Labor Day Weekend marks the last hurrah of summer, but don’t fret, a few weeks of sunshine and warm temperatures still lie ahead, certainly enough to permit a few long afternoons at the beach.
With that in mind, The Daily Beast wanted to know, for the second year in a row, which of America’s countless beaches are the most popular. With data on more than 100 of the busiest beach destinations in the country from the United States Lifesaving Association, we compared the 2011 attendance numbers to each beach town’s population, using 5-year population estimates from the U.S. Census. We also equally weighted this per-capita number with the total number of visitors to determine our final ranking of America’s 20 most popular beach destination cities and towns.