Oct 29, 2018

Trick or Treat: How much does the average American spend on Halloween?

While our level of involvement may differ, most of us will be taking part in Halloween festivities in some amount.

For the youth, enthusiasm for Halloween begins in September when costume ideas start taking shape. Once it starts, the fun doesn’t end until the candy-induced stomach ache kicks in roughly three hours after that last Twix.

While young adults may bypass the trick-or-treating, Halloween still offers a great excuse to dress-up, look silly, and have a night out on the town.

Adults, who are often less excited than children, play an integral role when it comes to Halloween. Without them, who would chaperon the trick-or-treaters, hand out candy, cover houses in spooky decorations, or design the outfits that win the school costume competitions?

Like any other notable calendar day, Halloween will always have naysayers, but for the most part, it is seen as an enjoyable night that kicks off the holiday season. And according to a new LendEDU survey, Halloween is actually a day that will be forcing many to cough-up a decent-sized chunk of change.

Average American will spend $185.50 on Halloween in 2018, up from $169.81 in 2017

With Halloween just a few days away, LendEDU sought to apply a price-tag to the holiday characterized by candy, costumes, and scary decorations.

​To do this, they asked 1,000 Americans that were planning on celebrating Halloween in 2018 the following question: “How much do you expect to spend celebrating Halloween this year?”

After averaging together all 1,000 responses, they found that in 2018, the average American is expecting to spend $185.50 on Halloween. This figure is an increase from the same survey conducted last year, which found the average Halloween expenditure to be $169.81.

It turns out that all of the fun brought on by Halloween comes at a price that may scare away a few people before the haunted houses even have a chance to. $185.50 for a few hours of spirited and spooky celebrations is nothing to sneeze at.

​So, what is making the cost of Halloween so unexpectedly high? After respondents entered in their total estimated expenditures, they were asked to estimate how it will be proportioned between three standard Halloween expenses: candy, costumes, and decorations.

Candy accounts for the most costly expense when it comes to Halloween. According to data, candy makes up 41 percent of Halloween expenditures. When converted to dollars, this equates to $76.05. Candy is to Halloween what presents are to Christmas; sweets make the spooky festivities what they are and excite all the young trick-or-treaters more so than anything else.

The second largest expense when it came to Halloween was costumes, which accounted for 36 percent of the total money spent on the October holiday, or $66.78. The more authentic the costume, the better the costume, and chances are a costume only becomes more costly as it becomes more impressive.

Finally, the last and least prevalent of all three Halloween expenses was decorations, which accounted for 23 percent, or $42.67, of the $185.50 projected to be spent on Halloween this year. Whereas most American’s participate in handing out candy, and many have an active role in costume planning because of their kids, decorations are generally not as prevalent. There are still folks out there who truly embrace the festivities and transform their dwellings into haunted houses straight out of Transylvania, but for the most part, decorations seem to be the least of the Halloween-induced priorities.