Data Shows How Most Americans Celebrate the Fourth of July

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This Friday (or Thursday or Wednesday), as you head out for your July 4th Independence Day weekend, here is what statistics are saying you’ve got planned:

fourth of july food

Eating

If Memorial Day is the traditional start of summer, then July 4th is the traditional time for the family get together. And, in order to celebrate properly, we shop! The estimated 80% of American families who own a grill, they will be shopping for 190 million pounds of beef and 700 million pounds of chicken. On the actual day, we will consume 150 million hot dogs. That’s a lot of food! So it’s no surprise that July 4th is also one of the biggest beer-selling holidays and could top $1 billion. That’s right, that’s billion with a “B”. (Compare that to St. Patrick’s Day, when beer sales are a paltry $250 million or so.)

fourth of july travel

Traveling

In spite of its being one of the most expensive times to travel, many of us will be hitting the roads and skies this weekend. The average cost of a domestic airline ticket is $384. (And of course, you procrastinators can expect to pay more for last minute flights.) But gas prices have been declining, so many more of us will be on the highway to get to our celebration. It is estimated that nearly 42 million Americans will travel by car between Wednesday and Sunday (July 1 – 5, 2015.)

fourth of july national park

Visiting State or National Parks

With an estimated 720 million visits annually to the more than 7,000 state parks in our nation, you can bet quite a few of them will be made this weekend. (And, while there is definitely overlap in the two groups, we can add that the National Park Service hosts 293 million visits.) If we assume that 60% of all park visits happen between June and August, could State Parks be expecting 5 million visitors or more for the 4th alone? Whether it’s the Great Smokies or the Grand Tetons (both National Parks), you won’t be alone this weekend!

fireworks

Watching Fireworks

In 2014, it was estimated that cities spent anywhere between $5,000 and $30,000 to put on a public display of fireworks. This year should be no different as citizens across the land celebrate their independence with community celebrations. On the other hand, depending on the laws where you might live, the average consumers spent $100 to put on their own private fireworks displays. That’s a lot of bang for the buck!

So whether you going along with the crowd or celebrating the fourth in your own independent style, Infosurv Research wishes you a wonderful and safe holiday!

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Lenni Moore

Lenni Moore is the Director of Operations at Infosurv. She’s always been passionate about fostering strong professional relationships. It’s precisely these relationships that allow her to exceed her clients’ expectations because she knows exactly what they want and then leverages her experience to get it for them.
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