When Do Texans Prefer to Put Up Christmas Lights? This Survey Has the Answer

If Christmas lights are not displayed in your neighborhood, they will be shortly. Some were up right after Halloween.

Is it too early? Too late?

In Texas, the ideal time is the first day of December, according to the findings of the House Method. The Raleigh, N.C.-based company provides research on home-service providers. In October, it asked 3,939 U.S. homeowners: What’s the earliest day you should display Christmas lights?

Dec. 1 was the choice for 16 percent of the respondents. Twelve percent said before Thanksgiving in November. Only 1 percent said September.

For Texas, the survey found that most Texans plan to start displaying their lights the last week of November. Four percent of Texans planned to keep their lights displayed year-round.

A vast majority of states — 34 of 50 — believe that hanging up lights before Thanksgiving is too early. The notable exceptions were Georgia and Delaware, whose residents have no problem with displaying lights in October.

The survey also asked: When do you plan to hang up your Christmas lights?

Texans answered November, after Black Friday, joining Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Tennessee.

Delaware said October. Connecticut broke away from its White Christmas movie stereotype by saying the second week of December.

What Do the British Think?

If you trust what they do across the pond, U.K.-based Confused.com commissioned a survey of 2,000 U.K. adults who celebrate Christmas and decorate their homes.

Confused.com’s survey found that 47 percent of respondents put up their lights from Dec. 1 to Dec. 10. The survey also revealed that 56 percent put up their decorations early so they have plenty of time to enjoy them.

Why so early?

“Christmas activities like decorating the house or the tree are happy (and often shared) experiences that provide a temporary break from the reality of what’s happening in the world right now,” said Dr. Elena Touroni, a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic.