Americans will spend a record $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey — about $115.14 for every person who celebrates. That is barely more than last year's $114.45. The price of what they buy is another story: the government's index for candy and chewing gum is up 7.7% in a year, twice as fast as prices overall.
A flat budget and rising prices means one thing: the same money buys less. This guide turns the forecast into a household budget — how much candy to buy for the trick-or-treaters you actually get, what costumes and decorations cost when you count the years you will use them, and where the real savings are with eight days to go.
Who this is for: US households planning Halloween at home — candy at the door, costumes, decorations, maybe a small party. What it does not cover: businesses selling Halloween goods (for that side of the season, see how deep a Black Friday discount can go), haunted-attraction tickets and travel, and costume rental. Prices in the worked examples are illustrative; swap in your own receipts.
The forecastWhat Americans plan to spend on Halloween 2026
NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics surveyed 7,889 adults from September 1 to 9. Here is the headline picture:
Source: CalculatorAI · calculatorai.app · National Retail Federation, press release September 22, 2026
The money splits almost evenly three ways:
Costumes, decorations and candy each take roughly a third — about $35–37 of the average person's budget.
Show these figures as a table
| Value ($ billion nationally) | |
|---|---|
| Costumes — $4.4B · ≈ $37 a person | 4.4 |
| Decorations — $4.3B · ≈ $36 a person | 4.3 |
| Candy — $4.1B · ≈ $35 a person | 4.1 |
| Greeting cards — $0.8B · ≈ $7 a person | 0.8 |
Source: CalculatorAI · calculatorai.app · NRF Halloween survey 2026; per-person split by CalculatorAI
- Costumes — $4.4 billion. $2 billion goes on adult costumes, $1.5 billion on children's and $920 million on pets'. The most popular children's costume is Spider-Man (4.6 million kids); for adults it is a witch (4.8 million).
- Decorations — $4.3 billion. 78% of shoppers plan to buy some.
- Candy — $4.1 billion. The near-universal purchase: 96% of Halloween shoppers.
- Greeting cards — $0.8 billion, bought by 42%, up from 38% last year.
PricesCandy is up 7.7% — and the budget is not
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index for candy and chewing gum stood at 229.543 in September 2026, against 213.101 a year earlier: up 7.7%. Prices overall rose 3.7% over the same twelve months.
You may have seen a smaller number. A local TV price check on October 20 found a 100-piece Halloween candy bag at $16.96, up 3.5% from last year. Both are right; they measure different things. The 3.5% is one bag at one store. The 7.7% is the official index of candy and gum prices across the country, year-round — and chocolate, which depends on cocoa, has risen faster than hard candy and gummies. If you buy chocolate, expect your bill to sit nearer the index than the single bag.
Put the two forecasts side by side and the squeeze is clear:
- Per-person spending is up 0.6%, from $114.45 to $115.14.
- Prices overall are up 3.7%, so in real terms the average Halloween budget is about 3% smaller than last year's.
- Candy is up 7.7%, so the same candy dollars buy about 7% fewer pieces. The average person's ~$35 candy share would have bought the same bowl for about $32 a year ago.
Shoppers know it. 34% of those NRF asked plan to buy things they can reuse in later years, 31% to comparison-shop and 26% to hunt for coupons or sales. Reuse is already the norm: 52% repurpose half or more of their costume items each year and 73% half or more of their decorations — 60% and 76% among families with children.
