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We know that San Francisco is the most expensive city in the U.S. for renters and for yuppies. Those stats have been covered ad nauseum. We've come to assume that we shell out the most money on everything. But to hear that San Francisco isn't the highest-priced in a field? Well, that's pretty major. So you might need to grab a seat and take a deep breath for this tidbit: San Francisco is only the 12th-most expensive city for holiday shopping.
According to a Nerdwallet study, a San Francisco family of four spends an average of $1,021.25 on holiday expenditures. For the purpose of the study, the holiday expenses were gifts, decorations, greeting cards, flowers, a Christmas tree, food, movie tickets, and wine. Interestingly, the only California city that was more expensive than SF was Truckee, number 11, where food and wine expenses were slightly higher than the Bay Area.
Our city's big-spending rivals in New York took the title of most expensive place for holiday spending, with families blowing an average of $1,293.93. Other notables rounding out the top ten were Hilo, HI, Brooklyn, Boston, Stamford, CT, Providence, RI, Fairbanks and Anchorage, AK, Portland, and Honolulu. The cheapest city on the list? McAllen, TX at $717.87 per family.
It may not be much comfort, but at least we managed to save money on something.
· How Does Your Holiday Spending Measure Up? [Nerdwallet]
· It Costs Almost $7,000 a Year to Be a Yuppie in San Francisco [Racked]