’Tis the season to turn your home into a candy cane kingdom, gingerbread castle, or winter wonderland — with or without the snow.
With the holiday season upon us, LawnStarter surveyed over 1,000 U.S. homeowners about their plans for decking the halls (and yard), including holiday budgets and Christmas tree preferences.
Below, you’ll see the full holiday decorating survey results, including demographic insights such as age, education, and income.
Contents
- Winter Holiday Outlook
- Survey Results
- Key Insights
- Methodology: Behind the Survey
- Forge a Festive Façade
Winter Holiday Outlook
Survey Results
Picturesque Party Planning
Ornamented Abodes
Spending on Sparkle and Shine
O’ Christmas Tree
Unadorned Advent
Key Insights
Holiday Happenings
- Young respondents (18 to 24) are over 4X more likely to say they’ll be celebrating Yule than respondents ages 65 and up. Yule is a pagan festival honoring the sun following the Winter Solstice — the shortest day of the year.
- Seniors (65 and up) are most likely to say they won’t be celebrating any winter holidays — over 3.5X more likely than folks who are 18 to 24 years old.
- Gay and lesbian respondents are 2.5X more likely than heterosexuals and 3X more likely than bisexuals to say they are not celebrating any winter holidays.
- 1 in 10 respondents above 55 years old say they won’t host anyone in their home this holiday season.
For the Rest of Us
- Outdated reference? None of the respondents ages 18 to 24 say they plan to celebrate Festivus this year. Meanwhile, 1 in 10 people ages 35 to 44 will be airing their grievances on Dec. 23. They were in their pre-teens and teens when the popular “Seinfeld” episode aired in 1997.
- Wealthy respondents making $150,000 and up are over 4X more likely to be celebrating Festivus than folks making less than $20,000.
All that Glitters
- 3 in 10 respondents between 18 and 24 say it’s never too early to start decorating for the holiday season.
- Respondents between 18 and 24 are 6X more likely to say they decorate before Halloween than people who are 65 and up.
- Light up the lawn: At 66.88%, people who are 25 to 34 years old are most likely to decorate their front yard.
- Younger folks (18 to 24) are 7X more likely to find competition among friends and family, and nearly 6X more likely to feel competition between neighbors than elderly folks ages 65 and up.
- Seniors (ages 65 and up) are 4X more likely to purchase poinsettias than young holiday shoppers (18 to 24).
Tree Tidings and Trimmings
- Spruce, fir, or pine: Over 1/2 of respondents ages 18 to 24 favor a real Christmas tree.
- Interest in artificial trees is highest among older homeowners, with 74.72% of those 65 and up opting for an artificial Christmas tree.
- At 52.81%, folks earning less than $20,000 have the biggest preference for getting their holiday tree at a local tree farm.
- Young folks (18 to 24) are 8X more likely to say they buy their tree online than people who are 65 and up.
- 1/4 of respondents ages 25 to 34 shop for their real Christmas tree at big-box stores.
- Over 1 in 10 homeowners above 55 years old have an artificial tree that’s over 10 years old.
- 1/2 of those with no schooling completed say they would spend only up to $50 on either a real or artificial tree.
- Respondents 65 and older are nearly 5X more likely to budget over $200 for an artificial holiday tree than folks who are 18 to 24 years old.
Methodology: Behind the Survey
LawnStarter collected survey responses from a random sample of 1,021 U.S. homeowners aged 18 or older via Alchemer and Cint on November 13, 2024.
Each response was anonymized using a unique user ID generated and assigned by Cint.
Forge a Festive Façade
Get your property ready for winter — and looking nice for Santa — with our tips below.
- Take extra care if putting holiday decorations in your yard to avoid damaging your grass.
- String up some solar Christmas lights.
- Hang lights safely on your gutters.
- Fill your lawn with winter blooms.
- Winterize your lawn, lawn mower, garden, and sprinkler system.
- Learn how to repair your lawn from winter damage.
- Warm up your patio so you can use it throughout the year.
- Prep your screened-in porch for the season.
- Bring your plants in for the winter.
- Have a number on hand to call for any snow removal jobs.
- Don’t let your Christmas tree rot in the backyard — dispose of it properly.
- Consider getting a live Christmas tree that can be replanted after the party’s over.
- If you grow your own tree, keep an eye out for pine tree diseases.
Hire a local LawnStarter pro to get your yard cleaned up and looking great ahead of your next holiday gathering.
Media Resources
Quotes from LawnStarter Editor-in-Chief, Jeff Herman
Frosty Festivities
- Low-income respondents (salaries below $20,000) are over 3X more likely to say they won’t be celebrating any winter holidays this year than people making over $150,000.
- Folks with no schooling completed are 10X more likely to host a gathering of 26 to 50 people this holiday season than those with advanced degrees.
- Young folks (18 to 24) are 12.5X more likely to be hosting more than 50 partygoers this holiday season than folks who are 65 and up.
- Those with a doctorate, advanced, or professional degree are most likely to be celebrating Festivus, with 15.49% planning to air their grievances.
Decorative Decisions
- Folks making less than $20,000 are 4.5X more likely to say they never decorate their home for the holidays than folks making over $150,000.
- Democrats are 2X more likely to say they never decorate their home for the holidays than Republicans.
- 1 in 5 respondents between 18 and 24 say they’ll decorate their backyard for the holidays, being nearly 6X more likely to do so than folks who are 65 and up.
- Younger folks (18 to 24) are most likely to decorate their bedroom for the holidays, nearly 4X more likely than elderly homeowners (65 and up).
- Bisexuals are 2.5X more likely to bring holiday cheer into their bedroom decor than heterosexual respondents.
- Young folks are most proactive about taking down their decorations, with 1 in 5 people between 18 to 24 saying they take them down the day after their respective holiday ends.
Spenders and Scrooges
- Wealthy homeowners making over $150,000 are over 4.5X more likely to purchase poinsettias for their holiday decorations than folks earning less than $20,000.
- Young respondents (18 to 24) are 3X more likely to splurge $301 to $500 on holiday decorations this year than folks who are 65 and up.
- Gay and lesbian respondents were over 5X more likely to say they’re planning to spend over $500 on holiday decorations this year than heterosexual respondents.
- 9 in 10 people ages 65 and up say they feel no sense of competition about decorating for the holiday season.
- Over 1/2 of folks ages 18 to 24 say they’ll be making ornaments this holiday season, and are over 4.5X more likely to get crafty when dressing the tree than seniors (65 and up).
Tree Taste: Real or Artificial?
- At 57.14%, folks with no schooling completed have the biggest preference for a real Christmas tree.
- At 59.38%, gay and lesbian respondents are most likely to prefer buying a real Christmas tree.
- At 59.49%, straight respondents are most likely to prefer an artificial Christmas tree.
- 6 in 10 people with a college degree or some college experience prefer to buy an artificial Christmas tree.
- Over 1/2 of people ages 45 to 54 prefer to head to their local tree farm to pick out their Christmas tree.
- 1 in 5 homeowners with a doctorate, advanced, or professional degree prefer to buy their tree at a big box store.
- Bisexuals are over 2X more likely than heterosexuals and gay and lesbian respondents to purchase their Christmas tree online.
Main Photo Credit: Kit Leong / Adobe Stock / License
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