Columbia Ranks No. 2 In Maryland For Holiday Spending

COLUMBIA, MD — The holiday season is getting into full swing and with all that festive cheer comes the risk of overdoing it with spending. According to a new holiday budget study by personal finance site WalletHub, the average American will spend upwards of $1,000 this season.

Those in Columbia tend to spend a bit more.

According to the study, Columbia residents will spend an average of $1,513 once they're done making their lists and checking them twice. Columbia came in at No. 37 among U.S. cities for holiday spending in WalletHub's survey.

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.

This year, the holiday spending 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. Last year, the average holiday spending totaled $967 per person, which was up nearly 3.4 percent since 2016.

According to the WalletHub survey, Rockville leads Maryland towns with its budget, followed by Ellicott City and Columbia.

Here's how other Maryland localities fare when it comes to holiday budgets:

• Rockville: $1,870
• Ellicott City: $1,527
• Columbia: $1,513
  
• Silver Spring: $1,211
• Germantown: $1,179
• Waldorf: $896
• Gaithersburg: $766
• Frederick: $679
• Glen Burnie: $573
• Baltimore: $415

To see where other cities landed on the 2018 list, view WalletHub's study of 2018 Holiday Budgets by City.

— By Patch editors Shannon Antinori and Elizabeth Janney

Photo at The Mall in Columbia by Elizabeth Janney.