Hey, big spenders
Wealthy Dallas suburb boasts the 3rd biggest holiday spenders in U.S.
They're buying all the presents in Frisco.
Santa and his elves get busier with every passing year, but sometimes even Kris Kringle has to use his black card to get the job done. And according to a new study by Wallethub, Santa's gonna be working overtime to fulfill the orders for residents of Frisco this holiday season.
The personal finance experts have determined Frisco is the U.S. city with the No. 3 biggest holiday spending budget in 2023. Shoppers in the affluent Dallas suburb are expected to spend $3,546 this festive season.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Frisco's estimated population of 219,587 had a median household income of $134,210.
This is Frisco's first time in the holiday shopping spotlight.The North Texas city ranked a much lower No. 37 in last year's report with an average spending budget of $2,150. Way to step it up.
The nearby city of Flower Mound is a returnee, but dropped two places from No. 3 last year into No. 5 this year. The average holiday budget for a Flower Mound household is $3,485.
Six other North Texas cities landed in this year's top 100 heftiest holiday budgets:
- No. 22 – Allen ($2,964)
- No. 30 – Plano ($2,566)
- No. 56 – McKinney ($2,165)
- No. 67 – Carrollton ($1,928)
- No. 77 – Richardson ($1,809)
- No. 99 – North Richland Hills ($1,706)
Each year, WalletHub calculates the maximum holiday budget for over 550 U.S. cities "to help consumers avoid post-holiday regret," the website says. The study factors in income, age of the population, and other financial indicators such as debt-to-income ratio, monthly-income-to monthly-expenses ratio, and savings-to-monthly-expenses ratio.
Shoppers will have to keep a closer eye on their bank accounts this year while they search for the best gifts for their loved ones. Many consumers are running out of savings accumulated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Yao Jin, an associate professor of supply chain management at Miami University.
To combat overspending, Jin suggests setting hard budgets based on personal financial circumstances and develop a list of "must haves" rather than "nice to haves."
"Holiday times are festive, and retailers know that festivities can boost mood and lead to a propensity to overspend," he said in the Wallethub report. "In fact, that is also why retailers tend to have more generous return policies to both alleviate concerns of unwanted gifts and buyer’s remorse. The key to avoiding holiday overspending is for consumers to take the emotions out of the decision, to the extent possible."
- No. 10 – The Woodlands ($3,316)
- No. 14 – Sugar Land ($3,210)
- No. 31 – Pearland ($2,566)
- No. 34 – Missouri City ($2,517)
- No. 44 – Cedar Park ($2,354)
- No. 71 – Austin ($1,877)
- No. 95 – League City ($1,733)
The report and its methodology can be found on wallethub.com.
