St. Patrick’s Day by the numbers

Today ”“ Friday, March 17 ”“ is St. Patrick”™s Day, a day when Americans will spend $6.85 billion on celebrations, $44 per person, according to wallethub.com. Much of the day will revolve around drinking beer (a 174% increase) and spirits (153% increase). (It”™s the third biggest drinking day behind New Year”™s Eve, Dec. 31, and Mardi Gras.) This unfortunately results in a number of drunk-driving fatalities (37 in 2020), so act responsibly. 

St. Patrick”™s Day is also big one for parades, and while New York City is justly proud of its version, which steps off at 11 a.m. today at Fifth Avenue and 44th Street, New York ranked only fifth in best cities to celebrate St. Patrick”™s Day, behind Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Pittsburgh ”“ although the Big Apple tied with Tampa, Florida, for No. 1 in Irish pubs and restaurants per capita. So there are plenty of places to get your corned beef, cabbage (.85 cents a pound, up 33% over last year) and Guinness (more than 13 million pints worldwide) today in the city and in Westchester and Fairfield counties. (Irish Americans can well afford the feast. Their median household income is $78,949. (The median income for all American households is $69,021.) And 71.2% of Irish Americans own their own home, compared with 64.6% for Americans overall. 

However, wherever you celebrate, we at Westfair Communications Inc. wish you a Happy St. Patrick”™s Day.