It turns out that millennials, also known as the “Me Me Me” generation, are good at something other than being self-entitled. Apparently they are quite skilled at spending their money on caffeine, booze and fast food. According to money managing app Level Money, which gathered and analyzed anonymous user data for six consecutive months (January to June 2014), millennials nationwide are guilty of this type of spending. The study breaks down the spending by the top states for consumption and annual spending.
Things we were NOT surprised at: New York is #3 in alcohol purchases. Hello happy hour. Every day. Massachusetts and Colorado take spots 1 and 2 respectively.
Things we were surprised at: Alabama is #49 in alcohol purchases. Bama fans, you almost had us fooled. And also now you have no excuse for your behavior. Mississippi is #50. We think this has something to do with dry counties/dry Sundays.
Things we were NOT surprised at: Washington is #5 in coffee consumption. Anyone who has an Instagram knows that Seattle owns coffee culture. The state is home to every wannabe professional coffee photographer. The no. 1 state in coffee is Maine with an annual spending of $306. In comparison, Mississippi millennials ranked 50th with an annual spending on $47.
Things we were surprised at: Beat out by two states, Texas is only #3 on top fast-food spending. We thought Texas did everything big over there. First two states are Oklahoma ($1,194) and Kansas ($1,040).
Level Money concludes at the end of the study that much of millennial spending is regional. For instance, millennials living in states such as New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut or Washington are all within the top ten states of highest average annual spending on caffeine. This conclusion makes sense when paralleled with the annual income and type of lifestyle these states have. Most are near a major city and employ a large work force, which means 9-5 schedules, early board meetings and late-night brainstorm sessions, all of which require a good dose of espresso. In light of this trend of how millennials spend their money, merchants are going to have to re-learn and adapt different marketing strategies in order to reach their consumers, which are probably all in line at Starbucks.
Check out the of the summary of the statistics below or click here for full report.
main image: saveup.com
