If you’re out touring Atlanta real estate today, you’ll probably notice an excess of green balloons and paper leprechauns in honor of St. Patrick. While saying that people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day may not come as a surprise, what is surprising is the amount of research being done about how people celebrate. The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently conducted its 2011 St. Patrick’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, and the results confirm that Americans really love green. Many of the statistics are the highest in the survey’s eight year history.

Overall, 52.4 percent of Americans are celebrating the holiday (up from 45.2 percent in 2010). The average amount spent on St. Patrick’s Day is roughly $33.97, bringing the grand total to $4.14 billion. Today is a great day to own a bar in Atlanta or anywhere really.

Nearly 102 million people plan to wear green for St. Patrick’s Day and really, who can blame them? The fear of being pinched all day clearly resonates with many Americans, especially those poor souls who forgot to wear green to school that one year. Remember how awful that was?

Other statistics from the NRF survey show that no one likes to celebrate alone. 38 million Americans will attend a party at a public venue such as a bar or restaurant while an additional 23 million will attend private parties.

Although the survey hits several key points, some questions still need to be answered. For example:

• How many people plan on wearing “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” stickers, aprons or clothing?
• What are the most popular green foods or drinks that people are eating today?
• How many people are going to talk in a fake Irish accent all day?
• Does anyone know what a shamrock actually is?
• How many people have actually seen a four leaf clover before?

Now that we know just how popular St. Patrick’s Day is among Americans, there’s just one more question that needs answering.

How do you plan on celebrating?