VacationSelector
The red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji, Fukuoka
FukuokaThe red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Fukuoka by Nick-D, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Fukuoka or Scottsdale?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Fukuoka for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Fukuoka’s own page.

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Fukuoka 50, Scottsdale 8: Fukuoka leads by 42 points.
Food & drink. Fukuoka 82, Scottsdale 46: Fukuoka leads by 36 points.
Culture & sights. Fukuoka 50, Scottsdale 38: Fukuoka leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Fukuoka 60, Scottsdale 52: Fukuoka leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fukuoka 62, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Fukuoka 84, Scottsdale 50: Fukuoka leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Fukuoka 78, Scottsdale 60: Fukuoka leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Fukuoka 82, Scottsdale 20: Fukuoka leads by 62 points.
Shopping & style. Fukuoka 65, Scottsdale 60: Fukuoka leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Fukuoka 58, Scottsdale 32: Fukuoka leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fukuoka 45, Scottsdale 40: Fukuoka leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fukuoka 60, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fukuoka and Scottsdale.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Fukuoka
Best match
65match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Fukuoka in July

31 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
301 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
FukuokaScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fukuoka: 1991-2020 normals, Fukuoka (1.9 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFukuokaScottsdale
Official languageJapanese-
CurrencyYen (JPY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119911
Elevation8 m380 m
Main airportFukuoka Airport (FUK)5 km from centre46 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureFukuokaScottsdale
City population1,603,043241,361
People per km²4,715-
Museums within 10 km2310
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fukuoka or Scottsdale somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.