Candy mathHow much candy for 50, 100 or 150 trick-or-treaters
There is no national count of trick-or-treaters per house; it ranges from none on a rural road to several hundred on a famous street. The useful number is your own from last year — if you did not count, the empty bags tell you. Then:
trick-or-treaters × pieces per child × 1.2pieces ÷ pieces per bag, rounded upbags × price per bagThe 1.2 is a 20% buffer, so the bowl does not run out at 7:30. Two pieces per child is common; one full-size bar is the generous version. Here is what three kinds of candy cost at three crowd sizes:
Hard candy & gummies (150 pcs, $15)
- 50 kids
- $15 · 1 bag
- 100 kids
- $30 · 2 bags
- 150 kids
- $45 · 3 bags
Fun-size chocolate (100 pcs, $16.96)
- 50 kids
- $34 · 2 bags
- 100 kids
- $51 · 3 bags
- 150 kids
- $68 · 4 bags
Full-size bars (18 bars, $21.99)
- 50 kids
- $88 · 4 boxes
- 100 kids
- $154 · 7 boxes
- 150 kids
- $220 · 10 boxes
| Candy | 50 kids | 100 kids | 150 kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard candy & gummies (150 pcs, $15) | $15 · 1 bag | $30 · 2 bags | $45 · 3 bags |
| Fun-size chocolate (100 pcs, $16.96) | $34 · 2 bags | $51 · 3 bags | $68 · 4 bags |
| Full-size bars (18 bars, $21.99) | $88 · 4 boxes | $154 · 7 boxes | $220 · 10 boxes |
Source: CalculatorAI · calculatorai.app · drafts/halloween-cost-2026-numbers.mjs; fun-size bag price from a 7News price check, October 20, 2026
At 100 trick-or-treaters, fun-size chocolate costs $51. The same three bags would have cost about $47 at September 2025 prices — $3.64 more, which is the 7.7% at work. Full-size bars cost three times as much for the same crowd, and switching from chocolate to hard candy and gummies saves about $21.
Family of fourA $360 Halloween or a $121 one
Here is one household — two adults, two children, about 100 trick-or-treaters at the door — budgeted twice: once buying everything new, once reusing what it already has.
Children's costumes
- All new
- $70 (2 × $35)
- Reuse and swap
- $20 (swap + accessories)
Adult costumes
- All new
- $90 (2 × $45)
- Reuse and swap
- $16 (last year's, refreshed)
Candy for 100 kids
- All new
- $51
- Reuse and swap
- $51
Decorations
- All new
- $120 (new)
- Reuse and swap
- $20 (one new piece)
Two pumpkins
- All new
- $14
- Reuse and swap
- $14
Cards and party extras
- All new
- $15
- Reuse and swap
- $0
Total
- All new
- $360
- Reuse and swap
- $121
| Item | All new | Reuse and swap |
|---|---|---|
| Children's costumes | $70 (2 × $35) | $20 (swap + accessories) |
| Adult costumes | $90 (2 × $45) | $16 (last year's, refreshed) |
| Candy for 100 kids | $51 | $51 |
| Decorations | $120 (new) | $20 (one new piece) |
| Two pumpkins | $14 | $14 |
| Cards and party extras | $15 | $0 |
| Total | $360 | $121 |
Source: CalculatorAI · calculatorai.app · drafts/halloween-cost-2026-numbers.mjs
Three things stand out:
- The candy does not change. It is the one line every household buys fresh, and with 100 kids at the door it is $51 either way. The savings are all in costumes and decorations.
- The two adults at NRF's average would spend $230. The all-new plan is about $130 above that; the reuse plan about $110 below.
- The difference is $239, and almost all of it comes from things the family already owns.
If the all-new version is the one you want, it is not a problem — it is a number. Treated as a yearly cost, $360 is about $30 a month, the same way the holiday gift budget turns December into a weekly amount. Halloween spending belongs in the "wants" share of a 50/30/20 budget, next to the gifts that come six weeks later.
DecorationsSpread a $299 skeleton over the Halloweens you use it
Decorations are the one Halloween purchase that is not really for this Halloween. A 12-foot yard skeleton bought for $299 and kept for five years costs about $60 a year; a $79 inflatable kept for five costs $16.
12-foot yard skeleton ($299)
- Used once
- $299
- 3 years
- $100
- 5 years
- $60
Inflatable yard ghost ($79)
- Used once
- $79
- 3 years
- $26
- 5 years
- $16
Lights and small props ($120)
- Used once
- $120
- 3 years
- $40
- 5 years
- $24
| Decoration | Used once | 3 years | 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12-foot yard skeleton ($299) | $299 | $100 | $60 |
| Inflatable yard ghost ($79) | $79 | $26 | $16 |
| Lights and small props ($120) | $120 | $40 | $24 |
Source: CalculatorAI · calculatorai.app · drafts/halloween-cost-2026-numbers.mjs
The same logic works for costumes: a $45 adult costume worn three Halloweens is $15 a year. That is why buying a big decoration in four installments misses the point — it spreads $299 across six weeks of paychecks rather than across the five Octobers it will stand in the yard. If the checkout offers Pay-in-4, what Pay-in-4 really costs shows how those payments stack up against the holiday bills coming next.
The planEight days, five steps
Count last year's trick-or-treaters
Or estimate from how much candy was left. Multiply by two pieces and add 20%.
Shop the closet before the store
Children's costumes swap well between families; adults can rebuild last year's with a new accessory.
Set one Halloween line in your budget
Candy, costumes, decorations and the party in one number for October, so it does not leak into four categories.
Record each purchase as you make it
Small Halloween buys spread across many stores and receipts; a running total is the only way to see the real figure.
Buy next year's decorations on November 1
Clearance after the holiday is when a decoration's cost per year is lowest.
Where these numbers come from
- Spending forecast: National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, Halloween survey of 7,889 US adults, September 1–9, 2026, margin of error ±1.1 percentage points; press release of September 22, 2026 and NRF's Halloween data page. Category totals add to $13.6 billion because of rounding; the per-person split uses each category's share of that sum.
- Reuse and tariffs: NRF Halloween data page and NRF blog post of September 29, 2026.
- Candy prices: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer price index for all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted — "candy and chewing gum" (series CUUR0000SEFR02) 229.543 in September 2026 vs 213.101 in September 2025, and all items (CUUR0000SA0) 336.940 vs 324.800. The single 100-piece bag at $16.96 and its 3.5% rise come from a 7News/WLOS price check published October 20, 2026.
- Worked examples: costume, decoration, pumpkin and candy-bag prices are illustrative round numbers, not survey data. "Last year's price" for the same candy divides this year's cost by the candy index (1.077). Trick-or-treater counts are scenarios. All arithmetic is in
drafts/halloween-cost-2026-numbers.mjs. - Bias: the candy index is a national, all-year average; a chocolate-heavy bowl bought in a high-cost area will cost more than the table, hard candy bought on sale less. The family plans assume you already own storage and that reused items are still wearable.
FAQFrequently asked questions
How much does the average person spend on Halloween in 2026?
NRF's 2026 survey puts it at $115.14 per person celebrating, up from $114.45 in 2025, for a record national total of $13.5 billion.
How much have Halloween candy prices gone up?
The government's index for candy and chewing gum was 7.7% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, against 3.7% inflation overall. Individual products vary — one 100-piece Halloween bag tracked by a TV station rose 3.5%.
How much candy should I buy for trick-or-treaters?
Take last year's number of trick-or-treaters, multiply by two pieces each and add 20% as a buffer. For 100 children that is 240 pieces: three 100-piece bags of fun-size chocolate, about $51 at $16.96 a bag.
How can I save money on Halloween this year?
Keep the candy and cut the rest: reuse or swap costumes, add one new decoration rather than a new set, and buy next year's decorations on clearance after October 31. In our family-of-four example that turns a $360 Halloween into $121.
What do people spend the most on for Halloween?
Costumes, at $4.4 billion nationally, then decorations at $4.3 billion and candy at $4.1 billion. Each is roughly a third of the total; greeting cards add $0.8 billion.
Know the number before the doorbell rings
Halloween's average budget barely moved this year while candy rose 7.7%, so the households that come out ahead are the ones that decide the number first and reuse what they already own. Give Halloween one line in the free Budget Tracker, log each bag and costume in the Expenses Tracker as you buy it, and if you are hosting, put the guest list and shopping in the Event Planner — then do the same for the gifts that come next.
