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The Alarming Shortage in America's Top Tourist Hotspots: Only 1 Restroom for Every 100K Visitors

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New analysis reveals a troubling restroom deficit nationwide—Is this a hidden challenge facing America’s iconic destinations?

  • Restroom shortage in top tourist cities means most popular U.S. destinations have less than one public toilet per 100,000 visitors.
  • Orlando and Las Vegas offer just 0.1 restrooms per 100,000 visitors, struggling to meet basic public restroom needs.
  • Experts agree that the lack of public restrooms might be a threat to the tourism industry.

Gilbert, 10 April 2025 –A new analysis by Nationwide Waste Service, a leading provider of portable sanitary solutions, reveals that despite drawing millions of visitors annually, many of America’s most iconic tourist hotspots are struggling to meet a basic need—public restroom access.

According to this analysis, New York City leads U.S. tourist destinations in public restroom availability, with 152 public restrooms and a ratio of 1.3 restrooms per 100,000 visitors. Despite this leadership, even NYC's ratio falls short of meeting the demands of its 62.2 million annual visitors. Other popular destinations, such as San Francisco and San Diego, also face significant restroom shortages, offering just 1.0 and 0.8 restrooms per 100,000 visitors, respectively. These figures highlight the ongoing challenge of restroom accessibility for tourists across major U.S. cities.

Cities like Orlando, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada, perform even worse, with a meager 0.1 public restrooms per 100,000 visitors. Despite attracting millions of tourists annually—74 million in Orlando and 40.8 million in Las Vegas—both cities offer shockingly low restroom availability, leaving visitors struggling to find facilities.

Table 1: Top 10 U.S. travel destinations, ranked according to public restroom availability.