The most popular Christmas movies, according to Americans

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals — as Kevin McAllister might say.

A YouGov survey of 1,200 US adults found that America’s favorite Christmas movie is "Home Alone." About one in six (15%) say the 1990 Christmas movie is the best holiday classic. Close behind are “It’s a Wonderful Life” (12%), “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” (12%), “A Christmas Story” (11%), and “Elf” (12%).

Among different generations, there are divides over which Christmas movie is the most beloved.

Millennials are especially likely to say that “Home Alone” (24%) is their favorite Christmas movie, followed by “Elf” (18%) and “A Christmas Story” (11%). Among Gen X respondents, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” comes out on top, with 17% saying they like the Chevy Chase film the best. “A Christmas Story” (13%) and “Elf” (12%) also fare well with this group.

Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are especially partial to the 1946 classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” (24%), followed by “Miracle on 34th St” (14%) and “A Christmas Story” (12%).

See full results here.

Methodology: 1,500 US adults were asked via YouGov Direct, “What is your favorite Christmas movie?” and directed to give answers in their own words. The 10 most common responses then tested in closed-end questioning during a second wave of interviews with 1,200 US adults on December 8, 2020. The data shared in this article reflect results from this second wave. Data is weighted on age, gender, education level, political affiliation, and ethnicity to be nationally representative of adults in the United States. The margin of error is approximately 2.8% for the overall sample.

Image: Getty