Texas Suburbs Go Big

Residents in Houston’s affluent suburbs aren’t worrying much about stretching their holiday budgets this year. A new WalletHub report shows that Pearland, The Woodlands, and Sugar Land all rank among the top 25 biggest holiday spenders in the country for 2025.

According to the 2025 Holiday Budgets by City report, Pearland residents are expected to shell out an average of $3,277 on gifts, placing the city at No. 19 nationwide. The Woodlands and Sugar Land follow closely behind at No. 20 and No. 22.

To identify the U.S. cities with the largest holiday budgets, analysts compared 558 cities across five factors: income levels, age demographics, debt-to-income ratios, monthly income-to-expense ratios, and savings-to-expense ratios. The highest holiday budgets this year belong to Palo Alto, California (No. 1), Mountain View, California (No. 2), and Newton, Massachusetts (No. 3), where residents are budgeting between roughly $4,000 and $4,500 for gifts.

Pearland’s projected spending is $711 higher than last year, when it ranked No. 31, and markedly up from 2023, when its average gift budget was $2,127 and it ranked No. 36. It seems Pearland shoppers are giving Santa some real competition.

The Woodlands, once ranked No. 10 last year, drops to No. 20 this year, though residents still plan to spend a substantial $3,265—just $51 less than in 2024. Sugar Land residents are expected to spend $3,191, only $19 less than last year.

Within Houston city limits, the projected holiday budget is $1,302, placing it at No. 285 nationally—slightly higher than last year.

Several other Houston-area cities also appeared in the report:

• No. 34 – League City: $2,997

• No. 291 – Pasadena: $1,294

• No. 321 – Missouri City: $1,233

• No. 412 – Conroe: $1,063

• No. 490 – Baytown: $890

Experts recommend that shoppers keep their spending in check and choose a holiday budget that fits their financial realities. National holiday sales are expected to surpass $1 trillion this year, and rising credit card debt remains a concern. In the third quarter of 2025, the average household carried $10,227 in credit card debt—an increase of 2.3 percent from the previous year—making mindful spending especially important as the season approaches.

Several other Texas cities also ranked among the top 100 biggest holiday spenders:

• No. 4 – Flower Mound: $3,941

• No. 12 – Frisco: $3,491

• No. 28 – Allen: $3,055

• No. 31 – Cedar Park: $3,028

• No. 40 – Plano: $2,812

• No. 47 – Round Rock: $2,641

• No. 55 – McKinney: $2,502

• No. 56 – Carrollton: $2,498

• No. 82 – Richardson: $2,146

• No. 96 – North Richland Hills: $1,985

The report notes that consumers are considered to be in a strong financial position for holiday spending if they have at least six months of emergency savings and maintain a debt-to-income ratio below 22 percent for renters or below 43 percent for homeowners.