Perone remarked that "The Best Day" is a Fearless track that demonstrated Swift's talent as "an introspective, real emotion-driven singer-songwriter", contrary to other album tracks that feature a market-oriented production. In The Village Voice, Josh Love picked it as one of the album's great songs that display "preternatural wisdom and inclusiveness". James Reed of The Boston Globe called "The Best Day" the best song on Fearless, opining that the understated production highlighting the emotional sentiments makes the track a refreshing listen "after an entire album of wide-open choruses". Reed wrote, "If the melody doesn't stick in your mind, the message at least speaks to the heart."
