Paul Martinka
The holidays will be bright — and wallets will be light — for New Yorkers decking the halls this season.
Residents of the Empire State spend a whopping $463.25 on holiday lights annually, the most in the country, according to a new study, which also looked at who keeps up their lights the longest.
Behind New York was California and Indiana, where merrymakers shell out $439.44 and $433.53, respectively, on lights.
Idahoans have reason to “ho ho ho” — their cost is lowest in the country at $117.64 a year.
As for cities, the Big Apple placed fifth for metro areas that spend the most on lights, ringing in at $398.40 — about 49% higher than the national average.
In winter wonderlands like Dyker Heights, Brooklyn where visitors flock every year to see opulent light displays, that bill would be a Christmas miracle — homeowners there have reported spending nearly $700.
Indianapolis, Buffalo and Green Bay were the top three cities that spend the most on lights — $559.25, $543.25, and $491.96, respectively.
Green Bay and Indianapolis were ranked first and second, respectively, for leaving displays up the longest — up to 10 weeks.
In New York State, lights are left up for 6.8 weeks, the sixth longest in the U.S.
Big Apple residents keep their lights on for an average of 8.3 hours per day and leave them up for nearly seven weeks in total – the ninth longest for cities nationwide.
The findings were based on average electricity rates per state and large cities, considering average strings of traditional bulbs that consume around 40 watts per hour.
LED lights use about 70% less energy than incandescent bulbs on average, making them more energy-efficient alternative, according to EnergySage.
Eighty-five percent of survey respondents planned to hang lights this year.
The survey found that 25% of Scrooges who are choosing not to light up the night during the holiday season are doing so because it’s too expensive.
Others don’t celebrate or travel during the holidays.