Budgets for Halloween top Thanksgiving, New Year's — fueled by two groups
Americans are spending big on Halloween this year — particularly Gen Z and millennials.
Thirty-eight percent of Americans plan to spend $300 or more on Halloween, compared with 19% for Thanksgiving and 11% for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, according to a CIT Bank survey conducted by Researchscape International. More than half (54%) plan to spend $200 or more, versus 39% for Thanksgiving and 23% for New Year's.
Consumers expect to spend $210 for Halloween on average. Gen Z and millennials plan to spend the most, at $270 and $308, respectively.
Younger generations are prioritizing personal expression, shareable digital content and seasonal experiences this Halloween. Seventy-one percent of Gen Z respondents spend on costumes for themselves versus 53% of all adults surveyed.
Fifty-two percent of Gen Z and millennials would pay more for a costume to drive social media engagement, versus 38% overall. Among Gen Z, 37% would spend more than $100 on that kind of costume.
Other findings from the survey are below:
•More than half (63%) of respondents say they are more price-sensitive about Halloween costs than they were last year. To cut costs, 71%would buy candy in bulk, while 62% would shop at discount or dollar stores.
READ MORE: More than two-thirds of Halloween shopping to take place in stores
•Decorations and experiences take a large share of Halloween plans: Beyond candy at 92%, outdoor decorations (67%) and home or party décor (65%) rank as the most common spending categories. Forty-six percent plan to put $100 or more toward experiences such as haunted houses or hayrides, and 42% plan to spend at least $50 on candy.
•Families and pets come before personal costumes: Twenty-three percent plan to spend $200 or more on costumes for their families, compared with 4% who would spend that much on costumes for themselves. More than one-quarter (26%) are budgeting $40 or more for pet costumes.
•Social media and AI influence costume ideas: Sixty-two percent of Gen Z respondents turn to social platforms for costume inspiration, more than double the 29% rate for the full sample. Pop culture guides 39% of Gen Z, compared with 24% overall, and 20% of Gen Z use artificial intelligence when developing costume ideas. Twenty-nine percent of Gen Z and 26% of Millennials want their costume to represent a current event or viral moment.
"Halloween is one of the most exciting moments of the year, and Americans are going all in with costumes, decorations, haunted houses and weekend parties,” said Jose Castro, head of CIT Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. “They are also planning wisely, shopping early, and getting creative with DIY decorations and bulk candy.”
Methodology
Researchscape International conducted the online survey of 1,065 U.S. adults ages 18 and older from Sept. 8-11. Results were weighted to the U.S. population using nine demographic questions. The credibility interval for questions answered by all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Because the survey did not use a probability-based sample, a theoretical margin of sampling error does not apply.
