Executive Summary:
Father’s Day, observed on Sunday, June 15, 2025, continues to rank as the sixth most popular American holiday, trailing just behind the Super Bowl and ahead of Halloween. According to Prosper Insights & Analytics May 2025 consumer survey, which tracks annual events and market behavior, participation in Father’s Day celebrations remains steady, but spending is shifting, particularly with fewer physical gifts. Demographic factors such as marital status, parenthood, age, and income play a strong role in shaping how Americans plan to celebrate the occasion.
Key highlights include:
- 5% of respondents plan to celebrate Father’s Day in 2025, consistent with recent years.
- Average planned spending is $199.38, up from $189.81 in 2024 but still below the $259.04 reported for Father’s Day.
- Online shopping remains the top retail channel, accounting for 41.1% of Father’s Day purchases.
- Gift shoppers prioritize finding something unique or different (46.2%), followed by gifts that create a special memory (36.8%).
- Small/local businesses and specialty clothing stores are the only retail outlets with year-over-year growth.
- Those most likely to celebrate include men, married individuals, parents, Gen-Z, and Millennials, as well as African American and Hispanic consumers.
Father’s Day celebrators report higher overall happiness, particularly in their love life, work life, and satisfaction with government.
Beyond the Tie: What’s Driving Father’s Day Spending in 2025
By Dr. Martin Block, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University, Retail Analytics Council
Celebrating Father’s Day on June 15, 2025, is among the topics covered by Prosper Insights & Analytics in the monthly online surveys that collect data about annual events and related market behavior. Celebrating Father’s Day was a topic surveyed in the May 2025 survey (n=8,580). In response to the question, “Do you expect to spend more, the same or less for Father’s Day than you spent last year?” Of the total, 23.5% said they don’t celebrate Father’s Day, leaving 76.5% who do. As shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Seasonal Holiday Participation
| Percent | |
| Christmas | 93.4 |
| 4th of July | 87.2 |
| Mother’s Day | 84.2 |
| Celebrate Easter | 80.7 |
| Super Bowl | 76.9 |
| Father’s Day | 76.5 |
| Halloween | 73.1 |
| St. Patrick’s Day | 61.9 |
| Valentines Day | 52.0 |
| Graduation | 35.9 |
Recent Father’s Day Celebration History
The Father’s Day celebration rate has remained relatively flat, especially for the last six years, as shown in Figure 1. The rate dropped slightly in 2021, no doubt related to COVID-19. It increased slightly in 2025.
Figure 1. Celebrate Father’s Day Trends
Celebrating Father’s Day is more complicated because it can involve different people. Table 2 shows that the most common recipient is a father or stepfather, at 47.6%. This is followed by a husband, at 25.4%. The base is the total sample.
Table 2. Father’s Day Recipients
| Percent | |
| Father or Stepfather | 47.6 |
| Husband | 25.4 |
| Son | 11.7 |
| Brother | 8.6 |
| Friend | 8.3 |
| Other relative | 7.7 |
| Grandfather | 5.7 |
| Godfather | 2.3 |
The overall average planned spend of $199.38 was reported for Father’s Day. As shown in Table 3. This compares to the 259.04 reported for Mother’s Day last month. Mother’s Day represents $34.1 billion to the U.S. economy. Father’s Day represents another $24.0 billion.
The leading categories purchased are greeting cards, clothing, and a special outing. The categories in Table 3 are ranked by how often they are purchased. All categories, except tools, electronics, automotive, home improvement and sporting goods, have increased over the last year.
Table 3. Planned Father’s Day Buying
| 2025 % | Spend Amount
2025 |
Spend Amount 2024 | Year over Year | |
| Greeting Cards | 57.9 | 13.45 | 12.82 | 0.63 |
| Clothing | 54.7 | 56.22 | 54.75 | 1.47 |
| Special Outing | 53.1 | 75.42 | 74.20 | 1.21 |
| Gift Certificates | 49.6 | 50.63 | 50.50 | 0.13 |
| Personal Care | 33.5 | 44.91 | 43.62 | 1.29 |
| Tools or Automotive | 24.6 | 51.03 | 53.31 | -2.28 |
| Consumer Electronics | 26.2 | 82.61 | 85.63 | -3.02 |
| Books or CDs | 25.6 | 26.41 | 25.94 | 0.46 |
| Automotive Accessories | 24.2 | 43.06 | 43.79 | -0.72 |
| Home Improvement | 23.8 | 54.18 | 54.68 | -0.51 |
| Sporting Goods | 23.4 | 49.29 | 49.37 | -0.09 |
| Other | 21.9 | 21.77 | 21.26 | 0.51 |
| Total Average Spend | 76.5 | 189.81 | 199.38 | 9.57 |
Where celebrators are spending their money is also changing. Table 4 shows that online is the leading source for gift purchases, with just over 41%. Only specialty clothing stores and local or small businesses have increased since 2024.
Table 4. Retail Outlets
| 2025 | 2024 | Year over Year | |
| Online | 41.1 | 42.3 | -1.19 |
| Department Store | 35.3 | 38.3 | -2.94 |
| Discount Store | 22.7 | 23.6 | -0.81 |
| Specialty Store (Greeting Card/Gift Store) | 21.8 | 22.1 | -0.23 |
| Local/Small Business | 19.1 | 18.9 | 0.19 |
| Specialty Clothing Store | 15.2 | 14.5 | 0.63 |
| Catalog | 1.9 | 2.0 | -0.13 |
About one-third say they look to the retailer for gift inspiration, as shown in Table 5. Another third say they look sometimes. This represents a substantial opportunity for the retailer.
