The US Cities Where Your Wedding Costs Nearly Two-Thirds of a Year's Pay

Wedding season is in full swing and so is the financial hangover. The cost of getting married has outpaced what many couples earn, and it shows in how people search: queries for how to budget for a wedding have jumped 1,730%, and wedding debt is up 497%.

No wonder — a recent survey found that 67% of couples regret what they spent, and 1 in 3 wish they`d put the money toward a house deposit instead. But what counts as expensive depends on where you live. So Casinos Analyzer ranked major US cities not by the raw cost of a wedding, but by how much of a local household`s yearly income it actually swallows — and in some cities, a single day now eats most of a year`s pay.

The 10 US cities where weddings cost the biggest share of local income

1. New York City — $51,700 average wedding · 64% of annual income. The steepest in the country. New York is also the third-largest wedding market in the US, worth $5.2 billion a year — and NYC couples now hand over nearly two-thirds of an annual household income for a single day.
2. Honolulu — $54,500 average wedding · 58% of annual income. Hawaii is the most expensive state in America to marry in, averaging over $53,000 per wedding. In Honolulu that bill eats almost three-fifths of what a local household earns in a year — before any guests` flights are counted.
3. Savannah, GA — $32,542 average wedding · 57% of annual income. The cheapest wedding in the top 10 by sticker price, yet the third most punishing by income. Savannah`s rise as a destination-wedding town has pushed vendor prices up while local pay — a median of around $57,000 — lags well behind the coastal giants.
4. Los Angeles — $41,300 average wedding · 50% of annual income. The heart of the country`s single biggest wedding market: California sees $9.6 billion in wedding spend a year, more than any other state. Even on LA`s higher incomes, the average wedding still claims half a year`s pay.
5. Houston — $30,800 average wedding · 48% of annual income. Texas is the second-largest wedding market nationally at $5.5 billion a year. Houston offers one of the lowest average wedding costs in the top 10, but against a local median income near $65,000 it still swallows almost half.
6. Orlando — $34,000 average wedding · 47% of annual income. Florida draws couples for destination weddings, and Orlando`s tourism economy props up vendor pricing. The result: a mid-range bill that takes nearly half of local household income.
7. Charlotte, NC — $37,600 average wedding · 46% of annual income. North Carolina hosts over 64,000 weddings a year. In Charlotte, a $37,600 average lands at 46% of income — proof that a city doesn`t need coastal-capital prices to strain a couple`s budget.
8. Seattle, WA — $56,700 average wedding · 46% of annual income. The highest sticker price in the entire top 10 at $56,700. It ranks only eighth by income share purely because Seattle`s median household income — around $124,000 — is among the highest in the country.
9. Phoenix, AZ — $37,100 average wedding · 46% of annual income. Arizona is a nearly $1 billion wedding market. Phoenix mirrors the national squeeze almost exactly: a sub-$40,000 wedding that still consumes close to half of what local households take home.
10. Chicago, IL — $35,000 average wedding · 45% of annual income. The Midwest`s largest city closes out the top 10. Illinois sees nearly $2.2 billion in annual wedding spend, and in Chicago the average bill claims just under half of local household income.

The big markets and the biggest strain line up. The three largest wedding markets in the country — California ($9.6B), Texas ($5.5B), and New York ($5.2B) — each place a city inside the top 10: Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City. Where the money pools, the pressure on couples follows.

The cities where couples keep the most

It isn`t all runaway spending. At the affordable end of the aisle, Palm Beach stands out for a counterintuitive reason: weddings there aren`t cheap, but they consume just 21% of household income — the lowest share in the study — because local earnings are so much higher. New Orleans and Providence follow close behind, proving that where you marry can matter as much as how much you spend.

And with 67% of couples saying they regret their spending, the smartest move may be less about the venue and more about the math — because the memories last either way, but so does the debt.

How couples can cut costs without guests noticing

With wedding bills climbing, more couples are rethinking where and how they tie the knot. Kristen Kane, a wedding planner at Kristen Kane Events, says she is increasingly seeing couples from expensive cities like New York and Los Angeles choose to marry elsewhere — and shared her go-to ways to trim costs without guests ever noticing.

“As a wedding coordinator, I see couples from higher-cost markets like New York City and Los Angeles choosing to get married elsewhere. Personal ties are often the main reason — they grew up there, went to college nearby, or still have family in the region — but cost can be an added benefit. Couples are often surprised how much further their budget goes compared to larger metropolitan markets, while still having access to excellent venues and experienced professionals.”

Her top tips for keeping the bill down:

• Consider a Friday wedding. Many venues and vendors offer lower rates on Fridays, and these weddings have become much more common in recent years. In my experience, guests generally do not mind, especially when they receive enough advance notice.
• Look at off-season dates. January through March is typically considered the off-season by many wedding professionals. Couples can often secure better pricing and greater availability during those months.
• Skip traditional RSVP cards. Instead, include a QR code on the invitation that directs guests to a wedding website where they can RSVP, select their meal choice, and find other important details. This saves on printing and postage while streamlining guest management.
• Hire a planner or coordinator. While it may seem counterintuitive, an experienced planner can often help couples avoid costly mistakes and may have relationships with venues and vendors that provide added value or preferred pricing.
• Rethink dessert. A small cutting cake paired with sheet cake served from the kitchen can significantly reduce cake costs.

Methodology

To conduct this study, Casinos Analyzer analysed the average cost of a wedding across major US cities using market data from wedding.report, then compared each figure against local median household income from worldpopulationreview.com and the US Census Bureau to calculate wedding cost as a percentage of annual household income. Cities were ranked by that percentage to reflect the real financial impact on local couples.