Halloween spending expected to reach $13.5 billion this year: What it means for your family

If your wallet feels a bit lighter by October 31st, you aren't alone.

Halloween is no longer just a single night of trick-or-treating; it has become a weeks-long shopping season.

By the numbers:

Americans are projected to spend a staggering $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2026 consumer survey.

For the average consumer, that breaks down to an expected $115.14 per person.

The spending is split relatively evenly across the big three Halloween essentials:

• Costumes: $4.4 billion
• Decorations: $4.3 billion
• Candy: $4.1 billion

Greeting cards round out the major categories, contributing $0.8 billion to the holiday economy.

How families are stretching budgets

What you can do:

To cope with costs, shoppers are deploying a few key strategies that your family might want to adopt:

• Shopping early: Nearly half of consumers started their Halloween shopping in September or earlier.
• Comparison shopping: 31% of shoppers say they will comparative shop, and 26% will actively hunt for sales and coupons.
• Repurposing and reusing: 34% of consumers plan to look for items they can reuse in future years or repurpose for other occasions.

When it comes to where people are finding these deals, discount stores (39%) remain the reigning champion, followed by specialty costume shops (32%) and online retailers (27%). Local and small businesses are seeing a surge, capturing 13% of shoppers, which is nearly double what they saw a decade ago.

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