye an entire river green), but Iowa is very well-represented when it comes to putting on a proper St. Paddy's Day party.

Cedar Rapids checks in at #16, ahead of much larger cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Syracuse, St. Louis and St. Paul. Thousands flock to downtown CR for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade Society (SaPaDaPaSo) Parade, and I may or may not have participated in a pub crawl last year.

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Des Moines ranked very highly, too, checking in at #29, ahead of Orlando, Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas and Indianapolis, just to name a few. Click here to check out more St. Patrick's Day stats.

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