Does Santa have a college degree? How much does he earn? How old is he? And does he own just one red suit?

The answers to those questions and more are included in a nationwide survey of more than 1,200 Santa Clauses conducted by HireSanta.com, a Santa placement agency.

Survey says

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Among the Santa facts on the website’s survey:

• Three-quarters of Santas are ages 61 and over, with 7% of Santas over age 75. A quarter of Santas are ages 36-61.
• A majority of Santas – 68% — became Santa Claus between the years 2010-2021. Of those, 15% have been Santa Claus since 1995.
• Only a slight majority of Santa Clauses – 51.6% — always have a beard before they became a Kris Kringle. Those who claimed they grew the beard to become Santa are 48.4%.
• Most Santa Clauses are married – 79.5%. Another 9.6% not married while 2.4% are widowed, and 6.1% divorced.
• A majority of Santas are well-educated with 53.3% having attained college or graduate school degrees.
• Most Santa Clauses are retired, of course. But there are some with day jobs that include the following: Funeral director, graphic designer, teacher, law enforcement, insurance sales, handyman, contractor, coach, consultant, engineer, artist and CEO.
• Only 16.3% of Santa Clauses own one suit. Most own more than one, with 5.6% of Santas claiming they own seven more suits.
• What were Santa’s earnings in 2022? All but 15.9% of respondents say they earned less than $2,000 during the year. Close to 62% earned more than $5,000, with 15.4% claiming they pulled in more than $15,000 last year.
• Most Santas, close to 60%, prefer hourly gigs. And 30.5% of those gigs are going for $75 per hour or more. Very few, 1.3%, charge $25 or less.
• Santas are starting earlier each year. Before Thanksgiving, 40.4% of Santas surveyed are making appearances before Thanksgiving. A quarter of Santas, 25.2%, are showing up before Nov. 1
• How much is spent being Santa per year? According to the survey, 32.6% of Santas spend $501 to $1,000 each year to become Kris Kringle. Another 19.4% spent $1,001-$1,500. Fewer than 10% spend over $3,000.

Jonathan Buford, a nearly 52-year-old Santa from Bluff Park who goes by the moniker, “Santa on the Bluff,” said he has been surprised by the entire industry as he makes his first foray into the world of Santa.

“There are so many options for Santa suits and accessories,” he said. “At the Santa school I attended, I was able to purchase legitimate sleigh bells, a Santa toy bag, beard care products, and even a personalize sleigh license and debit card. The options go from one extreme to the other.”

Funniest requests

Being a Santa can be rewarding and at times humorous.

According to Hire Santa, here were the funniest requests Santa got last year:

• Chicken nuggets
• A live unicorn
• Beehive
• A 4-year-old girl asked for ketchup. Santa then asked “Why?” The girl responded, “cause I love ketchup. What’s wrong with that, Santa?”
• A head of garlic. To which Santa replied, “would you like some onions, too?”