America’s Favorite Luxury Experience by State

For some Americans, luxury means getting the latest designer goods available, but for a growing number, luxury means indulging in luxury experiences – think a Michelin-star dining experience in California, a private yacht gliding through the Florida Keys or a high-end wellness retreat in Hawaii.

Recent data from Assembly Global shows that affluent millennials and Gen Z are increasingly prioritizing experiences over traditional status symbols like expensive handbags or luxury cars, signaling a broader cultural move toward experiential indulgence.

In fact, experience-focused luxury spending is projected to reach $391 billion by 2028, up from $239 billion today. Travel and experience-based luxury purchases are growing at twice the rate of luxury goods, highlighting that Americans want more than just buying luxury, they want to experience it.

Using Google Trends search data from October 2020 to October 2025, we compared five high-end experiences: wellness retreats, yacht charters, Michelin-star restaurants, luxury villas, and luxury train rides, to uncover which luxury indulgence each U.S. states dream about the most.

Key takeaways

• Yacht charters are the top-searched luxury experience in 36 states, dominating much of the South and Midwest.
• Michelin-star restaurants lead in 13 states, including California, New York, and Illinois.
• Only two states – Montana and Vermont – chose wellness retreats as their favorite luxury.
• Mississippi expressed the nation’s strongest single preference, with yacht charters taking 50% of luxury-related searches.
• Despite some curiosity nationwide, luxury villas ranked low across the board, with not a single state choosing them as its top-searched luxury experience.

Luxury on the Sea: The Yacht Charter Wins

Across much of America, luxury means one thing: the open water (and 5-star service).

Indeed, the term ‘Yacht charter’ claimed the largest share of luxury-related searches in 36 states, making it Americans’ favorite luxury experience.

The numbers are clear. Mississippi led the nation with a 50% search share for yacht charters, followed closely by Kansas (48%), Florida (46%) and West Virginia (44%). It’s an image of aspirational affluence: weekends at sea, private crews, sunsets over the Gulf or Pacific.

For states with easy access to water like Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, it makes perfect sense. But why Kansas or Kentucky? The attraction appears more rooted in aspiration than access. 

Even states like Oklahoma (42%) and Maine (42%) show a clear fascination with life aboard. 

Dining at the Top: The Michelin States

For another swath of Americans, luxury isn’t on the water, but on the plate.

13 states favored Michelin-star restaurants as their number-one luxury search. These culinary capitals include California (46%), Illinois (40%), New York (35%), Massachusetts (34%), and Washington (34%). Even the District of Columbia showed a strong 44% interest in the elite dining experience.

These states tend to be culinary trendsetters, where dining is as much performance as it is pleasure. California and New York naturally dominate, home to dozens of Michelin-star establishments and a population eager to seek out the next gastronomic experience. 

Finding Balance: The Wellness States

Then there are those who seek wellness and personal care. 

Only two states: Montana (33%) and Vermont (31%) crowned wellness retreats as their top luxury search, with Minnesota (28%) and Utah (26%) close behind.

What stands out about these states? Wide open spaces, forests, mountains. A slower pace of life. Their interest in luxury isn’t tied to price tags or Michelin stars, it’s about well-being and peace.

In an age of burnout, “wellness” has become its own form of aspiration. Yoga retreats, hot-spring resorts, digital detox weekends all signal a new kind of affluence: time, calm, and personal care.

The States That Dream the Biggest

While yacht charters win the popularity contest, here are the states that showed the highest share of search interest for their favorite luxury:

• Mississippi: Yacht charter – 50%
• Kansas: Yacht charter – 48%
• California: Michelin-star restaurant – 46%
• Florida: Yacht charter – 46%
• District of Columbia: Michelin-star restaurant – 44%

This fascination with high-end experiences reflects a significant change in the luxury market. Research indicates that younger affluent consumers, who will soon make up 75% of the luxury market, are increasingly choosing experiences like yacht charters, wellness retreats, and Michelin-star dining over traditional luxury goods, redefining what it means to live luxuriously.

Enjoy the Yacht Life Now

If reading about yacht charters has you daydreaming about turquoise water and open skies, you’re not alone. Few experiences match the freedom of sailing between islands, diving straight from the deck, or watching the sunset from your own private yacht. And for those who want to make that dream a lifestyle, you can even own your own yacht and enjoy the ultimate freedom on the water whenever you please.

Methodology

To identify each state’s favorite luxury experience, we analyzed Google search interest data across 50 states and the District of Columbia from October 2020 to October 2025.

The compared search topics were:

• Wellness retreat
• Yacht charter
• Michelin-star restaurant
• Luxury villa
• Luxury train ride
  

Search interest values were normalized using Google Trends’ methodology, with 100 representing peak interest for any topic in a given region and 0 indicating insufficient data. Each state’s results were converted into proportional shares (summing to 100%).The luxury experience with the highest share of search interest was designated that state’s “favorite.”