Towns That Spoil Their Kids the Most

Kristin Vukovic  |  03:49 PM, Thursday, June 7, 2012

As a follow-up to Bundle.com's recent article, "Cities that spoil their kids the most," we wanted to find out which American towns spoil their kids the most. To do so, we examined spending by households with children at stores that sell toys, clothing and other services for tots, kids, and teens. We identified all locations for which Bundle had a reasonable sample size, and determined the average spend by these households over the past three years. Then we ranked cities based on the percentage spend above or below the U.S. average.

East Coast metropolises ranked at the top of Bundle's child-spoiled cities, with Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Miami crowding the top three. New York City residents spend nearly double the U.S. average on their kids, but the affluent West Coast town of Santa Monica, California, outranked their spending by 27 percent. Santa Monica residents spend more than double the national average on their kids, making this Los Angeles town home to some of the most spoiled kids in America. It even beat out Beverly Hills!

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Coming in at #2: Lake Forest, IL, a wealthy Chicago town where the average median home price is a million bucks. This exclusive North Shore suburb is home to a "Who's Who" of Chicago's rich and famous, and ranked at #3 on CNN Money's top 25-earning towns. Lake Forest residents clearly have the cash to spoil their kids silly, and they do, spending nearly double the U.S. national average.

At a close #3: Darien, CT, which beat out Lake Forest for the #2 spot on CNN Money's top 25-earning towns. In a recent interview with the UK's Independent, indie film star and Darien native Chloë Sevigny revealed that as a teenager she berated her parents for "living amid such homogenized exclusivity." She stated, "I don't think they realized the snobbery that happened in the school and how kids without as much money would be picked on. I was picked on . . . not that we were a poor house." Sounds like being spoiled is a competition in this Gold Coast town.

Irvine, CA ranked near the bottom of our index, spending approximately half of the national average on their kids—which came as somewhat of a surprise, since it was previously ranked as most fashionable by Bundle. Maybe Irvine residents splurge on clothing for themselves, but not for their kids.

Last on our list? Littleton, CO, where South Park creator Matt Stone went to high school (aspects of his hit show are loosely based on Littleton). When you don't have fancy toys and clothes, imagination rules.

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We want to hear from you! Tweet us @BundleHQ #townsthatspendthemost. Do you think our stats accurately represent the child spending in your hometown?

Click here to see infographic in high resolution

Infographic by Simon Kerr