For one-third of Americans, the pinnacle of the year is unmistakably Christmas — it's their favorite day. Some Americans can't wait for other holidays — to be over: 13% say Super Bowl Sunday is their least favorite day of the year.
A recent YouGov survey asked Americans how much they enjoy some of the major holidays in the U.S., relative to an average day. Christmas and Thanksgiving are widely popular and many people's favorites. Many also enjoy Halloween, Easter, and New Year’s Day, though few name any as their favorite day. Majorities like President’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Martin Luther King Day about as much as any other day. Juneteenth (which commemorates the freeing of enslaved Black people in Texas in 1865), Super Bowl Sunday, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Election Day are the holidays among those polled about that the largest shares of Americans say are their least favorite days of the year.
More men than women say they enjoy New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; while fewer women than men on average say they enjoy any particular holiday, Easter and Mother’s Day are relatively more popular with women than most other holidays.
Differences aside, majorities of Americans generally enjoy holidays at least as much as the average day. But which holidays have the most haters?
Similar shares of men and women dislike the country's least favorite holidays. Men and women are about equally likely to say they enjoy Juneteenth or Super Bowl Sunday less than the average day or that it is their least favorite day of the year. Twice as many women as men say the same about Father’s Day, and women also are more likely than men to disfavor Mother’s Day.
Black Americans are far more likely than other Americans to enjoy Juneteenth. White and Hispanic Americans are more likely than Black Americans to say that Juneteenth or Martin Luther King Day is less enjoyable than the average day or that it is their least favorite day of the year. Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than white Americans to say the same about each of Election Day and Valentine’s Day.
Voting is more popular among older Americans, and so is Election Day. Younger Americans are more likely than older Americans to enjoy Election Day less than an average day. By contrast, fewer younger than older Americans dislike Halloween.
Among upcoming holidays, Super Bowl Sunday is especially disliked by Republicans while Valentine's Day has more haters among Democrats. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to disfavor Juneteenth and Earth Day. More Independents don't get much out of Election Day.
See the results for this YouGov poll
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,000 U.S. adult citizens from February 2 - 6, 2024. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Pexels (Designecologist)
