Cary Has One of Largest Average Holiday Budgets Nationwide, Study Says

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Cary, NC – With Black Friday one week away, the holiday shopping season is nearly here. As Cary residents start making their shopping lists, a new study shows Cary has one of the largest average holiday budgets nationwide.

Long Shopping List

In a new study by WalletHub, the credit website studied financial information in towns and cities across the country to find what a typical maximum budget would be in each municipality.

Cary ranked 11th nationwide in this study, with the average person having a maximum holiday budget of $2,027. This is not how much the average person will spend on gifts for the holidays but the maximum they should spend to keep their finances in check.

By contrast, the National Retail Federation found the average American will spend $967 this year in holiday shopping, up 3.4 percent from 2016.

How to Budget

To get to this $2,027 figure, the WalletHub study looked at Cary’s average Debt-to-Income Ratio, Monthly Income-to-Monthly Expenses Ratio and Savings-to-Monthly Expenses Ratio. It also takes into account income and age.

Furthermore, the WalletHub study also looks at whether a resident is in a comfortable enough financial position that they can afford to buy gifts for the holidays. The study considers people in a comfortable position if they have six months worth of emergency savings and a debt-to-savings ratio smaller than 22 percent for a renter or 43 percent for a homeowner.

WalletHub also offers a personal algorithm for people to create their own holiday budget.

Story by staff reports. Photo by Peter Corbett.