Guest Columnist

 

Diana Polk

39% of Americans say inflation is affecting their Valentine’s Day plans

 

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner and America’s sweethearts expected to spend $27.5 billion on the holiday this year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025's Best Places for Valentine’s Day. It also released its nationally representative 2025 Valentine’s Day Spending Survey, which found that 39% of Americans say inflation is affecting their Valentine’s Day plans.

To determine the most romantic yet affordable cities for celebrating the Day of Hearts, WalletHub compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 25 key metrics, ranging from florists per capita to forecasted precipitation to the cost of a three-course meal for two.
 

Top 20 Places for Valentine’s Day 2025    
1. San Francisco, CA
2. Seattle, WA
3. San Diego, CA
4. Las Vegas, NV
5. Denver, CO
6. Atlanta, GA
7. Scottsdale, AZ
8. Pittsburgh, PA
9. Honolulu, HI
10. Portland, OR		   11. Washington, DC
12. Austin, TX
13. Chicago, IL
14. Boston, MA
15. Orlando, FL
T-16. San Jose, CA
T-16. Virginia Beach, VA
18. Colorado Springs, CO
19. Nashville, TN
20. Miami, FL
 
Valentine’s Day Spending Survey – Key Stats
  • Inflation Takes a Bite Out of Romance. 39% of Americans say inflation is affecting their Valentine’s Day plans.
     
  • Some People Don’t Expect Purchased Gifts. 34% of Americans don’t expect their Valentine to spend any money on a gift this year.
     
  • Financial Infidelity Hurts. Nearly 3 in 4 people think financial infidelity can be worse than cheating.
     
  • Irresponsible Spending Is a Problem. Nearly 1 in 3 people believe that irresponsible spending is the worst money problem for a relationship in 2025.
     
  • Bad Spending Habits Stink. 59% of Americans say that irresponsible spending is a bigger turnoff than bad breath.
     
  • Bad Credit Might Keep You Single. 58% of people say they wouldn’t marry someone with bad budgeting habits, a bad WalletScore or a bad credit score.
     
  • Valentine’s Day Dining Perceptions. More than 1 in 4 Americans characterize people who go out to dinner on Valentine’s Day as suckers, show-offs, or insecure.
 
Valentine’s Day Facts
  • $27.5 Billion: Total Valentine’s Day spending projected for 2025 ($188.81 per person celebrating).
     
  • 2X: Men will spend almost twice as much as women, on average, for Valentine’s Day 2025.
     
  • $11.9 Billion: Amount Americans will spend on jewelry ($6.5B) and a special evening out ($5.4B).
     
  • 33%: Share of marriages that begin online.
     
  • 33%: Overall online dating activity increase across the U.S. between February 1 and February 14.
     
  • $23.8 Billion: Projected global dating services market size by 2032.