Valentine"s Day by the Numbers

10 Romantic Valentine"s Day Gifts!
Photograph by Manjunath Kiran AFP/Getty Images

This year, Americans are expected to spend $19.7 billion on Valentines Day, according to the National Retail Federation.

The five most common items purchased for the holiday and their average prices, according to Bankrate, are a box of chocolates ($15.11), diamond earrings ($323.26), a dozen roses ($41.66), dinner for two ($80.46), and a bottle of champagne ($51.54).

According to LPL Research, the prices for common Valentines Day gifts increased by 1.3% in 2015, more than the overall rate of inflation. The firm also cites that the cost of a night out hasnt dropped in the 15-year history of their Valentines Day study.

With these stats in mind, weve rounded up a bunch of other numbers related to Valentines Day participation and spending.

According to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, participating in Valentines Day varies across age, gender, and income.

Dating

According to data from the Census Bureau, there are 105 million unmarried people in the U.S., or 44% of all U.S. residents over age 18. Fifty-three percent of single people are women and 47% are men. For this reason, the dating odds favor single men.

According to the Hinge data science team, last Valentines Day the app saw a 230% increase in usage when compared to a typical Saturday.

According to Tinder, the app last Valentines Day saw usage increase by 7.6%, U.S. matches increase by 6%, and U.S. messages increase by 5.2%.

Cities

WalletHub compiled data to determine the best cities to celebrate Valentines Day. It compared the 100 most populated cities in the U.S. across four key dimensions: Valentines Day budget, Valentines Day activities, Valentines Day gift accessibility, and Valentines Day weather forecast. In order to identify the best cities for singles, the company compared the 150 most populated U.S. cities across two equally weighted dimensions: dating economics, and romance and fun.

Graphic by Analee Kasudia

Flowers

According to 1800Flowers, Valentines Day is the second largest holiday next to Mothers Day for the floral industry. The top flowers sold for Valentines Day are roses, lilies, gerbera daises, carnations, and tulips. Red roses are the most popular rose variety, followed by pink and purple.

1800Flowers president Chris McCann told Fortune that when Valentines Day falls on a weekend, like it does this year, e-commerce sales for the company go down. However, suburban brick and mortar shops see increased business, while urban shops see decreased business. He also said that sales are the best for his company when Valentines Day falls between Wednesday and Friday.

Netflix

According to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Netflix, movies and television shows are the top two icebreakers for a first date. Show-compatibility is important, with 13% saying they would ask someone out based solely on mutual interest in a TV show.

More than half of the respondents reported that sharing a Netflix account is a big step towards a serious relationship. More than half say theyd wait until dating exclusively before sharing an account, while 17% wait to be engaged or officially married.

Staying in seems to be the new going out. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed who are married or in a relationship say staying in and watching Netflix together is one of their favorite ways to spend a casual date night.

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Source: http://fortune.com/valentines-day-by-the-numbers/

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