I’m disappointed to hear that the Madison Chamber of Commerce is apparently so bad at promoting business that its members can’t afford July 4 fireworks to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. But I recognize that private fireworks promoters DeLon Mork and Brandon Burg a steep fundraising climb to save Madison’s pyotechnics at Lake Herman this year. Fireworks have seen significant inflation this century.
Just six years ago, when Governor Kristi Noem threw an expensive ego trip for herself and Donald Trump at Mount Rushmore, the fireworks alone cost $350,000. This year, Governor Larry Rhoden is paying the same contractor twice that amount, $700K, for a Rushmore explodacular with backup drone lighting.
The American Pyrotechnics Association offers sales figures that show how much Americans have been spending on fireworks and how many millions of pounds of fireworks they’ve been blowing up each year this century. APA’s figures show different trends for big display fireworks and consumer fireworks:
| Year | Display Revenue (Million $) | Consumer Revenue (M $) |
Total Revenue (M $) |
| 2000 | $203 | $407 | $610 |
| 2001 | $217 | $433 | $650 |
| 2002 | $242 | $483 | $725 |
| 2003 | $258 | $517 | $775 |
| 2004 | $272 | $543 | $815 |
| 2005 | $293 | $587 | $880 |
| 2006 | $300 | $600 | $900 |
| 2007 | $310 | $620 | $930 |
| 2008 | $313 | $627 | $940 |
| 2009 | $315 | $630 | $945 |
| 2010 | $316 | $636 | $952 |
| 2011 | $318 | $649 | $967 |
| 2012 | $320 | $645 | $965 |
| 2013 | $328 | $662 | $990 |
| 2014 | $332 | $695 | $1,027 |
| 2015 | $340 | $755 | $1,095 |
| 2016 | $345 | $825 | $1,170 |
| 2017 | $353 | $885 | $1,238 |
| 2018 | $360 | $945 | $1,305 |
| 2019 | $375 | $1,000 | $1,375 |
| 2020 | $93 | $1,900 | $1,993 |
| 2021 | $262 | $2,200 | $2,462 |
| 2022 | $400 | $2,300 | $2,700 |
| 2023 | $500 | $2,200 | $2,700 |
| 2024 | $600 | $2,200 | $2,800 |
| 2025 | $650 | $2,300 | $2,950 |
| Year | Display (Million pounds) | Consumer (M lbs) |
Total (M lbs) |
| 2000 | 50.6 | 102 | 152.2 |
| 2001 | 54.6 | 107 | 161.6 |
| 2002 | 64.1 | 126 | 190.1 |
| 2003 | 24.8 | 196 | 220.8 |
| 2004 | 24.2 | 212 | 236.2 |
| 2005 | 26.5 | 255 | 281.5 |
| 2006 | 26.2 | 252 | 278.2 |
| 2007 | 26.9 | 238.6 | 265.5 |
| 2008 | 26.8 | 186.4 | 213.2 |
| 2009 | 31.7 | 182.2 | 213.9 |
| 2010 | 21.5 | 184.4 | 205.9 |
| 2011 | 22 | 212.1 | 234.1 |
| 2012 | 22 | 185.5 | 207.5 |
| 2013 | 23.1 | 163.3 | 186.4 |
| 2014 | 23.7 | 201.6 | 225.3 |
| 2015 | 24.6 | 260.7 | 285.3 |
| 2016 | 24.5 | 243.9 | 268.4 |
| 2017 | 25.4 | 229 | 254.4 |
| 2018 | 19.1 | 258.4 | 277.5 |
| 2019 | 24.1 | 248.9 | 273 |
| 2020 | 18.7 | 385.8 | 404.5 |
| 2021 | 12.5 | 416.3 | 428.8 |
| 2022 | 25.3 | 436.4 | 461.7 |
| 2023 | 27.1 | 246.5 | 273.6 |
| 2024 | 27.4 | 295.3 | 322.7 |
| 2025 | 23.5 | 298.9 | 322.4 |
| Year | Disp$/lb | Cons$/lb | Total $/lb |
| 2000 | $4.01 | $3.99 | $4.01 |
| 2001 | $3.97 | $4.05 | $4.02 |
| 2002 | $3.78 | $3.83 | $3.81 |
| 2003 | $10.40 | $2.64 | $3.51 |
| 2004 | $11.24 | $2.56 | $3.45 |
| 2005 | $11.06 | $2.30 | $3.13 |
| 2006 | $11.45 | $2.38 | $3.24 |
| 2007 | $11.52 | $2.60 | $3.50 |
| 2008 | $11.68 | $3.36 | $4.41 |
| 2009 | $9.94 | $3.46 | $4.42 |
| 2010 | $14.70 | $3.45 | $4.62 |
| 2011 | $14.45 | $3.06 | $4.13 |
| 2012 | $14.55 | $3.48 | $4.65 |
| 2013 | $14.20 | $4.05 | $5.31 |
| 2014 | $14.01 | $3.45 | $4.56 |
| 2015 | $13.82 | $2.90 | $3.84 |
| 2016 | $14.08 | $3.38 | $4.36 |
| 2017 | $13.90 | $3.86 | $4.87 |
| 2018 | $18.85 | $3.66 | $4.70 |
| 2019 | $15.56 | $4.02 | $5.04 |
| 2020 | $4.97 | $4.92 | $4.93 |
| 2021 | $20.96 | $5.28 | $5.74 |
| 2022 | $15.81 | $5.27 | $5.85 |
| 2023 | $18.45 | $8.92 | $9.87 |
| 2024 | $21.90 | $7.45 | $8.68 |
| 2025 | $27.66 | $7.69 | $9.15 |
I divide revenue by mass sold and find the cost per pound of all fireworks sold in the United States increased 128% from 2000 to 2025. But consumers are only paying 93% more per pound for their firecrackers and flaming fountains than they did at the turn of the century. The big displays that Madison and other communities have been buying cost 589% more per pound than they did 25 years ago.
Consumer prices in general have risen 87% over the last quarter century. So while the price of backyard fireworks per pound has only slightly outpaced inflation, the per-pound of big display fireworks has skyrocketed past the cost of other goods.
Demand for consumer and display fireworks has responded predictably. In 2000, consumers bought twice as many million-pounds of pyrotechnics as big display customers and spent twice as much as towns and other entities spent on big shows. 25 years later, consumers bought nearly 13 times as much fireworks as big display customers. Consumers in 2025 spent 5.7 times more on fireworks than they did in 2000 and got 2.9 times more pyrotechnic mass. At the same time, cities and other big display hosts spent 3.2 times more than they did in 2000 on less than half as much festive ordnance.
Overall, Americans are shooting more than twice as many rockets into the July 4 sky (and on other holidays) as they did at the end of the Clinton era. We apparently have plenty of money to burn; we just are burning a lot more of it ourselves, from backyards, backroads, and beaches, rather than backing big community displays.
I’m reminded of the view I had from Lake Herman a few years ago, where after the city finished its show on the north shore, lake residents went nuts launching rockets from all points past midnight, making the lake sparkle in every direction. Maybe there’s a crowdsourcing libertarian dream afoot, or an ode to George H.W. Bush: maybe on July 4, Americans are moving away from big centralized fireworks displays and instead making the land brilliant with their own thousand points of light.