We’re “top of the heap” when it comes to beloved US landmarks.
New York state dominated a recent countdown of the “most loved” tourist spots in the US, boasting five meccas in the top 10, with Rockefeller Center somewhat surprisingly clocking in at No. 1.
“It’s more than just a building, it’s a cultural landmark in the center of Midtown Manhattan,” wrote Holafly, a travel E-sim provider that compiled the list of the 100 most hated and beloved hubs in the US.
The geographical popularity contest may sound subjective, but Holafly devised a surprisingly intricate scoring criterion that factored in sites’ average Google ratings, total review count and TikTok search volume.
For the Google reviews, they even analyzed the average positive and negative review word count per landmark, and the average time spent writing positive and negative reviews based on a 40 words per minute typing speed, among other factors.
The list, whose data is current as of April 14, 2026, was sourced from the National Park Service and the National Register of Historic Places.
Rock Center boasted an average rating of 4.7 out of five stars and 188,203 four- and five-star reviews — more than 94% of the 200,000 total reviews.
It appears the city’s coveted complex was something to write home about. Viewers spent a collective 330,000 minutes waxing poetic about the site and their experience there, highlighting the Top of the Rock observation deck, the famous ice-skating rink and the annual Christmas tree lighting.
Placing No. 2 on the Mount Rushmore of American tourist hubs was Niagara Falls, the country’s oldest state park.
This scenic hotspot, which straddles the border of New York and Canada, received 4.8 out of five stars on average, as well as 66,000 five-star reviews and nearly 75,000 combined four- and five-star reviews.
Overall, viewers spent 156,000 minutes singing the magnificent cascade’s praises, gushing about everything from the hiking trails to the Maid of the Mist tours.
Originally completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge spans the test of time.
The iconic overpass was the US’s third-most adored destination, amassing nearly 7 million TikTok searches and an average rating of 4.8 stars out of 5.
Reviewers noted the historic suspension bridge’s iconic views, bike-friendly path and boats passing underneath.
Rounding out the top five were the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California — one of the world’s most visited naval museums — and Yellowstone National Park.
Two other Big Apple landmarks were also featured in the top 10: the Empire State Building in sixth place with 125,630 reviews — 100,791 of which were five stars — followed by the Statue of Liberty in seventh, boasting nearly 3.6 million TikTok searches.
Top 10 most beloved US landmarks
- Rockefeller Center, New York, NY
- Niagara Falls, Niagara, NY
- Brooklyn Bridge, New York, NY
- USS Midway, San Diego, CA
- Yellowstone National Park, Idaho/Wyoming/Montana
- The Empire State Building, New York, NY
- Statue Of Liberty, New York, NY
- Yosemite National Park, CA
- Grand Canyon, Arizona
- Glacier National Park, Montana
Of course, not all US landmarks were such a hit among visitors.
In the realm of complained-about tourist sites, the Tombstone Courthouse State Park in Tombstone, Arizona, elicited the most bellyaching, with negative reviews totaling an essay-esque 63 words on average. The only New York landmark to make the top 10 was the Stonewall Inn, home of the June 1969 uprising by the city’s LGBTQ+ community and a turning point in the modern civil rights movement.
Top 10 most complained-about US landmarks
- Tombstone Courthouse State Park, Tombstone, Arizona
- Kennedy Space Center (Launch Complex 39), Merritt Island, Florida
- John F. Kennedy Birthplace, Brookline, Massachusetts
- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida
- Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
- United States Supreme Court Building, Washington, DC
- Smithsonian Castle, Washington, DC
- Stonewall Inn, New York, NY
- Lexington Green, Lexington, Massachusetts
- James Madison’s Montpelier, Montpelier, Virginia
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