The United States is one of the most expensive countries in the world to visit, and also one where the same ten days can cost $1,200 or $6,500 depending on almost nothing except which city you pick and what month you land in.
A mid-range traveller should plan on roughly $2,500 per person for ten days on the ground, before international flights. But that figure hides two things most budget guides skip: tipping is not optional, and the price you see is almost never the price you pay.
How much does a 10-day trip to the USA cost in 2026?
Three realistic tiers, per person, land only. International flights are excluded because they swing from about $290 domestically to well over $1,000 from Europe or Asia.
| Tier | 10-day total | Per day | What that buys |
| Budget | $1,200 | $90 to $150 | Hostel dorm or budget motel, groceries and diners, public transit, free museums |
| Mid-range | $2,500 | $180 to $350 | Three-star hotel, restaurants most meals, transit plus rideshares, a few paid attractions |
| Luxury | $6,500 | $500 and up | Four-star central hotel, fine dining, taxis or car hire, shows and tours |
Travelling as a couple cuts the per-person figure by roughly a third, because US hotel rooms are priced per room rather than per person and hostel beds are far rarer than in Europe.
USA trip cost by city: the biggest variable
The gap between New York and San Antonio is almost double, for the same standard of travel. Choosing the city is the largest single decision in a US budget.
| City | Per day | Worth knowing |
| New York City | $280 | Most expensive rooms in the country, averaging around $259 a night. It also has the best public transport, so you save on transit what you lose on hotels. |
| San Francisco | $265 | Hotel prices approaching New York in a much smaller city. Stay in Oakland and take BART. |
| Las Vegas | $253 | Rooms are cheap, sometimes $40 to $80 midweek, because the casinos make their money elsewhere. Resort fees and food close the gap fast. |
| Los Angeles | $230 | Budget for a car or a great deal of rideshare. LA is not a walking city. |
| Miami | $220 | Resort fees are common here too. Fort Lauderdale is markedly cheaper and 40 minutes away. |
| Chicago | $195 | Genuine big-city sights at mid-city prices, with good transit. |
| Washington DC | $175 | All nineteen Smithsonian museums and the zoo are free, along with most memorials. The best value big city in the country. |
| Nashville | $165 | Strong value, and live music most nights at no cover. |
| San Antonio | $145 | One of the cheapest large US cities, with the River Walk and the Alamo both free. |
The single best money-saving move
Stay one transit stop outside the centre. A hotel in Jersey City costs 30 to 40 percent less than Manhattan and is fifteen minutes away on the PATH. The same logic works in Pasadena for Los Angeles, Oakland for San Francisco, and Fort Lauderdale for Miami.
USA travel cost breakdown: where the money actually goes
A mid-range ten days breaks into five lines. Two of them are nearly three quarters of the total.
Accommodation: about $1,100
US hotels average around $171 a night nationally, but the spread is enormous. Manhattan averages $259 while Las Vegas sits near $96.
Rough guide: hostel dorms $36 to $60 a night and far rarer than in Europe, budget motels $70 to $120, mid-range hotels $150 to $250, vacation rentals $100 to $300 and better value for groups, luxury $350 to $800 and up.
Watch the tax. Hotel taxes plus tourist levies can reach 15 to 18 percent in cities like New York, Miami and Las Vegas, and it is added at checkout rather than shown in the nightly rate.
Food: about $700
Budget $40 to $120 a day depending on how you eat. Fast food and diners keep it low, mid-range restaurants run $70 to $100 a day, and Manhattan or Beverly Hills prices go well past that.
The easy saving is groceries. Trader Joe's, Aldi and Walmart run 30 to 50 percent cheaper than Whole Foods, and most US hotel rooms have at least a fridge.
Transport: about $300
In New York, Chicago, Washington and Boston, public transport covers almost everything. In Los Angeles, Miami and most of the South and West, you will need a car or a lot of rideshare.
Car hire runs about $42 a day before extras, or $65 to $80 once taxes and basic insurance are added. Parking in city centres can add $30 to $60 a night on top, which is why a car makes sense for road trips and national parks but rarely for a city break.
