Data reveals which states will spend the most this Black Friday - Californians take the lead
Black Friday remains one of the most powerful sales events of the year, with nearly 200 million shoppers in the U.S. ready to spend on one of Black Friday deals. But not all U.S. states are equally qualified or interested in spending. Some have the appetite but lack the spending power, while others show tons of interest but lack the disposable income to make the most of the discounts.
To understand where Black Friday deals will deliver the strongest returns in 2025, the Play Casino team combined two factors that define Black Friday success– search demand and economic capacity.
Here’s what 2025’s Black Friday really looks like across the U.S. states.
Key findings
- California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Texas top the list for states that’ll spend the most on Black Friday deals
- The hottest categories across the states are apparel, consumer electronics, and home & garden
- Oura Rings and AirPods 3 dominate wishlists in California, Massachusetts, and Texas
- New York and California shoppers lean heavily into apparel, cosmetics, and home goods
- Iowa stands out with double the national interest in consumer electronics
- Utah, Colorado, and Oregon are the country’s sporting goods fanatics, with bikes leading the charge
The 20 states most obsessed with Black Friday in 2025
Black Friday enthusiasm varies widely across the country, with data revealing which states have the interest and the means to spend. These top 20 states show the strongest mix of interest, search activity, and financial capacity, making them the markets with the highest sales potential during Black Friday 2025.
Visualizing the states that will spend the most this Black Friday reveals just how large the gaps are across the country. The momentum behind Black Friday shows dramatic differences, with some regions bursting with purchasing power as 2025’s biggest shopping weekend approaches.
The top five Black Friday power states and their shopping wishlists
California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Texas are the five states where Black Friday sales are expected to surpass expectations. With strong search interest and high buying power, these states are the highest-value opportunities for retailers in 2025.
#1 California
California’s income levels and tech-forward demographics result in high interest in items like
Oura Ring, AirPods 3, the Nintendo Switch 2, and the PlayStation 5.
#2 Massachusetts
Massachusetts mirrors California’s tech-forward appetite, with Oura Rings, AirPods, Macs, and Apple Watches dominating searches.
#3 Texas
Texans are just as eager for Oura Rings as shoppers in California and Massachusetts, but they also show a strong interest in home & garden deals. Home Depot and Lowe’s are especially popular. Among the top brands they’re looking for are Milwaukee and Ryobi products.
#4 New York
The U.S. fashion capital leads with an appetite for apparel. New Yorkers are highly interested in Black Friday deals from Aritzia and Uniqlo.
#5 New Jersey
New Jersey shoppers take a different approach, with the main focus on retailer deals from Walmart, Costco, and Target rather than specific products.
America’s top Black Friday categories are apparel, tech, and home goods
Across the top 20 states for Black Friday shopping, three categories consistently stand out:
- Apparel: Columbia, UGG, and Adidas are the most sought-after brands.
- Consumer Electronics: Oura Ring tops the list, followed by the Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5.
- Home & Garden: High-ticket appliances like the Breville espresso machine and Dyson cleaning products dominate wishlists.
The Most In-Demand Products in 2025 are Oura Rings and AirPods 3
In major states such as California, Massachusetts, and Texas, the Oura Ring is at the top of almost every wishlist, followed closely by AirPods 3.
For those unfamiliar, the Oura Ring is a health-tracking wearable that rivals the Apple Watch both in style and technology, often surpassing it in precision and health insights. It’s no surprise it’s exploding in popularity across trend-driven, tech-savvy states.
California and New York shopping personalities
California and New York both rank in the top four, and consumers in these states are actively searching for the best deals in apparel, cosmetics, and home & garden products. However, the brands they prioritize vary noticeably.
California
- Apparel: UGG, Ralph Lauren, Adidas, and general running shoes
- Cosmetics: Pat McGrath, MAC, Charlotte Tilbury
- Home Goods: Dyson vacuums and KitchenAid appliances
New York
- Apparel: Aritzia, UGG, Uniqlo
- Cosmetics: Bobbi Brown
- Home Goods: Dyson cordless vacuums
New York is fashion-first, while California shows a broader mix of lifestyle categories.
Iowa doubles the national interest in consumer electronics
Iowa stands out with 46.7% higher interest in consumer electronics than the national average. No other state is hunting for Black Friday deals in this category as passionately.
Shoppers are most interested in:
- PlayStation 5
- Headphones
- TVs
- Nintendo Switch 2
Utah, Colorado, and Oregon are America’s sporting goods fanatics
Mountain state shoppers show a bias toward outdoor and athletic gear. Utah, Colorado, and Oregon have the highest national interest in sporting goods, with bikes as the top-searched product. This trend confirms the region’s strong outdoor culture and the growing interest in recreational sports.
Methodology
To find out which U.S. states have the most buying potential, we considered the search interest, labor force, and annual household income across all U.S. states.
Search interest was determined by using Google Trends to see how much interest U.S. buyers have in the search term “Black Friday” across the most popular shopping categories (apparel, consumer electronics, cosmetics, home & garden, etc.) in various states.
The labor force and annual average household income data were gathered from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and FRED, respectively.
Each of these factors was scored on a scale from 1 to 100, and the top 20 states were determined using a weighted model that prioritized the most critical factors over the less significant ones. Search interest was assigned a weight of 20, while labor force and household income each carried a weight of 40. This approach allowed us to identify the states that not only have the highest interest but also the deepest pockets and overall buying potential.
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