Americans plan to spend $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, $115.14 a person, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey, up from last year’s record $13.1 billion. Adults who wear costumes start earliest: a Halloween & Costume Association analysis of the same data found 57 percent of them begin shopping by September, and a third plan to visit a haunted house.
The 2026 Numbers
NRF’s survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, asked 7,889 consumers about their Halloween plans from September 1 to 9. Seventy-four percent plan to celebrate, on par with 73 percent last year and up from 68 percent in 2019. They plan to spend an average of $115.14 each, in line with $114.45 in 2025. The top ways they’ll celebrate are handing out candy (61 percent), dressing in costume (50 percent), decorating their home or yard (42 percent), carving pumpkins (42 percent), and watching scary movies (42 percent).
Here is where the money goes:
- Costumes: $4.4 billion, with 71 percent of shoppers buying one
- Decorations: $4.3 billion, with 78 percent buying
- Candy: $4.1 billion, with 96 percent buying
- Greeting cards: $0.8 billion, with 42 percent buying, up from 38 percent last year
“Consumers continue to make Halloween a spending priority, but they are also approaching the season with affordability in mind,” said Allison Zeller, NRF’s vice president of industry and consumer insights.
If shoppers run into higher-than-expected prices, 31 percent say they’ll comparison shop, 26 percent will look for coupons or sales, and 34 percent plan to buy items they can reuse. Discount stores are the top place to shop (39 percent), followed by specialty Halloween and costume stores (32 percent) and online (27 percent). Thirteen percent plan to shop at local and small businesses, up from 7 percent in 2016.
Half of Shoppers Start in September
Forty-nine percent of consumers plan to begin Halloween shopping in September or earlier, up from 34 percent in 2016. Among those early shoppers, 42 percent say they look forward to fall and 34 percent call Halloween one of their favorite holidays, while 23 percent start early to spread out their budgets.
The Top Costumes of 2026
Shoppers expect to spend $2 billion on adult costumes, $1.5 billion on children’s costumes, and $0.92 billion on pet costumes.
- Adults: witch (4.8 million), vampire (4.2 million), Batman (2 million), Spider-Man (1.5 million), and ghost (1.4 million)
- Children: Spider-Man (4.6 million), superhero (2.3 million), princess (2.2 million), witch (1.6 million), and ghost (1.6 million)
- Pets: pumpkin (11.6 percent), hot dog (5.9 percent), and ghost (2.8 percent). Dog Halloween gear is a 2026 trend, too.
Online search is still the top source of costume ideas at 32 percent, but that’s down from 37 percent last year and the lowest in a decade. Stores and costume shops come next at 26 percent. Forty-seven percent of consumers are using AI tools to help with their Halloween shopping.
Costume Wearers Start First and Do More
The Halloween & Costume Association ran a separate analysis of the NRF and Prosper data that compared 3,178 adults who dress in costume with all 7,889 American adults surveyed. Compared with all adults, costume wearers:
- Start earlier: 57 percent begin shopping in September or sooner, and only 6 percent wait until the last two weeks of October, compared with 12 percent of all adults.
- Did Summerween: one-third took part in Halloween-themed summer activities, compared with 24 percent of all adults.
- Buy the costume first: 40 percent say a costume is the first Halloween item they buy, compared with 27 percent.
- Shop specialty stores: 46 percent plan to shop at a Halloween or costume store, compared with 32 percent.
- Spend more: those buying costumes expect to spend $59.29, compared with $52.47, and those buying decorations expect to spend $54.95, compared with $46.69.
- Go out more: 41 percent plan to throw or attend a party, compared with 29 percent. One-third plan to visit a haunted house, and 32 percent plan to attend another themed event, such as an amusement park or pumpkin patch.
“Costume wearers are some of Halloween’s most enthusiastic consumers,” said Michele Boylstein, executive director of the Halloween & Costume Association. “They put thought into what they will wear, where they will shop and how they will celebrate.”
Costume wearers get their ideas from online search (45 percent), Instagram (30 percent, compared with 20 percent of all adults), pop culture (26 percent, compared with 17 percent), TikTok (25 percent, compared with 17 percent), and Pinterest (24 percent, compared with 17 percent). Ten percent already use AI tools for costume ideas, compared with 7 percent. On social media, 45 percent look to casual creators and “regular people,” and 27 percent look to influencers.
Haunt Openings and Search
Half of shoppers start in September or earlier, and the busiest opening window for haunted houses this year runs September 11 through October 2, according to my calendar of when haunted houses open.
NRF has online search as the top source of costume ideas, and HalloweenCostumes.com’s survey this month found 43 percent begin planning Halloween with an online search, as I covered in Halloween Trends 2026. Haunt owners in HauntPay’s 2026 Haunt Industry Report named promoting their haunt (46.1 percent) and finding new customers (34.8 percent) as their top two challenges.
NRF’s full results are on its Halloween data page.
Top photo: shopping for Halloween costumes in 2013. Photo: Senior Airman Grace Lee, U.S. Air Force (public domain).
