Last Halloween my husband and I went as grave robbers. It was our nod to the Louvre jewel heist, which was all anyone could talk about that October, and it was the most fun I have had in a costume in years.
It was also $136.78 for the two of us, so $68.39 each.
That number is from my bank account, not my memory, and it only covers the gear. So when people ask how much Halloween costs, I have a real answer now, and it is more than I would have guessed.
In short: Last Halloween cost my husband and me $136.78 in costume gear for both of us, which is $68.39 each, plus candy I never tracked. Drinks and decorations cost nothing because our friends covered them. The national average this year is $115.14 per person.
The short answers, before we get into it
How much does Halloween cost in 2026?
The average American plans to spend $115.14 on Halloween in 2026, according to the National Retail Federation, split almost evenly across costumes, decorations and candy. My own receipt last year was $136.78 in costume gear for two people, $68.39 each, before candy. I’m your big sis, not your financial advisor.
How much Halloween costs in 2026: the average is $115.14
The National Retail Federation surveys people every September about what they plan to spend. This year 7,889 people answered, and the average came out to $115.14 per person, basically flat on last year’s $114.45.
Nationally the money splits almost evenly three ways:
| Line | Total US spend | Share of people buying |
|---|---|---|
| Costumes | $4.4 billion | 71% |
| Decorations | $4.3 billion | 78% |
| Candy | $4.1 billion | 96% |
These are plans from an early September survey, not receipts. Mine are receipts.
Look at that last column for a second.
My receipt
| What | Mine |
|---|---|
| Costume gear, two grave robbers | $136.78 |
| Candy | not tracked |
| Drinks at the party | $0, a friend paid |
| Decorations | $0, a friend covered them |
| Total I can prove | $136.78, or $68.39 each |
Halloween 2025. The gear number is from my bank record. Candy I did not write down, so I am not going to pretend I know it.
The costumes were the whole budget. That is $68.39 a head, which is under the national average, but only because the candy is missing from my side and the drinks and decorations were gifts. I will defend the costumes, though. You do not get to be a Louvre thief twice.
The line nobody skips: candy, up 78%
Here is what that last column in the national table is saying. Plenty of people skip the costume and plenty skip the decorations. Almost nobody skips the candy. Ninety-six percent of people buy it.
And it is the line that got expensive. FinanceBuzz went back through grocery store circulars from Walmart, Target, Kroger and Albertsons and found that a 100-piece bag of Halloween candy cost $9.19 in 2020 and $16.39 in 2025.
SEVENTY-EIGHT PERCENT in five years.
I remember paying under $10 a bag last year. Hmm, let’s run that back. The average 100-piece bag was $16.39, so either I bought smaller bags or my memory is being generous to me. Probably both.
What I do know is that it did not feel cheap at the register, and it was the one purchase I could not opt out of once the doorbell started.
What I’d skip: the chocolate
The chocolate. That is my cut.
Chocolate was always the priciest bag in my cart, and kids are just as happy with sour candy and gummies. Get the sour and gummy variety bags and let the chocolate be somebody else’s house.
Yeah, girl, no chocolate. 😢🍫
The best part cost nothing
We spent Halloween at a friend’s party in Chicago, and the best part of the night had no price on it at all.
One friend paid for the drinks. Another friend handled the decorations, a whole wall of orange and black balloons, with her own money and her own supplies. Nobody sent a Venmo request and nobody kept score, people just showed up with whatever they had. That is the whole trick to a cheap Halloween, honestly. You split the cost by how you show up, not by dividing a receipt.
The honest part
Halloween is still expensive. We got free drinks and free decorations and it still came to $136.78 for two before a single piece of candy.
If you are planning around the $115 average, know that it is an average of plans, made in early September, before anyone has seen the price of a candy bag in person. Ours only came in under because friends covered the drinks and the decorations. Without friends like that, yours probably won’t, and that is fine as long as you decide where it goes.
Halloween on a budget this year: be a witch
I am going as a witch this year, entirely out of my own closet, and it is the move I would tell you to copy.
- A long black dress
- Black tights
- Black lipstick if you have it, black eyeliner if you do not
- A simple witch hat, the only thing you might have to buy
The NRF says the most popular costumes barely change from year to year, and witch is one of the staples, which means nobody will ask what you are supposed to be. That matters more than people think at 11pm.
$0 if you already own the dress. Let a girl live.
A costume you already own and a costume you are still paying off in November are two very different Halloweens.
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Grab the free money checklist below if you want the rest of the holiday season to feel less like a scramble than October did.
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