Illinois City Has 3rd-Highest Holiday Spending In U.S.: Study

ILLINOIS — The holiday season is getting into full swing and with all that festive cheer comes the risk of slightly less-than-cheery debt. According to a new holiday budget study by WalletHub, the average American will spend upwards of $1,000 this season. One Illinois city that topped the 2018 Holiday Budgets list last year came in at #3 for 2018, with the average shopper likely to shell out more than $2,500 for gifts, decorations, and other expenses.

According to the study, the average Naperville residents will spend an average of $2,528 once they're done making their lists and checking them twice. This is an increase of roughly 6 percent over last year's estimate from WalletHub, which had Naperville residents spending $2,381.

This year, the estimated budget list was topped by Flower Mound, Texas, where shoppers are estimated to dole out $2,761 in 2018.

The surge in projected spending reflects a nationwide trend. According to the National Retail Federation, holiday spending is up by about 4 percent across the country.

WalletHub says its study aims to "help consumers avoid post-holiday regret." To compile the estimated holiday budgets, researchers looked at 570 U.S. cities and weighed such factors as annual income, average age, and the ratio of monthly savings to monthly expenses.

Based on these metrics, Naperville leads Illinois towns with its budget, followed distantly by Arlington Heights, where you might expect to spend around $1,673. Here's how other Illinois localities fare when it comes to holiday budgets:

1. Naperville: $2,528
2. Arlington Heights: $1,673
3. Schaumburg: $1,351
4. Palatine: $1,224
5. Bloomington: $1,156
6. Joliet: $1,130
7. Bolingbrook: $1,039
8. Cicero: $899
9. Springfield: $894
10. Evanston: $878
11. Peoria: $847
12. Waukegan: $818
13. Aurora: $801
14. Rockford: $792
15. Elgin: $772
16. Decatur: $766
17. Skokie: $745
18. Chicago: $612
19. Champaign: $477

Find out where your city was on the WalletHub 2017 list. To see where other cities landed on the 2018 list, view WalletHub's study of 2018 Holiday Budgets by City.

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