New · Real survey data
How does your Christmas spending compare?
The average American plans to spend about $890 on the season. Nobody actually knows if they're the frugal one or the Santa of the family, so here is the settling of it: type your number, get your verdict against the real national data, and send it to whoever needs to see it.
The guide
Where the average comes from
The comparison uses the National Retail Federation's annual holiday survey, the number most news stories quote. For the 2025 season the average American planned to spend $890.49. That was the second-highest figure in the survey's history, just under the 2024 record of $901.99.
It is a per-person number, not a household one. It covers gifts plus everything else bought for the season: food and candy, decorations, and cards. Gifts are $627.93 of it, about 70 percent. Travel is not included.
So if you are thinking in household terms, divide by the number of adults before you type your number in. A couple who each spend the average is looking at about $1,781 for the season.
How to read your verdict
Anything from about 10 percent under $890 to 15 percent over it counts as the average American Christmas. Below that the verdicts step down through comfortably under and a fraction of the average; above it, meaningfully over and multiples of it.
None of those is a grade. An average is a middle, and it includes people spending with a written budget and people winging it. The more useful question is whether your number was chosen before December or discovered after it.
The number that matters more than the average
About 37 percent of Americans took on debt for the 2025 holidays, averaging $1,223, according to LendingTree. Among parents of young children it was 48 percent. Nearly two-thirds of the people who borrowed expected it to take three months or more to pay off, and 40 percent were carrying it on cards charging 20 percent interest or more.
That is why the cheapest Christmas decision is usually made in January. Divide the season by 52 and the average $890 is about $17 a week. Put that aside from the first paycheck of the year and December is paid for before it arrives.
And if you are looking for somewhere to trim, look at gifts first. The tree, the lights, and the dinner are the small part of the bill. A real tree runs about $75 at the median, and ten strings of LED mini lights cost about two dollars in electricity for the whole season.
Questions about Christmas spending
- How much does the average American spend on Christmas?
- About $890 per person for the 2025 season, according to the National Retail Federation. That covers gifts, food, decorations, and cards. Gifts are about $628 of it.
- Is the $890 per person or per household?
- Per person. For a household comparison, divide your total by the number of adults, or double the average for a couple (about $1,781).
- Do you save the number I type in?
- No. Nothing is stored. Your number goes into the page address so a shared link opens on the same verdict, and that is the only place it lives.
- How many people go into debt for Christmas?
- About 37 percent in 2025, averaging $1,223, according to LendingTree's annual survey. Among parents of young children it was 48 percent.
- Is Christmas spending going up?
- In total, yes: national holiday sales crossed $1 trillion for the first time. Per person it has been flat, hovering between about $890 and $900, so most of the growth is prices and population rather than people buying more.
Where the numbers come from
Plan a season your January self will thank you for.
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