Domestic flights average $290 to $390 return and are often cheaper than a long drive once you count fuel, parking and a hotel night. Book two to six weeks ahead.
Attractions: about $250
Major museums and observation decks run $25 to $45 each. Budget for two or three and fill the rest with free options, which the US has plenty of: every Smithsonian in Washington, Central Park, the Staten Island Ferry, the National Mall, most city beaches.
Tipping and tax: the lines nobody budgets for
This is where visitors get caught. In the United States, the number on the menu and the number on the shelf are both smaller than what you will pay.
| Situation | Customary | Notes |
| Sit-down restaurant | 18 to 22% | Of the pre-tax bill. Servers are frequently paid a reduced base wage on the assumption of tips. |
| Bar | $1 to $2 per drink | Handed over at the bar, or added to a tab. |
| Taxi or rideshare | 15 to 20% | In the app, or rounded up in cash. |
| Hotel housekeeping | $2 to $5 per night | Left in the room, ideally daily rather than at the end. |
| Hotel porter | $1 to $2 per bag | On arrival and departure. |
| Coffee counter | Optional | The card screen will offer options. Declining is normal and acceptable. |
Sales tax is not included in displayed prices
Unlike almost everywhere else, US prices are shown before tax. Rates run from zero in Oregon, Montana and Delaware to roughly 7 to 10 percent in New York, California and Texas. A $100 item costs $107 to $110 at the till. Budget an extra 8 percent on anything you buy.
Between tipping at $15 to $30 a day and sales tax on everything, a ten-day mid-range trip carries $205 to $425 of cost that never appears in any daily budget figure.
Visa, ESTA and national park fees: what changed in 2026
Two costs sit outside every daily budget figure and both changed recently. If you are visiting from abroad, budget for them before anything else.
ESTA and visa costs
Travellers from Visa Waiver Program countries need an ESTA, which costs $40.27 per person and is valid for two years. Apply on the official US government site; third-party sites charge several times more for the same thing.
Everyone else needs a visitor visa, which costs more and takes considerably longer. Apply months ahead, not weeks.
National park fees changed on 1 January 2026
For the first time in National Park Service history, entry is priced by residency. If you are not a US resident, this is a significant new line in a park-focused trip.
- The America the Beautiful Non-Resident Annual Pass costs $250. US residents still pay $80 for the standard version.
- Without that pass, non-residents aged 16 and over pay a $100 per-person fee at eleven high-traffic parks, on top of the standard entrance fee of $30 to $35.
- The eleven parks are Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion.
- The $250 pass covers the holder plus three additional adults, so for a group of four it is far cheaper than paying $100 each.
- Children under 16 enter free regardless of residency.
- Entrance fee-free days now apply to US citizens and residents only.
Buy the digital pass, not the posted one
Physical passes take around three weeks to arrive by post. Buy the digital version through Recreation.gov so you have proof of purchase before you reach the gate.
The practical maths: if your trip includes two or more of those eleven parks, the $250 pass pays for itself. One park only, and paying the $100 fee is cheaper. Parks outside the eleven charge the standard entrance fee with no surcharge.
Cheapest time to visit the USA
Season moves a US budget almost as much as city choice. The same room in the same hotel can cost 40 percent more in July than in October.
| Months | What to expect |
| September and October | The best value window of the year. Warm weather almost everywhere, thinner crowds, and rates 30 to 40 percent below July. Autumn colour in New England from late September. |
| January and February | Cheapest rates of the year in most cities, though cold in the north and east. Excellent for Florida, Arizona, southern California and skiing. |
| March to May | Shoulder season with rising prices. Watch out for spring break in March, which spikes Florida and the Gulf coast hard. |
| June to August | Peak everything. Highest hotel rates, busiest national parks, and school holidays across the country. |
| Late November and December | Thanksgiving and Christmas spike travel costs sharply. The first three weeks of December are reasonable; the last ten days are not. |
Costs that never make the budget
Six charges that do not appear in a daily figure, adding $400 to $1,265 per person across ten days.
