Texans are expected to spend more than double the national average during the Holiday season, credited to high incomes, low living expenses and low debt, according to a new study by the Washington D.C finance group Wallethub.
According to the study, there are six Texas cities in the top 20 for Holiday spending, with consumers racking up an average budget of around $2,000.
Wallethub analyzed over 500 cities across the nation for the report.
Here in Hays County, the San Marcos Premium Outlets and Tanger Outlets have consistently accumulated over $1 million in sales tax revenue in the month of December alone, according to reports obtained by the City of San Marcos from 2016 to the present.
“(Texas) ranked so high because of the large holiday budget potentially available for each household, which is over $2,000,” said Jill Gonzalez, an analyst at Wallethub. “This means the consumers in Texas are, in general, in a comfortable financial position, which allows them to engage in holiday spending without too much stress or fear of going over the budget.”
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend around $1,000 during the Holiday season, which is up four percent from 2017.
But while many cities in Texas can afford to splurge during the season of giving, there are many cities across the country that struggle in this department.
“We found the largest holiday budgets to be more than $2,000, with the largest in Texas’ (city) Flower Mound, at $2,761,” Gonzalez said. “The difference between the first and last budget is huge. Flower Mound’s budget is over 43 times bigger than Cleveland’s, where people can spend only $64 on average on gifts.”
The study credits Texas’ low taxes, debt to income ratio, savings and other expenses to draw its conclusion. According to Wallethub’s data, in 2018, the average household credit card debt lingers around $8,332, or around a trillion dollars accumulated throughout the country.
According to sales tax numbers provided by the City of San Marcos, the holiday season proves to be beneficial for revenue. The data provided numbers on the sales tax revenue generated from Nov. 2015 to the present.
November and December, throughout the past three years, have consistently generated more sales tax revenue than any other months in the year, an indication that consumers are not afraid to spend their hard earned cash during the holidays.
In Dec. of 2015, the outlets generated $1,318,019 in sales tax revenue, which was followed by one of the slowest months of the year for shoppers. January shoppers only racked up $564,455 in revenue.
In 2016 and 2017, revenue during the month of December constantly stayed above $1.2 million. According to the National Retail Foundation, those numbers should be expected to rise this year.
“Overall, Texas is one of the states where people can boast having a comfortable holiday budget,” Gonzalez said. “About a third of its cites’ households can easily spend over $1,000 for the holidays, without breaking the bank.”
