Every year after Thanksgiving, Americans rush to get their Christmas decorations up. Over 85 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, which is one of the most popular holidays in the country, after Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, and Mother's Day, according to Statista.
Each Christmas season, mayors across the country also do their part to pump up the holiday spirit in their towns, decorating all the main areas and coming up with new projects to involve community members.
A recent report found out that for the second year in a row, one state has the most Christmas spirit across the entire United States—and here's why.
Which State Has the Most Christmas Spirit?
According to the report by Century Link, for two consecutive years now, New Hampshire has been labeled the state with the most Christmas spirit, based on residents' attitudes and habits around the holiday season.
To establish the winner, they calculated data from two main categories: Christmas-themed online activity within the last 12 months, and Christmas-related cultural markers. They then custom-weighted each metric to assign final rankings.
The first category, Christmas-themed online activity, weighted 78.5 percent of the total ranking. Google searches for two key terms, "Christmas movies" and "Gingerbread houses" weighted at 29 percent—14.5 percent each.
Google Shopping trends for four key terms, including "Wrapping paper," "Christmas cards," "Christmas ornaments," and "Elf on a Shelf" weighted at 28 percent—7 percent each.
Other metrics also taken into consideration in the ranking include Christmas music streaming, tweets about Christmas, Christmas-related cultural markers, the number of Christmas tree farms per capita, and, last but not least, charitable giving in the last documented tax year.
Wisconsin is the second most-spirited state this year, after ranking number 16 in 2021, and Maine has fallen to number 18 after coming second last year. For the third year in a row, Washington, D.C. ranked last in the Christmas spirit list.
What Is Christmas Like in New Hampshire?
Jodie Nazaka, the director of the Manchester Economic Development Office (MEDO), told Newsweek that Manchester, the largest town in New Hampshire, is now fully decorated and ready for Christmas and that it looks "absolutely stunning" with the recent dusting of snow.
"With support from the Central Business Service District, we added more decorations than ever before this year. We worked with New England Holidays Lights to bring more LED color-changing, festive lighting to Veterans Park, Stanton Plaza, and Arm's Park," she said.
This year, Manchester held its first annual tree lighting ceremony following the Holiday Parade on December 3. They still have more festive events planned ahead of Christmas.
According to Nazaka, it took about two weeks to hang all the lighted snowflakes along Elm Street, spiral wrap the trees at City Hall, and prepare the uplighting in all the rest of those parts of the city.
Regarding funding for all the cheerful decorations, she said: "Decorating the city for the holidays is a partnership with many city departments, local business owners, and stakeholders that all pitch in to cover any costs associated with lighting up the city in December-January."
Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig told Newsweek Christmas is fun and festive in Manchester.
She said: "We kick off the season with a Santa Claus Shuffle followed by a Holiday Parade and Christmas tree lighting with Santa and Mrs. Claus. During COVID we started a Holiday Lights Contest, open to all of our residents, that's now a fun family holiday tradition.
"And then there's Creepy Santa, a twelve-foot Santa statue that stands on Elm Street during the holiday season. Known for his unusually wide eyes and evil grin, Santa is a beloved icon, humorous staple, and Christmastime landmark in the City. It's a magical time of year!"
New Hampshire's Holiday Lights Contest
Craig is also hosting the city's third annual Holiday Lights Contest, where residents are encouraged to vote for their favorite holiday lights displays.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday, December 21, and all participating lights displays will be included in the public Manchester Holiday Lights Map. There will also be prizes awarded to the top voted.
Why Christmas Spirit Is So Important To America
Happiness is the strongest emotion Americans feel around Christmas, and 57 percent of respondents said that's the one time of the year they get to see their loved ones.
Most said their Christmas spending habits have changed through the years. The younger respondents, including millennials and gen-Zers, said they spend more than they used to, while gen-Xers and baby boomers spend far less.
Most gen-Zers, millennials, and gen-Xers said they plan on keeping the same traditions this year as they always have, while over 50 percent of baby boomers are going for a less traditional Christmas than usual.
Over 30 percent of the younger generations are planning to host family at their home for Christmas, while about 40 percent of the older generations say they're spending the holidays at home, alone.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Maria Azzurra Volpe is a Newsweek Lifestyle Reporter based in London. Her focus is reporting on lifestyle and trends-related stories, ... Read more
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