| Cost | 10-day total | What to do about it |
| Mobile roaming | $100 to $160 | The only genuinely optional one on this list. See below. |
| Tips | $150 to $300 | Unavoidable. Build $15 to $30 a day into the budget from the start. |
| Sales tax | $55 to $125 | Add roughly 8 percent to everything you buy. Oregon, Montana and Delaware have none. |
| Resort fees | Up to $500 | $25 to $50 a night at many Las Vegas and Miami hotels, often disclosed only at checkout. Check before booking. |
| Checked baggage | $70 to $100 | $35 to $50 per bag each way on most airlines. Carry-on is free on legacy carriers. |
| Card and ATM fees | $25 to $80 | $3 to $5 per withdrawal from out-of-network ATMs, plus 1 to 3 percent foreign transaction fees on non-US cards. |
How much does mobile data cost in the USA?
Roaming is the one hidden cost you can reduce to almost nothing, and the gap between what most visitors pay and what it needs to cost is the widest of any line in this guide.
International roaming from a home carrier typically runs $10 to $16 per device per day. Across ten days that is $100 to $160 per person, and double if two of you are travelling.
You will use data constantly in the US. Transit apps, rideshare, restaurant bookings, mobile boarding passes, and Google Maps for a country where addresses are long and street grids are not always obvious.
What a USA eSIM costs instead
The ETravelSim USA eSIM with 5G and LTE across all 50 states. Plans start at $3.50, need no documentation, and the QR code arrives by email in about a minute.
| Plan | Validity | Price | Best for a 10-day trip |
| 5 GB | 30 days | $10.00 | A light trip, mostly on hotel Wi-Fi |
| 10 GB | 15 days | $13.00 | Covers ten days comfortably |
| 15 GB | 30 days | $19.00 | The standard ten-day choice |
| 20 GB | 30 days | $22.00 | Heavy use, or hotspot for a laptop |
| Unlimited | 10 days | $27.00 | Exactly the trip length. No hotspot. |
| 12 GB + unlimited calls | 30 days | $24.00 | Adds a real US +1 number with free incoming calls |
Prices verified on the ETravelSim product page in August 2026. Prices can change, so check before buying.
Why a US phone number is worth considering
Most travel eSIMs are data-only. A real US +1 number matters more in America than in most countries, because restaurant waitlists, delivery drivers, rental car desks and some ticketing systems will not text an international number. If your trip involves any of those, the Data plus Calls plans are worth the extra few dollars.
Two honest caveats
Hotspot works on the fixed-data plans but not on unlimited. And this eSIM covers the United States only. If your trip crosses into Canada or Mexico, you need the North America plan instead.
How to travel the USA on a budget: ten ways to spend less
- Pick a cheaper city. San Antonio, Nashville or Washington instead of New York or San Francisco. Worth $100 a day or more.
- Travel in September, October, January or February. Rates run 30 to 40 percent below July.
- Stay one transit stop out. Jersey City, Oakland, Pasadena, Fort Lauderdale.
- Check for resort fees before booking. $25 to $50 a night is common in Vegas and Miami and rarely shown up front.
- Shop at Trader Joe's, Aldi or Walmart. Groceries run 30 to 50 percent below the premium chains.
- Go to Washington DC. Nineteen Smithsonian museums, the zoo and most memorials cost nothing.
- Travel with cabin baggage only. Checked bags run $35 to $50 each way.
- Use a fee-free travel card. Foreign transaction fees of 1 to 3 percent add up over a week.
- Book domestic flights two to six weeks ahead. Prices climb steeply inside two weeks.
- Use a travel eSIM instead of roaming. Saves $80 to $140 per person over ten days.
USA travel budget FAQs
How much money do I need for 10 days in the USA?
About $1,200 on a budget, $2,500 mid-range and $6,500 for luxury, per person, land only. Add international flights, which vary widely by origin.
Is $3,000 enough for 10 days in the USA?
Comfortably, for one person, if your international flight is already paid. That covers a three-star hotel, restaurant meals, transport and several paid attractions in most cities except New York and San Francisco.
How much is the USA per day?
Roughly $90 to $150 a day for budget travel, $180 to $350 mid-range, and $500 or more for luxury. New York runs $230 to $330 a day mid-range; San Antonio is closer to $145.
