Poll: Christmas Is Still America’s Favorite Holiday

Once again, Americans rank Christmas as their favorite holiday, and half of U.S. adults plan to attend religious services this season, a Rasmussen Reports poll found.

Sixty percent of 1,100 American adults polled between Dec. 19-21 say Christmas is one of our nation’s most important holidays, up from 59 percent in 2021. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.

“Christmas has consistently been rated the most important holiday by Americans, usually followed by the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.  This year, however, Veterans Day jumped into second place,” the poll report states.

Only 6 percent say Christmas is one of the least important holidays, and 29 percent “place Christmas somewhere in between.”

Half (50 percent) of adults say they plan to attend a religious service this holiday season, and increase from 44 percent last year. A little more than a third (34 percent) say they will not attend a religious service and 16 percent are unsure. Married Americans and people with children are more likely to give Christmas a higher ranking than unmarried and childless Americans.

By racial category, black people (59 percent) are more likely white people (48 percent) and other minorities (52 percent) to attend religious services during the holiday season. By political affiliation, Republicans (70 percent) are more likely than Democrats (60 percent) and unaffiliated voters (52 percent) to believe Christmas in one of the nation’s most important holidays.

Another Rasmussen Reports poll found that a majority of Americans still believe Jesus Christ — not Santa — is the reason for the Christmas season. Out of 1,000 U.S. American adults polled between Dec. 8-12, 57 percent “believe Christmas should be more about Jesus Christ than about Santa Claus.” Only 22 percent put Santa first and 20 percent are undecided.

“Two years ago, 63 percent said Christmas should be more about Jesus. Support for Jesus as the primary reason for the holiday which celebrates his birth has ranged as high as 76 percent in 2012,” according to the poll.