Odd Ranking for Christmas Spirit in Michigan

I love the holiday season. I love the excitement with friends and family. One of the best parts about the holidays for me is watching my kids experience the season and all that comes along with it. To say my Christmas spirit increased after having kids is an understatement.

I reflect upon my childhood and what the Christmas spirit meant. For me, it was looking forward to spending time with my grandparents that lived in the Chicagoland area. It also meant I would most likely see my cousins, we didn't live close to each other so it was always fun seeing them. The Christmas spirit also meant it was the time for giving gifts to the ones we love. I enjoyed riding my bike to some shops in town to use what allowance I had saved up to buy my mom some cheap perfume and my dad a set of cheap screwdrivers. As a kid I loved getting presents from my parents, grandparents and Santa, but I also was that kid that enjoyed watching others open their gifts.

Fast forward to today, 2022. Christmas spirit is alive and well in our household. Although our kids love opening their gifts on Christmas, they also like to think about others and giving gifts to them. It's fun to see the kids watch my wife open her present because they are excited for her to open it up and see what it is. They enjoy watching other people experience the happiness and pleasure of gift giving and receiving.

Christmas spirit is so much more then gifts. What can you do in your community this holiday season to help others? Maybe starting a new tradition by volunteering at a local non profit could be a gift that you and your family give to the community and it feels good doingso.

I was curious about where Michigan ranks nationwide with regard to Christmas spirit. Getcenturylink.com compiled a list based on the following criteria.

Methodology:

To determine which states have the most Christmas spirit, GetCenturyLink.com’s data team analyzed two data categories: online activity and area culture.

Online activity:

Google searches for Christmas movies and gingerbread houses (29%), Online shopping (via Google shopping trends) for wrapping paper, Christmas cards, Christmas ornaments, and “Elf on a Shelf” (28%), Christmas music streaming (14.5%), Tweeting about Christmas (7%)

Area culture:

Number of Christmas Tree farms per capita (7%), Charitable giving in the last documented tax year, as defined by the IRS (14.5%)

 

Top States For Christmas Spirit

1. New Hampshire

2. Maine

3. Montana

4. Kentucky

5. Connecticut

6. Vermont

7. Utah

8. Massachusetts

9. Hawaii

10. West Virginia

11. Missouri - I lived in Missouri for a while, I didn't experience Christmas Spirit when I lived there.

12. Delaware

13. Idaho

14. Nebraska

15. Iowa

16. Wisconsin

17. Oregon

18. Wyoming

19. Kansas

20. Pennsylvania

21. Colorado

22. Michigan - I thought for sure we would rank higher.

23. Texas

24. Ohio

25. New Mexico

26. Tennessee

27. Minnesota

28. Washington

29. New Jersey

30. North Dakota

31. California

32. South Carolina

33. Indiana

34. North Carolina

35. South Dakota

36. Illinois - it takes more than Chicago and Michigan Ave. to keep the spirit alive.

37. Arizona

38. Florida

39. Oklahoma

40. Louisiana

41. Nevada

42. Rhode Island

43. Arkansas

44. Alaska - you might think being so close to the North Pole it would rank higher.

45. Georgia

46. Maryland

47. Virginia

48. Alabama

49. Mississippi

50. New York - contrary to all of the holiday movies focused on NYC, New York is a bottom feeder when it comes to Christmas Spirit.

51. District of Columbia