It looks like Santa Claus is going to be competing with residents in Flower Mound to see who brings the most lavish holiday gifts this year.
Festive Flo-Mo ranked No. 7 in WalletHub's annual report on U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets in 2024.
Residents in this well-to-do Dallas suburb are expected to spend $3,541 on their Christmas gifts this year. But tsk-tsk: That's down $56 from the $3,485 they were ready to drop in the 2023 ranking — bumping them down two spots from their previous ranking at No. 5.
The U.S. Census Bureau says that Flower Mound's estimated population of 79,445 had a median household income of $154,471 in 2023. No wonder they have the extra cash to spare.
Flower Mound consistently makes the list of the top 10 U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders, outshining its nearby neighbor Frisco, which took a precarious drop this year from their previous high ranking of No. 3 in 2023.
They've now fallen off the top-10 list altogether. The average holiday budget in Frisco is still an exorbitant amount – $3,412 – but that only garnered the city No. 11 in the overall ranking out of 558 U.S. cities. You gotta spend to stay on top.
The No. 1 city in the U.S. for biggest holiday spenders in 2024 is Newton, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb right outside of Boston, where the median income measured in 2022 was $176,373. Slots 2 through 5 were all cities in California's Silicon Valley: Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Milpitas.
Seven additional North Texas cities landed in this year's top 100 biggest holiday budgets, including:
- No. 18 – Allen ($3,070)
- No. 32 – Plano ($2,658)
- No. 45 – North Richland Hills ($2,484)
- No. 52 – McKinney ($2,386)
- No. 76 – Richardson ($1,980)
- No. 81 – Carrollton ($1,932)
- No. 92 – Lewisville ($1,848)
Meanwhile, Dallas landed at No. 213 this year with an average holiday budget of $1,406, and Fort Worth ranked No. 359 with a budget of $1,082.
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.
Whether a Dallasite's holiday budget is under $200 or more than $1,000, it's better to prioritize remaining within that budget instead of racking up the credit card bill, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.
"There are plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays and show you care without spending much money, like hosting potlucks or giving handmade gifts," said Lupo.
Other Texas cities that made it into the top 100 are:
- No. 13 – The Woodlands ($3,395)
- No. 15 – Sugar Land ($3,214)
- No. 23 – Cedar Park ($2,930)
- No. 25 – League City ($2,897)
- No. 39 – Round Rock ($2,538)
- No. 60 – Pearland ($2,223)
- No. 87 – Austin ($1,905)