What is the cheapest US city to visit?
Among the major ones, San Antonio at around $145 a day, followed by Nashville and Washington DC. Washington is arguably the best value of all because so many of its museums and monuments are free.
What is the cheapest month to visit the USA?
September and October for the best combination of price and weather. January and February are cheaper still but cold in the north. A September trip can cost 30 to 40 percent less than the same trip in July.
How much should I budget for tips?
$15 to $30 a day. Restaurants expect 18 to 22 percent, taxis and rideshares 15 to 20 percent, hotel housekeeping $2 to $5 a night. Tipping is a cultural expectation rather than a discretionary extra.
Why is the price different at the till?
Sales tax is not included in displayed prices in the United States. It ranges from zero in Oregon, Montana and Delaware to roughly 7 to 10 percent in New York, California and Texas.
What are resort fees?
A daily charge of $25 to $50 added by many hotels in Las Vegas, Miami and some other tourist cities, covering things like Wi-Fi and pool access whether you use them or not. It is often disclosed only at checkout, so check the total before booking.
Do I need a car in the USA?
It depends entirely on the city. New York, Chicago, Washington, Boston and San Francisco all work well on public transport. Los Angeles, Miami, and most of the South and West effectively require a car or heavy rideshare use.
How much does mobile data cost in the USA?
Carrier roaming runs $10 to $16 per device per day, so $100 to $160 across ten days. A USA eSIM covering the same period costs $13 to $27.
Can I get a US phone number with an eSIM?
Yes, on the Data plus Calls plans, which include a real US +1 number with free incoming calls. This matters more in the US than elsewhere because many services will not text an international number.
Does the USA eSIM work in Canada or Mexico?
No. It covers the United States only. For a trip crossing borders, use the North America plan that includes all three countries.
How much does a trip to America cost from India?
Including international flights, a mid-range ten-day trip typically runs $3,800 to $5,500 per person, of which flights are $900 to $1,400. Add the visa cost and allow several months for processing.
How much does 10 days in the USA cost for two people?
Roughly $4,200 to $5,000 for a mid-range trip, land only. The per-person figure drops by about a third compared with travelling solo, because hotel rooms are priced per room.
Is the USA expensive to travel in?
Yes, by global standards. Accommodation and dining are the main reasons, and tipping plus sales tax add 10 to 20 percent on top of listed prices. It is comparable to Western Europe in the big cities and cheaper in smaller ones.
How much does a car rental cost in the USA?
About $42 a day before extras, or $65 to $80 with taxes and basic insurance. City parking adds $30 to $60 a night, so a car is worth it for road trips and national parks but rarely for a city break.
Do I need to pay $100 to enter national parks?
If you are not a US resident and you visit one of eleven designated parks, yes, per adult aged 16 and over, on top of the standard entrance fee. The $250 America the Beautiful Non-Resident Annual Pass waives it and covers three additional adults.
How much is the ESTA and how long does it last?
$40.27 per person, valid for two years or until your passport expires. Apply only on the official US government site.
How much cash should I carry in the USA?
Less than you might think for purchases, more than you expect for tips. Cards work almost everywhere, but small cash tips for housekeeping, porters and bar staff are the norm. Carry $100 to $200 in small notes.
Explore more travel guides
- Best Travel eSIM for Japan, Europe, USA & Australia (2026 Guide)
- International Roaming Plans & Data: Costs, Tips & Best Options (2026)
- Guide to Activating Your eSIM with a QR Code
Destination eSIMs you might also need
- USA eSIM: T-Mobile and AT&T, from $3.50
- North America eSIM: USA, Canada and Mexico on one plan
- Canada eSIM: for a Toronto or Vancouver add-on
- Mexico eSIM: a common pairing with a US trip
- Europe eSIM: 35+ countries on one plan
For all ETravelSim destinations, visit etravelsim.com/collections/travelesim.
Last updated: August 2026. All costs are approximate 2026 estimates in USD and vary with travel dates, booking timing, city and travel style. Hotel rates, resort fees, park charges and eSIM prices change. Verify current figures before booking.