Table 5. Look to Retailers for Gift Inspiration
| Percent | |
| Always | 12.6 |
| Very often | 21.5 |
| Sometimes | 33.3 |
| Not very often | 15.5 |
| Never | 17.2 |
Table 6 shows what is important to celebrators when purchasing Father’s Day gifts. At 46%, the leading reason is finding a unique or different gift. This is followed by finding a gift that creates a special member at 39%. Convenience and cost-effectiveness are much lower on the list.
Table 6. Importance in Gift Purchasing
| Percent | |
| Finding a gift that’s convenient for me | 26.1 |
| Finding a gift that’s unique or different | 46.2 |
| Finding a gift that’s cheaper or most cost-effective | 19.9 |
| Finding a gift that creates a special memory | 36.8 |
| Other | 8.8 |
Father’s Day Celebrators
Describing who the Father’s Day celebrators are is shown in Table 7. The comparison is made between celebrators and those who don’t. The index is those that say they celebrate. Marrieds and those with children are the most likely, relatively, to celebrate. They show the highest indices. There also appears to be a relationship by age, with the younger segments, particularly Gen-Z and millennials, being more likely to celebrate. The is also a slight ethnic relationship with African Americans and Hispanics indexing higher. Celebrators also tend to have higher incomes.
Table 7. Celebrator Demographics
| Celebrate | Don’t | Total | Celebrate Index | ||
| Male | 48.7 | 41.2 | 47.0 | 103.6 | |
| Female | 51.3 | 58.8 | 53.0 | 96.8 | |
| Married | 44.6 | 25.8 | 40.2 | 110.9 | |
| Unmarried Partner | 8.1 | 6.2 | 7.6 | 106.6 | |
| Divorced or separated | 9.0 | 17.7 | 11.0 | 81.8 | |
| Widowed | 3.7 | 10.2 | 5.2 | 71.2 | |
| Single, never married | 29.0 | 36.8 | 30.8 | 91.2 | |
| Have Children | 40.5 | 12.8 | 34.0 | 119.1 | |
| Income ($000) | 70.1 | 56.2 | 66.8 | 104.9 | |
| Gen-Z | 21.1 | 10.6 | 18.7 | 112.8 | |
| Millennials | 27.8 | 13.2 | 24.4 | 113.9 | |
| Gen-X | 27.8 | 23.7 | 26.8 | 103.7 | |
| Boomers | 21.9 | 47.4 | 27.9 | 78.5 | |
| Seniors | 1.4 | 5.1 | 2.2 | 63.6 | |
| Average Age | 46.3 | 57.5 | 48.9 | 94.7 | |
| African American | 13.3 | 10.9 | 12.7 | 104.7 | |
| Asian | 5.2 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 110.6 | |
| Multi-Racial | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 95.0 | |
| Native American | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 91.7 | |
| White | 59.4 | 68.2 | 61.5 | 96.6 | |
| Hispanic | 14.5 | 10.1 | 13.5 | 107.4 | |
| Rural | 22.8 | 25.1 | 23.4 | 97.4 | |
| Urban | 40.2 | 38.4 | 39.8 | 101.0 | |
| Suburban | 36.3 | 35.8 | 36.2 | 100.3 | |
Happiness
Respondents are asked to rate their overall happiness across ten categories on a five-point scale. Table 8 shows the proportion of the combination of reporting happy and totally happy on a five-point scale. The unmistakable conclusion is that those who plan to celebrate Father’s Day are happier than those who do not, as shown in the composite average. The biggest differences are in love life, work life, and government, as seen among previous Easter and Father’s Day celebrators in the last two months.
Table 8. Happiness by Father’s Day Celebration
| Celebrate | Don’t | Total | Celebrate Index | |
| Health | 57.2 | 51.6 | 55.9 | 102.4 |
| Family | 66.9 | 60.3 | 65.4 | 102.4 |
| Friends | 63.1 | 59.5 | 62.3 | 101.3 |
| Love Life | 55.3 | 39.5 | 51.6 | 107.2 |
| Home | 65.0 | 62.1 | 64.4 | 101.1 |
| Religion | 59.2 | 54.3 | 58.1 | 102.0 |
| Work Life | 46.5 | 33.8 | 43.5 | 106.8 |
| House | 61.8 | 60.9 | 61.6 | 100.3 |
| Neighborhood | 60.0 | 59.1 | 59.8 | 100.3 |
| Government | 30.8 | 19.8 | 28.2 | 109.1 |
| Composite | 44.8 | 40.2 | 43.7 | 102.4 |
Summary
Father’s Day ranks between the Super Bowl and Halloween. Celebrating the day has remained almost flat in the last eight years. Spending, however, is also down, especially on physical gifts. The presence of children, age, marital status, and income are the strongest predictors of planning to celebrate. Celebrators are shopping mostly online, and spending is up 5.0% from 2024. The total value of Father’s Day to the U.S. economy is estimated to be $24 billion. Father’s Day celebrators are also happier than those who don’t plan to celebrate.