Survey: Consumers spend more than $11,000 locally per year
Local, independent businesses are a key part of consumers’ shopping habits – especially younger ones.
That’s according to new data from small business lender OnDeck, which shows that the average American spends $11,740 at local stores each year, accounting for a fifth (20.7%) of shopping budgets. A large portion (48.2%) of shoppers say they shop locally to "help boost the local economy,” while 41.9% say they do it because they can find more unique products.
OnDeck’s report found that the average millennial (age 29-44) makes 158 purchases from local businesses each year – more than any other generation. Millennials spend an annual average of $19,173 locally, which is more than four-times as much as baby boomers ($4,077).
Gen Z consumers (aged 18-28) fall just behind millennials, purchasing an average of 155 per year from local, independent shops. While the average millennial may only make three more purchases than the average Gen Z shopper, they spend an estimated 18% more with local businesses than their younger counterparts.
Among the sectors most likely to have consumers shop locally in, grocery spending again came out on top, with consumers reporting that they spend an average of 37% of their grocery budget at local stores. Restaurants (30%), clothing (26%), hair salons and barber shops (23%) and shoe stores (21%) were the next most common.
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Looking ahead, Americans plan to spend an additional 8.97% at local stores in 2026, according to the survey. The average respondent’s biggest expected independent spending hike is for Christmas, the holiday that already garnered the highest proportion of money spent locally (32.6%) of any event. Those surveyed said they plan to increase their local Christmas spending by 14.2% this year.
OnDeck’s survey was conducted by Censuswide on a sample of 2,000 U.S. consumers between Dec. 11-18, 2025. The full report can be found here.
