Halloween Spending 2022

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halloween spending

With the month of October comes Halloween, and inflation or no inflation, many U.S. residents have no problem spending money to celebrate this spooky holiday.

As we’ve done in past years, we surveyed our Well Kept Wallet readers this year about their Halloween spending habits.

Here’s how the Halloween spending of Well Kept Wallet readers sized up compared to the rest of America.

Halloween Spending Areas

Continuing to bounce back from the pandemic, Americans are ready to celebrate and they’re showing retailers the money.

National Retail Federation’s most recent annual estimate, which projected that spending on Halloween candy, costumes and decor will hit an all-time high of $10.6 billion for 2022.  Where as 2021 hit just over $10 billion.

Here at Well Kept Wallet, we continued our annual tradition and polled our readers asking where they tend to spend on Halloween. The results were similar to last year with a slight variation.

We found that most will spend on candy, then costumes, followed by house decorations then food and drinks. Last year we found most spent on costumes then the candy.

Halloween spending areas of spending

But how do our readers spend compared to the average American? The answer to that question may surprise you.

Where Is the Money Spent

We broke our data out by spending area and age group to show trending data. 

You might find it interesting to see which age groups spent the most money on which items.

For instance, the age group 33 to 40 years old tends to spend on costumes. 

Halloween spending age groups

Conversely, our 69 and older readers tend to spend more on candy and house decorations.

This could be because the 33 to 40 age group is mostly likely to be raising young children that love to dress up. 

Read on to find out other spending facts from Well Kept Wallet readers.

Candy

Halloween spending candy

Our survey asked readers how much they typically spend on candy for Halloween. This year’s responses showed that most will spend the same as they did last year, $1-25.

Interestingly, we did find that 11% spend $50 to 99 or more on candy. Clearly, these are the homes you’ll want to be sure to visit with your kids on Halloween.  

Costumes

Halloween spending costumes

We found this year our readers were for the most part holding back on purchasing costumes. Our question asked for total spend including pets and kids. Interestingly we found >32% answered they plan to spend $0.

In fact, we found half our readers spent $25 or less. This statistic includes people who do not spend money on costumes at all.

Last year we had 28% spend $50 or more. This year’s response had 20%.

Although there is a segment of Well Kept Wallet readers that spend big on costumes, the majority of readers spend less than $50.

Decorations

Halloween spending on decorations

In keeping in line with our other survey results, this year’s survey found that most of our Well Kept Wallet readers do not spend much on decorations (30%). 

This year’s data from our survey shows that most Well Kept Wallet readers will spend less than $25  on decorations.

Perhaps some are entrepreneurial and make and sell their own Halloween crafts, both to save money and to make money.

For example, with a little black and orange construction paper and some white tissue paper, you can decorate your house quite nicely.

Pumpkins

Halloween spending on pumpkins

Do you purchase pumpkins for Halloween, either for decorating or for carving?  

Our survey results show that most of our reading audience will spend less than $25 on pumpkins.

According to the National Retail Federation, 44% of Americans carve pumpkins. Of our survey, over 60% will purchase a pumpkin.

The cost of the average pumpkin is up to $5.40, from $4.83 in 2021. Could the cost of inflation be carving up the price on pumpkins this year?

The United States Department of Agriculture posted the average price per pound of pumpkin is $1.38. Your basic pumpkin weighs 10 to 14 pounds. Therefore you could pay $14 to $20 per pumpkin. 

Hint: Check local farms near you for the best prices.

Pumpkin Farm

Halloween spending on pumpkin patch farm

Another fun event during the Halloween season is visiting pumpkin patch farms. 

Pumpkin patch farms can offer a variety of activities from corn mazes to petting zoos to fun treats or crafts.

And you get to choose your own pumpkin from the growing patch.  are fun to visit with the family. 

However, visiting a pumpkin patch can be a spendy event, especially if the pumpkin patch you visit charges an entry fee. 

67% of our readers either do not visit farms or have minimal spending when visiting. Ironically, our 2021 data listed 74% of our readers in this category. Perhaps more are visiting as we enter a post-pandemic season.

Summary

The NRF (National Retail Federation) predicts this year’s national Halloween spending will be at an all-time high of $10.6 billion from $10.14 billion in 2021. 

Our annual Halloween survey results of Well Kept Wallet readers differed vastly from what the rest of the U.S. spends on the holiday. 

Well Kept Wallet readers prefer finding ways to save money over spending money. This fact proves the old adage to be true: 

“You are the five of the five people you spend the most time with.”–Jim Rohn  

Thanks for being a part of our community, Well Kept Wallet readers! 

*172 readers were surveyed who are U.S residents and over the age of 18 years old.