How to spend money on Valentine’s Day? Let me count the ways...
Lovesick shoppers shell out more than $23.9 billion in Cupid's name each year. That makes Valentine's Day the third-priciest holiday on the calendar for U.S. consumers. But love might not be the only motivator. Roughly 36% of people expect their Valentine to spend at least $50 on a gift, according to WalletHub's 2022 Valentine's Day Survey. 54% of people would also break up with their significant other if he or she spent irresponsibly, so fear is a factor, too.
Whether you love or loathe this holiday, there's no denying St. Valentine's impact on our wallets. With that in mind, WalletHub examined V-Day from all angles to help people embrace their loving feelings without hurting their finances. At the very least, seeing what people do (or don't do) in the name of love should make the day a bit more enjoyable.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner and America’s sweethearts having spent $21.8 billion on the holiday last year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Best Places for Valentine’s Day. It also released its nationally representative 2022 Valentine’s Day Spending Survey, which found that 70 million Americans expect their partner to spend less this year compared to last year.
To determine the most romantic yet affordable cities for celebrating the Day of Hearts, WalletHub compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 27 key metrics, ranging from florists per capita to forecasted precipitation to the cost of a three-course meal for two. Austin came in 12th out of the nation.
Top 20 Places for Valentine’s Day 2022
1. San Francisco, CA
2. Seattle, WA
3. Honolulu, HI
4. Orlando, FL
5. San Diego, CA
6. Washington, DC
7. Portland, OR
8. Las Vegas, NV
9. Scottsdale, AZ
10. New York, NY 11. San Jose, CA
12. Austin, TX
13. Chicago, IL
14. Denver, CO
15. Pittsburgh, PA
16. Virginia Beach, VA
17. Raleigh, NC
18. Albuquerque, NM
19. Boston, MA
20. Los Angeles, CA
Valentine’s Day Facts
$23.9 Billion: Total Valentine’s Day spending projected for 2022 ($175.41 per person celebrating).
$235 vs. $119: Men will spend almost twice as much as women, on average, for Valentine’s Day 2022.
$10.7 Billion: Amount Americans will spend on jewelry ($6.2B), flowers ($2.3B) and candy ($2.2B).
26%: Share of marriages that begin online.
33%: Overall online dating activity increase across the U.S. between February 1 and February 14.
58%: Share of Americans who say that romantic gestures are more important to them now than they were pre-pandemic.
Information courtesy of WalletHub.com
