Americans expected to drink $1 billion of beer, eat 150 million hot dogs on July 4

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published 3 July 2018

With the Fourth of July falling midweek in 2018, fewer Americans are expected to celebrate the summer's biggest holiday than in years past — 216 million, down from 2017's 219 million, USA Today reports. More than half of revelers are expected to have a cookout or picnic, with the forecast for a large portion of the United States being clear enough for fireworks, while the Great Lakes, Northeast, and parts of the South could see scattered storms.

Of the millions of Americans heading out of town, many will contend with the highest gas prices in four years, at an average of $2.86 a gallon, up about 63 cents from the year before. Americans are expected to spend more than $900 million on fireworks and more than $1 billion on beer, and consume some 150 million hot dogs, PennLive reports.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.