Anytime we leave home, we expose ourselves to a bit of vulnerability, not knowing the places where we’ll rest our heads and the kitchens that will make our meals. And LGBTQ+ people may have to ask questions like, is it safe to be openly gay in this city? Is there a way to know exactly where I’ll be welcomed, at restaurants, hotels, and other places? One helpful source is misterb&b, a website that lists queer-friendly lodgings (whether that’s a hotel, an apartment rental or a private room in a home), trips and restaurant recommendations—and its annual Queer Safety Index lists the safest U.S. cities for LGBTQ travelers.
This year’s #1 city is Chicago, the third largest in the U.S. and with plenty of “gayborhoods” and an active LGTBQ+ presence. In particular, Boystown (also called Northalsted)—the oldest officially recognized gay neighborhood in the U.S.—and Andersonville are known as celebratory and safe neighborhoods. Check out Legacy Walk, an outdoor LGTBQ history museum. Chicago’s first pride parade was in 1970 in honor of the Stonewall riots.
Second is Seattle, historically a place of activism for LGTBQ+ issues. The Capitol Hill neighborhood boasts a number of gay-friendly or gay-owned businesses, and each year, there’s a major Pride celebration, which takes place June 27-29.
Third on the list is a city that will surprise no one, San Francisco, long considered a celebratory harbor for gays, lesbians and transgender folks (and everyone in between). Its Castro District is the hub with rainbow-painted crosswalks, plenty of gay businesses and a yearly Castro Street Fair. The annual Folsom Street Fair in the city’s SoMa neighborhood is a kink and leather affair. Of course, Pride sets the city on rainbow fire as a weekend-long celebration with a parade, this year taking place June 28-29.
Misterbandb was started by Matthieu Jost in 2013, after he stayed in a Barcelona apartment rental where he and his partner felt that the host was not supportive of them as a gay couple. The company now creates a listing of places where LGBTQ+ people can stay, knowing that their hosts understand and respect them.
The methodology starts with looking at the most booked destinations through misterb&b. From there, it involves looking at state level protections for gay people via the Movement Advancement Project, studying city-level policies around LGBTQ+ issues through the Human Rights Campaign, examining data about anti-LGTBTQ+ legislative bills through the ACLU, looking for the presence of PFLAG chapters in the cities which demonstrate community support and checking safety via statistics on FBI-reported hate crimes over the past five years. All this data is crunched and weighted to provide a ranked list.
Here is the full list of the safest cities for LGBTQ+ travelers in 2025:
1. Chicago, Illinois
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Francisco, California
4. Portland, Oregon
5 San Diego, California
6. Honolulu, Hawai'i
7. Denver, Colorado
8. Albuquerque, New Mexico
9. Las Vegas, Nevada
10. Providence, Rhode Island
11. Cathedral City, California
12. Palm Springs, California
13. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
14. New York, New York
15. Washington, Washington, D.C.
16. Los Angeles, California
17. Atlanta, Georgia
18. Tampa, Florida
19. Wilton Manors, Florida
20. Oakland Park, Florida
21. Orlando, Florida
22. Miami, Florida
23. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
24. Salt Lake City, Utah
25. Indianapolis, Indiana
26. Phoenix, Arizona
27. Nashville, Tennessee
28. Dallas, Texas
29. Houston, Texas
30. Austin, Texas