How much will the average American spend this holiday season?

The holidays aren’t cheap: The average American will spend over $2,000 this season, according to a recent study.

The survey of 2,000 Americans who celebrate a winter holiday examined the cost breakdown of the holiday season — as well as how Americans have been impacted by 2024’s financially challenging climate.

According to the results, the most expensive holiday category is transportation as those planning to travel this year (64%) will spend $846 on average.

“Putting on” the holidays is the next most expensive ticket: Respondents reported they’ll spend $658, on average, in this category. Most expensive items include holiday food and refreshments ($155), throwing parties ($123) and holiday clothing and outfits ($107).

The gifts category is next on the list. On average, Americans plan to spend $559 on their loved ones this year, with the most money being spent on kids ($117) and partners ($92).

Commissioned by Achieve and conducted by Talker Research, the research confirmed what many have felt this year: For the majority of respondents (61%), 2024 is in their top five most financially challenging years ever.

Possibly because of this, more than four in 10 Americans (43%) are “going lean” this holiday season and will spend less this year compared to years past.

Most (65%) are stressed about their holiday spending this year and 73% say their financial stress takes away from their enjoyment of the season.

For nearly one in five (17%), their financial anxiety completely ruins their enjoyment of the season.

Looking ahead, a fifth (20%) believe they won’t financially recover from the 2024 holiday season until May 2025 or later.

And seeing how Americans plan to pay for the holidays this year, respondents reported that a fifth of their holiday expenses (20%) will be put on a credit card.

In fact, 28% have already or plan to open a new line of credit to cover their holiday spending.

“While the holidays can be one of the best times of the entire year, they can also be the most stressful,” said Brad Stroh, co-founder and chief executive officer at Achieve. “And while most want to put money into making the season special for their loved ones, there can also be pressure from internal and external sources to spend beyond your means. It’s important to take a step back and evaluate your spending habits during the holidays.”

According to the research, 37% of those who celebrate the holidays have gone into debt in years past due to holiday spending. And almost one in five (17%) think it’s likely they’ll go into holiday debt this year.

Looking at how this impacts existing debt, Americans’ average unsecured debt (debt not backed by collateral) totals $23,554. However, a quarter (25%) said they’re not even sure how much debt they have.

Digging deeper, 31% of those with debt reported it’s increased this year and 36% said it’s stayed the same. In contrast, only 14% reported their debt has decreased this year.

Then examining how this influences everyday spending, respondents said they’ve spent more on groceries (48%), rent or mortgage payments (30%), insurance (29%), medical bills (26%) and daily transportation (26%) in 2024 compared to 2023.

And seeing where they’ve had to trim, Americans have spent/contributed less to their discretionary budgets (39%), emergency savings (26%), retirement savings (20%), gifts (31%) and travel (25%) in 2024 compared to 2023.

“This study shines a light on how such a financially challenging year is impacting the holiday season and how much people are able to enjoy it,” said Stroh. “For people who are struggling this season, or just in general, there are many ways to take simple steps to move their financial situation forward. These can range from establishing and adhering to a budget to talking to a financial expert to taking a break from your credit card entirely.”

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans who celebrate a winter holiday; the survey was commissioned by Achieve and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Nov. 5  and Nov. 8, 2024.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.