Holiday Spending In New Jersey: How We Rank

The holiday season is a time for celebration, but between the presents, decorations and festive meals, it can become an expensive time of year. Residents in three New Jersey towns have some of the highest holiday budgets in the nation, according to a new ranking by WalletHub.

The personal finance website ranked the maximum holiday budget for residents in 570 cities across the country. Toms River, Clifton and Jersey City all ranked in the top 100. Here are the top 10 New Jersey towns ranked from highest to lowest in terms of average spending for the holidays:

1. Toms River (Overall rank: #63); Average holiday budget: $1,375
2. Clifton (Overall rank: #74); Average holiday budget: $1,294
3. Jersey City (Overall rank: #92); Average holiday budget: $1,184
4. Bayonne (Overall rank: #122); Average holiday budget: $1,066
5. Union City (Overall rank: #269); Average holiday budget: $701
6. Elizabeth (Overall rank: #291); Average holiday budget: $682
7. Paterson (Overall rank: #303); Average holiday budget: $666
8. East Orange (Overall rank: #327); Average holiday budget: $640
9. Newark (Overall rank #476); Average holiday budget: $511
10. Passaic (Overall rank: #514); Average holiday budget: $466

“To avoid overspending during the holidays, have a realistic budget and plan with a maximum cap that you share with a spending partner, do not be guilted by yourself or others into overspending, and shop year-round early to get both the best prices and the greatest number of options,” Scott Swan, a professor of innovation and marketing at William & Mary, said in comments accompanying the study.

Shop Patch’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide Here

Shoppers in Palo Alto, California, plan to spend the most per capita during the holiday buying season, according to the analysis. Sunnyvale, California, and Flower Mound, Texas, ranked second and third.

Residents in Providence, Rhode Island, have the lowest holiday budget in the country at just $111.

Americans are projected to spend between $727 and $730 billion during the 2019 holiday shopping season, which runs from Nov. 13 to Dec. 25.

To determine the ranking, WalletHub compared 570 of the largest cities in the United States across five key characteristics of holiday spending, including income, age, debt-to-income ratio, monthly income-to-monthly expense ratio, and savings-to-monthly spending ratio.

Here are the 10 cities with the highest holiday budgets:

1. Palo Alto, California: $3,160
2. Sunnyvale, California: $2,971
3. Flower Mound, Texas: $2,937
4. Newton, Massachusetts: $2,888
5. Mountain View, California: $2,877
6. Frisco, Texas: $2,836
7. The Woodlands, Texas: $2,833
8. Carmel, Indiana: $2,632
9. Naperville, Illinois: $2,566
10. Milpitas, California: $2,549

The full rankings are available at WalletHub.