Unexpected Celebrity Hotspots: The Best Cities in the World for Star-Spotting 

With over 39K articles written about celebrity sightings in the last year, it’s clear that we’re obsessed with our A-listers. But if you think your best chances of spotting a celebrity are in Hollywood or Times Square, think again. 

To determine the best places for celebrity spotting, we analyzed data from a popular celebrity sighting Instagram account, tracking posts over the past six months across 42 global cities. If you’re hoping for a brush with fame, these are the cities where your odds are highest. 

Key Findings:

• Watch Hill, Rhode Island ranks #1 worldwide for celebrity sightings (per capita) – especially for Taylor Swift, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds fans 

• Aspen, Colorado ranks #2 worldwide, with 151 celebrity sightings per 100k people. Regulars include Hailey Bieber, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Kevin Costner 

• Heading to Europe soon? St. Barts is your best bet, with 17 celebrity sightings per 100k, and a high chance of running into Leonardo DiCaprio. 

The World’s Best Cities for Celebrity Sightings – And No, It’s Not Just L.A. and NYC 

If you’re hoping for a chance celebrity encounter, your best bet isn’t necessarily Hollywood or Manhattan – it’s actually Watch Hill, Rhode Island. With an astonishing 643 celebrity sightings per 100K people, this small coastal town has the highest concentration of A-lister appearances, particularly for Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, and Ryan Reynolds fans. 

 Following closely behind is Aspen, Colorado, a go-to destination for celebrities like Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, and Kevin Costner, boasting 151 sightings per 100K – proof that the ski town is as much a hotspot for stars as it is for snow. 

While classic celebrity enclaves like West Hollywood, Malibu, and Beverly Hills continue to rank highly, the data also highlights some surprising global destinations. 

St. Barts leads in Europe with 17.6 sightings per 100K, making it the best place to spot stars like Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Meanwhile, Shoreditch in the UK and Cottesloe in Australia have emerged as unexpected celebrity sighting hubs, proving that high-profile encounters can happen well beyond the traditional entertainment capitals.  

Whether you’re planning a trip or just dreaming of a celebrity run-in, these rankings reveal where your chances are highest. 

Methodology 

Scraping a popular celebrity sighting Instagram account, we’ve gathered data from each sighting reported on the page from the last 6 months: September 2024 to February 2025. 

We’ve combined the sightings with the population of each city reported to generate a weighted average to reveal the best cities for celebrity spotting. 

We only included celebrity spottings in common places, such as: streets, parking lots, restaurants, airports, and sports events. We didn’t include award shows or other celebrity-like events in the study. 

Fair Use 

Feel free to use the data or visuals on this page for non-commercial purposes. Please be sure to include proper attribution linking back to this page to give credit to the authors.  

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