Deck the halls with… 7-foot inflatable Minions? Black Christmas trees? Pre-lit, pre-flocked, artificial rose gold and champagne boa feather wreaths? Welcome to Christmas 2021! America is going crazy in the Google search bar, buying up decorations faster than Santa can say “Ho ho ho.”
With Christmas stifled in so many ways last year, this is bound to be a big one as millions of Americans get back to their favorite social traditions, one of the foremost being holiday decorating. Whether you’re showing off a new construction home by designing an elegant wonderland or stringing together popcorn amidst a quaint, cozy little scene, your Christmas cheer is welcome here.
We recently surveyed 1,000 Americans, and analyzed more than 1,500 Christmas decoration search terms in Google, to find out who’s decorating the most, what’s trending this year, and once and for all, whether people prefer real trees or fakes.
Make no mistake, this year Rust Belt states are shining up and making it a Christmas to remember. Ohio and Pennsylvania rank number one and two for decoration searches per capita, and Michigan is also in the top 10. Meanwhile, residents of Nevada—a bulk of whom live in and around Sin City—are apparently too naughty for Christmas, ranking last out of all qualifying states in the analysis.
Most Popular Christmas Decorations in America
By a wide margin, Christmas trees rule the decoration landscape. Rightfully so—they can be customized in countless ways, they are natural centerpieces to festive design schemes, and, of course, they protect all the presents!
Americans are certainly divided on how they prefer their trees, but a majority (65%) prefer artificial over real (or, in other words, they prefer not cleaning up pine needles). The ideal height for a tree is six to seven feet but one in three Americans like their trees petite, under four feet. When it’s time to add a topper, angels outrank stars.
Predictably—since Christmas is a Christian holiday—nativity scenes are the third most popular decoration in the country. Much less predictably, Grinch-themed decorations outrank snowflakes, snowmen, and Santa!
Most Popular Christmas Decoration in Each State
Each state has preferences, and there are regional tastes too. For example, window candles are very popular in New England but not so much elsewhere. While trees, lights, and wreaths dominate the search volume in most states, we analyzed which decoration is most unusually popular in each state.
The southwest has gone Grinch-crazy, the southeast is keeping things tree-ditional, and our little gem in the Pacific, Hawai’i, is the state most hungry for gingerbread.
National Trends in Christmas Home Decoration
According to our national poll, nearly all Americans get into the Christmas spirit. Ninety-four percent say they celebrate Christmas in at least some way and 84 percent say they decorate. In fact, four out of five Americans say decorating is a cherished tradition for them and their family.
The most popular time to put up Christmas decorations is the weekend after Thanksgiving. Our respondents say Saturday afternoon is ideal, followed by Friday evening or Saturday morning. People spend about three hours decorating, on average, and $70 on new decorations. Forty-three percent say they like to have a drink while they work.
For 22 percent of Americans, decorations come down the week after Christmas, while everyone else waits until New Year’s Day or after. Of course, it’s not about when you take them down, it’s how you feel when they’re up! On that parting note, we wish you all a well-decorated Christmas and a happy holiday season.
Methodology
We analyzed more than 1,500 Google search terms related to Christmas decorations. For state-level data, we established search volume per capita averages over the past year.
We surveyed 1,004 Americans, asking about their Christmas decoration habits. Respondents were 49 percent female and 51 percent male, with an age range of 21 to 70 and an average age of 32 years old.
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