CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — All 50 states (plus Washington D.C.) were ranked by internet provider CenturyLink to see which states are the most festive year after year, and it turns out West Virginia is one of the big dogs when it comes to holiday spirit.
“Now hang on,” you’re probably thinking, “how do even measure Christmas spirit? This sounds totally made up!” CenturyLink measured several areas of internet activity like shopping trends, Christmas music streaming and searches for Christmas movies, as well as other physical factors like the number of Christmas tree farms per capita, the amount of charitable giving in each state and a survey of 1,000 Americans about their attitudes and habits around Christmas.
Here are the top five and bottom five states when it comes to holiday spirit intensity:
- #1. New Hampshire
- #2. Wisconsin
- #3. Utah
- #4. West Virginia
- #5. Pennsylvania
- #47. Mississippi
- #48. New York
- #49. Oregon
- #50. Alabama
- #51. District of Columbia
Some of the most interesting findings of the survey revealed that:
- Most respondents stopped believing in Santa when they were between five and nine years old, a trend they say is shared across all generations.
- Washington D.C. ranked last in Christmas spirit three years in a row.
- 33% of Gen Z and 30% of Millenials say they are spending “way more” on Christmas in the last few years, but 41% of Gen Xers say they are spending far less recently.
- New Hampshire placed #1 for the second year in a row.
- 43% of people say they haven’t changed how they celebrate Christmas since the COVID-19 pandemic, and 30% say they have made more of an effort to see their families as a result.
If you want to see the full findings of the study, you can read it here.
