As the holiday season approaches, many homeowners are getting ready to embrace the festive spirit by sprucing up their homes with cheerful decorations. Whether it’s hanging string lights, setting up a Christmas tree, or placing a glowing reindeer on the lawn, holiday décor is a beloved tradition that brings warmth and joy to neighborhoods. But when is the right time to start?
At Lombardo Homes, we understand that home is where cherished memories are created, especially during the holiday season. For the fourth year in a row, we’ve turned our attention to Christmas and set out to uncover which states go all out with their holiday decorations. By analyzing Google Trends searches on holiday décor, we identified the most popular decoration choices across the country. Additionally, we surveyed over 1,200 Americans to find out when they start decorating and how much they plan to spend on their festive displays this year.
According to an analysis of Google search terms, Vermont decorates for Christmas the most! This is the second year in a row that the Green Mountain state came in at number one. However, this year the top piece of décor in this state is a wreath, which differs from the tree in 2023. Other states that rank in the top 5 for decorating include Wyoming, Delaware, North Dakota, and Rhode Island. In these states, nutcrackers, window candles, Santa, and snowmen are the top pieces of décor.
Some states may not be so jolly and only appear to be interested in minimal décor. Oklahoma ranks last in our list of states that decorate the most for the holidays. For those who do decorate there, a nativity scene is the top type of décor in the state. Other states that don’t decorate much include California, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Arkansas. Top types of holiday decorations in these states include garland, angels, and lights.
Decorating with lights is an age-old tradition that many look forward to year after year, so it should come as no surprise that lights are also the most popular holiday decoration in North Carolina, Missouri, Maryland, New York, and Michigan.
One infamous tradition around the holiday is hanging mistletoe, and people in states like Hawaii, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Arizona may be hanging those little green bundles around their homes.
So what are America’s favorite Christmas decorations nationwide? We analyzed thousands of terms related to decorations to find out which ones are the most popular. The classic Christmas tree remains the clear winner for the fourth year in a row, and remains the favorite Christmas decoration in 2024!
Snowflakes, which didn’t even rank in the top 10 in our 2023 rankings, now fall second to trees as the most popular holiday décor nationwide. Lights, which ranked number 2 in 2023, now remain at 3, with mistletoe and snowmen rounding out the top 5.
Other popular holiday decorations include garland, stockings, wreaths, candy canes, and a nativity or manger.
Several U.S. cities are also known for getting into the holiday spirit. We determined which of the 30 most populous cities decorate more during the holidays based on an analysis of Google Trends searches related to holiday décor.
Three years in a row, Las Vegas sits at number one and its favorite decoration is the Christmas stocking. It’s followed by Baltimore, Denver, Seattle, and Portland. Popular decoration types in these cities include window candles, reindeer, stars, and trees.
Other cities are less enthused about the holiday season. New York City lands at the very bottom of the list three years in a row. Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, and Philadelphia help round out the bottom five.
This trend may come as a surprise, especially for cities like New York and Los Angeles, known for their iconic holiday displays. However, while these cities boast famous public spectacles, such as the Rockefeller Center tree and extravagant window displays along Fifth Avenue, it’s possible that private homes and neighborhoods with fewer tourists may not embrace decorating as enthusiastically.
You may have this argument yearly with neighbors or family members, when is it time to decorate for Christmas and the holidays? Considering 80% of Americans will decorate this year, how soon is too soon? According to this year’s survey results, the most popular time to deck the halls is the week after Thanksgiving. 1 in 4 Americans decorate for Christmas the first week of December, while 14% wait until the second week of December or later.
Most Americans (80%) will be decorating a Christmas tree this season. A large majority (66%) prefer artificial trees while 34% like real trees.
For those buying a real tree, the cost may add up. Americans plan to spend an average of $230 on Christmas decorations in 2024. It’s significantly more than last year’s report (Americans reported spending $140 on decorations in 2023). It’s even higher than the $82 Americans reported spending in our 2022 report.
Depending on how spirited you want your holidays to be may influence how much time you spend putting things out. On average, Americans will spend 5 hours decorating this year.
Even though the season is holy and jolly, eventually, the holiday décor will have to come down and be put back into storage. But when should you take down these decorations? The majority (50%) keep their tree up as long as possible and wait to take it down until after the first week of January. Nearly a quarter (21%) report taking their tree down between Christmas and New Year’s, while another quarter (23%) wait until January 2. Only a very small percentage (6%) will start putting things away on December 26.
Whether you go all out with festive decorations or prefer to keep it simple with a few twinkling lights, we hope your holiday decorating brings you joy and adds a little extra cheer to your season!
2021 Holiday Decoration Report
2022 Holiday Decoration Report
2023 Holiday Decoration Report
In November 2024 we analyzed 6,708 Google search terms related to Christmas decorations to complete this study. For state and city-level data, we looked at search volume per capita over the past 24 months.
In November 2024, we also surveyed 1,002 Americans to get their feedback on decorating for Christmas and the typical holiday decorations. Respondents were 49% female, 49% male, and 2% nonbinary, with an age range of 18 to 77 and an average age of 41.
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