Unsplash | Ralph (Ravi) Kayden

Study Finds Most People Leave Their Christmas Trees Up Well Into January

In the words of Taylor Swift: "We can leave the Christmas lights up 'til January."

But what about the tree?

According to a study by Treetopia, Americans have some fascinating tree habits. From when they put them up to when they take them down, Treetopia studied how Americans in each state celebrate with their trees — and some of the results are surprising!

So, when do you put your tree up?

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I know Americans wait until after their Thanksgiving, but I'm Canadian! I wait until December 1st before I even think of decorating for Christmas. There's no early Christmas in my house — we give Halloween the respect it deserves, November is for chilling, and December is for Christmas!

Americans differ greatly on when they put their trees up.

Unsplash | Chad Madden

Treetopia discovered that the difference in tree times can vary weeks between states! Those in South Carolina and Rhode Island decorate the earliest, at a whopping 6.6 weeks before Christmas.

Some people admitted to putting a tree up even earlier.

Unsplash | Luke Southern

Though South Carolina and Rhode Island were the highest on average, some survey respondents admitted to putting their trees up 5-8 weeks before the start of Christmas. Eight weeks! That's the beginning of November!

Are y'all putting trees up on November 1st?!

Listen, I'm not here to judge. But isn't it a bit much to be putting up a tree right after Halloween? Or do y'all put up a Halloween tree and then convert it into a Christmas tree afterward? Now THAT is something I'm interested in.

But what about taking those decorations down?

Apparently, the average period of time Americans wait to take their trees down is 2.9 weeks — but some states go WAY past that. In fact, multiple states find it perfectly normal to wait over a month to put the tree away!

People in Illinois take the longest.

Unsplash | Joel Mott

The good people of Illinois will wait 4.7 weeks on average before putting their Christmas trees away. They also put their trees up 4.2 weeks before Christmas, which gives them a full 2 months of Christmas joy!

Arizona wasn't far behind.

Unsplash | Dino Reichmuth

Residents of Arizona typically wait 4.1 weeks before taking their own trees down. The same goes for Maryland!

Those two are way ahead of the pack. The next state in line Georgia, whose residents wait 3.6 weeks to take down their trees.

North Carolina waits the shortest amount of time.

The people of North Carolina take their trees down about 2.1 weeks after Christmas. I take mine down earlier — it's nice to have a fresh, clean space to start the new year!

What do you think?

Unsplash | Annie Spratt

Are you surprised by these results, or is this about what you expected? Can you even believe people in Illinois stretch Christmas through all of January? Let me know in the comments below!

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