VacationSelector
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Scottsdale or Xi'an?

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 Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • families
  • nightlife

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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. Scottsdale 8, Xi'an 4: Scottsdale leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Scottsdale 46, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Scottsdale 38, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 43 points.
Nightlife. Scottsdale 52, Xi'an 42: Scottsdale leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Scottsdale 68, Xi'an 62: Scottsdale leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Scottsdale 50, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Scottsdale 60, Xi'an 48: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Scottsdale 20, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Scottsdale 60, Xi'an 50: Scottsdale leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Scottsdale 32, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Scottsdale and Xi'an are level on 40.
Wellness & relaxation. Scottsdale 72, Xi'an 40: Scottsdale leads by 32 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and families with your weighting.

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Scottsdale in July

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

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
ScottsdaleXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureScottsdaleXi'an
Official language-Putonghua
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7UTC+8
Emergency number911Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation380 m405 m
Main airportPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureScottsdaleXi'an
City population241,36112,952,907
People per km²-1,283
Museums within 10 km109
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Scottsdale or Xi'an 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. 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.