To celebrate the birth of our country, Americans eat a whole lot of hamburgers and hotdogs. And no Fourth of July party is complete without loads of other red, white, and blue picnic paraphernalia. But according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insight & Analytics, consumers are planning spending less overall this year than last year.

Consumers will spend about $6.9 billion, down from $7.1 billion in 2017. The decrease is attributed to the holiday falling on a Wednesday. But patriotism is still high. Despite the decrease, this is still the second-highest amount reported in the history of the survey and the highest per-person spending ever.

Nearly 153 million Americans are planning a cookout or a picnic. Average spending per person is reportedly $75.35 — up from $73.42 in 2017.

More than 216 million Americans plan to observe the holiday in some way — down from 219 last year. About 31 million Americans will travel for the Fourth of July, about 2 million less than last year. Gas prices are one reason for the decrease in travel, but so is the ‘hump day’ timing of the holiday.

“With the holiday falling in the middle of the week, a few less Americans will be free to celebrate and that affects spending totals,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “But those who are celebrating by attending or hosting a cookout or picnic, are actually spending more, and retailers will be ready with red-white-and-blue decorations, apparel, and food.”

In addition to food, 106 million Americans plan on spending money on fireworks and community celebrations and 30 million will attend a parade.


ALSO SEE: Wal-Mart shows which states prefer hotdogs to hamburgers.

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Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. She’s thrown away just as many meals as she’s proud of.