Valentine's Day gifters expected to be tad more miserly in '22

With Valentine's Day just around the corner and America's sweethearts having spent $21.8 billion on the holiday last year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022's Best Places for Valentine's Day. It also released its nationally representative 2022 Valentine's Day Spending Survey, which found that 70 million Americans expect their partner to spend less this year compared to last year.

To determine the most romantic yet affordable cities for celebrating the Day of Hearts, WalletHub compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 27 key metrics, ranging from florists per capita to forecasted precipitation to the cost of a three-course meal for two.

Valentine's Day Spending Survey - Key Stats

• Some People Prioritize Financial Stability. Almost a third of people say money matters more to them in a relationship now than it did before COVID.
  
• Bad Credit Might Keep You Single. Compared to last year, 37% more Americans say they wouldn't marry someone with bad credit.
  
• People Are Less Inclined to Go Into Debt This Year. 17% fewer Americans think a Valentine's Day gift is worth going into credit card debt this year compared to last year.
  
• More Men Say V-Day Debt is Worth it: Men are 29% more likely than women to think a Valentine's Day gift is worth going into credit card debt.
  
• Financial Infidelity Hurts: Over half (53%) of Americans feel that financial infidelity can be worse than cheating.
  
• Keeping Secrets About Money Hurts Relationships: 30% of people say financial secrets are the worst relationship problem in 2022.

Valentine's Day Facts

• $23.9 Billion: Total Valentine's Day spending projected for 2022 ($175.41 per person celebrating).
  
• $235 vs. $119: Men will spend almost twice as much as women, on average, for Valentine's Day 2022.
  
• $10.7 Billion: Amount Americans will spend on jewelry ($6.2B), flowers ($2.3B) and candy ($2.2B).
  
• 26%: Share of marriages that begin online.
  
• 33%: Overall online dating activity increase across the U.S. between February 1 and February 14.
  
• 58%: Share of Americans who say that romantic gestures are more important to them now than they were pre-pandemic.