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Staff Report
Cyber Monday has come and gone and the National Retail Federation (NRF) is getting excited.
It appears that holiday spending for 2015 will be the highest in the NRF’s survey history, with the average per-person’s spending expected to reach $805.65, up from $802.45 in 2014.
But the unusual thing about the survey is the amount that individuals are spending, when broken down by city.
WalletHub.com put together the top 563 U.S. cities, using data from various sources, to calculate maximum holiday budgets for consumers in each of these cities.
From all over the U.S. and including these 563 cities, Texas had six cities in the top ten – Flower Mound, Frisco, Sugar Land, Allen, Pearland, The Woodlands and League City.
Of the bottom spenders in the list of 563 cities, Texas only had one city – Waco, with individual spending projected at $142, putting it at No. 557.
I-35 corridor cities making the list include Round Rock at No. 68 ($1,304), Austin at No. 148 ($1,019), San Antonio at No. 282 ($810) and New Braunfels at No. 348 ($752).
Some cities have an image of being a “rich” town. With that kind of image, though, West Palm Beach, Florida, comes in at No. 552 ($301) and Miami Beach, Florida, comes in at No. 553 ($276).
The per person spending in the survey ranges from $2,886 in Palo Alto, California, down to $68 in Albany, Georgia. The distribution of wealth and spending is literally “all over the map” when it comes to this survey.
Other interesting facts of the survey:
• The ratio of debt to income in Menifee, Calif., is six times higher than in Camden, N.J.
• The ratio of expenses to income in Albany, Ga., is two times higher than in Flower Mound, Texas.
• The ratio of savings to income in Jackson, Miss., is two times higher than in Anchorage, Alaska.
• The ratio of savings to monthly expenses (a measure of emergency fund preparedness) in Carmel, Ind., is two times higher than in Baltimore, Md.
