The city with the largest holiday budget in Washington state
Nov 25, 2017, 11:54 PM
(Mike Roberts, Flickr" target=new>link description)
When it comes to the holidays, we should all make friends with people in Bellevue. Residents in that city are expected to have the largest holiday budget in the state.
In fact, with an average holiday budget of $2,367, Bellevue takes third place in the nation for spending between now and Dec. 25.
Find Western Washington holiday events and more with this Holiday Map
Credit and finance website WalletHub which dove into its data to rank the holiday spending of the nation’s top cities — a total of 570 — between the middle of November and Dec. 25. Bellevue came in just under Naperville, Ill. with $2,381, and Sugar Land, Texas with $2,368. And because you know you’re wondering — at the bottom of the list is Flint, Michigan with $69.
Who is buying in Bellevue, Kirkland and Seattle
Three Washington cities made it into the top 50 of the holiday budget list. WalletHub created average consumer profiles for each.
- Bellevue
Monthly income: $9,490
Monthly expenses: $6,120
Savings: $9,259
Age: 39.1
Average holiday budget: $2,367 - Kirkland
Monthly income: $9,528
Monthly expenses: $5,977
Savings: $9,296
Age: 36.9
Average holiday budget: $1,587 - Seattle
Monthly income: $6,956
Monthly expenses: $5,188
Savings: $6,787
Age: 35.5
Average holiday budget: $1,323
Holiday budget for Washington cities
According to WalletHub’s average holiday budget results, 17 Washington cities made it onto the national list of 570.
- Bellevue: $2,367
- Kirkland: $1,587
- Seattle: $1,323
- Marysville: $769
- Renton: $734
- Federal Way: $665
- Kent: $662
- Pasco: $617
- Auburn: $614
- Kennewick: $608
- Vancouver: $584
- Tacoma: $551
- Spokane Valley: $503
- Everett: $493
- Bellingham: $465
- Spokane: $461
- Yakima: $417
To come up with its rankings, WalletHub compared cities across five metrics: income; age; debt-to-income ratio; monthly income to monthly expenses ratio; and savings to monthly expenses ratio. A consumer is comfortable enough, financially, to spend more on holiday shopping if they have enough emergency savings to cover 6 months, according to the credit site. And it helps to have a debt-to-income ratio of less than 22 percent for a renter and 43 percent for a homeowner.