City Stories Index · United States · 2026 edition
Chicago vs Las Vegas
Not opinions, measured walking data. On what we can measure, Chicago leads 2–1. Character is a different question: Chicago is the city rebuilt after the fire; Las Vegas is the desert strip.
Change the matchup
| What we measure | Chicago | Las Vegas | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places with a storyspots where a route tells you what happened there | 94 | 21 | Chicago |
| How often you pass a storymetres from one story to the next; fewer is better | 293 | 226 | Las Vegas |
| Historical figuresreal people you meet in its stories | 11 | 5 | Chicago |
| Instagrammabilityscore /100, on the index’s fixed scale | 37 | — | Chicago |
| Group outingsof every 100 plays, how many bring a group of 3+ | 22 | — | Chicago |
| International visitors% of player reviews written in a foreign language | 2 | — | Chicago |
Differences under 5% count as ties. Sample sizes and definitions on the methodology page.
What their stories are about
How many places with a story each city has per theme: Chicago in orange, Las Vegas in blue. All bars share one scale, so lengths are comparable everywhere on the chart.
ChicagoLas Vegas
33 places
arts & culture3 places
16 places
crime & dark history2 places
13 places
faith & churches1 place
13 places
parks & leisure9 places
12 places
legends & myths4 places
Chicago scorecard →
The city rebuilt after the fire
Las Vegas scorecard →
The desert strip