Giddy for Gift Cards: Harrisburg and Chicago

Christmas stockings in Harrisburg, PA and Chicago may have more gift cards than usual this season. It turns out that more consumers in those cities buy gift cards than anywhere else in the U.S.

In each city, 57% of adults have bought a gift card in the past year—the highest percentage of 75 cities analyzed by Scarborough Research, and 19% higher than the U.S. average.

Other cities with a hankering for the plastic money are Baltimore, Kansas City, Austin, TX, Jacksonville, FL, Grand Rapids, MI, and Columbus, OH, all with 54% of the population buying gift cards.

Of the 48% of adult consumers who bought gift cards in the past year, more than half (55%) are women, according to Scarborough. They tend to be married, with a household income topping $100,000, with one or more kids at home.

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