How much does the average Halloween costume cost?

The NRF survey does not publish a single average costume price, but its 2025 category totals are $2.0 billion for adults, $1.4 billion for children, and $0.86 billion for pets, out of a $4.3 billion costume total. This site's calculator defaults to typical shelf prices of $45 adult, $35 child, and $20 pet, all editable.

What are the most popular Halloween costumes in 2025?

For kids: Spider-Man, princesses, witches, ghosts, and superheroes. For adults: witches, vampires, pirates, cats, and Batman. For pets: pumpkin, hot dog, bumblebee, ghost, and superhero, per the NRF 2025 survey.

Is it cheaper to make or buy a Halloween costume?

It depends on time and materials. A thrifted costume is usually cheapest, often under $15 assembled. A DIY costume can cost under $10 in materials if you own the tools, or over $50 with new fabric and props. A store costume is the most predictable price but the most expensive per wear unless reused.

How much do Americans spend on pet costumes?

About $860 million in 2025, per the NRF survey, more than the entire $700 million greeting card category. Twenty-three percent of celebrants planned to dress up a pet.

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The Halloween ledger · Table No. 36

How Much Does a Halloween Costume Cost?

Costumes are the biggest Halloween category at $4.3 billion: $2.0B adults, $1.4B kids, $0.86B pets. What a costume costs, and where the money goes.

Filed October 24, 2026 · figures checked against 2026 sources

The short answer

There is no single average costume price in the National Retail Federation's 2025 survey, and that absence is itself informative: the survey measures category totals, not unit prices, because costumes range from a $5 pair of cat ears to a $200 licensed suit. What the survey does give is the shape of the spending: $4.3 billion on costumes in total, split into $2.0 billion for adults, $1.4 billion for children, and $0.86 billion for pets. Costumes are the largest Halloween category, ahead of decorations at $4.2 billion and candy at $3.9 billion, and 71 percent of celebrants planned to buy one.

For planning purposes, this site's calculator defaults to typical shelf prices of $45 for an adult costume, $35 for a child, and $20 for a pet. Those are editable starting points, not survey figures: they represent the middle of the retail range for a complete off-the-shelf costume, and your receipt may land well above or below them. The point of the defaults is to make the ledger honest: a household with one adult, two kids, and one pet in costume starts at $135 before candy, decor, or pumpkins, which is already more than half of the default night's $262.97 total.

The adult costume: $2.0 billion

Adults are the biggest costume spenders, at $2.0 billion, and the most popular choices are classics that never leave the rotation: witches, vampires, pirates, cats, and Batman lead the 2025 list. The adult market splits into two distinct purchases that the survey total blends together. The first is the party costume, bought for one night, worn once, and judged on the night: this is where licensed characters and elaborate outfits live, and where prices climb past $60. The second is the functional costume, bought for trick-or-treating with kids or for a work party, where comfort and warmth matter more than accuracy, and prices cluster lower. A witch costume that works over a winter coat is a different purchase than a witch costume for a heated party, and the survey does not distinguish them, which is one reason the average is elusive.

The adult total also includes the group-costume effect. Couples and friend groups coordinate, and coordination raises spending: a solo vampire is one purchase, but a vampire couple with matching accessories is two purchases plus props. Groups also raise the social stakes, which is why adult costume spending keeps growing even as the number of adult celebrants grows slowly: the same adults are buying more elaborate costumes, not just more adults buying costumes.

The kids costume: $1.4 billion

Children's costumes total $1.4 billion, and the top picks are a mix of the eternal and the current: Spider-Man, princesses, witches, ghosts, and superheroes lead the 2025 list. The kids market has a structural feature the adult market lacks: growth. A child outgrows a costume every year, sometimes twice, which makes the kids costume an annual repurchase rather than a durable good. Parents also buy for comfort and safety in ways adults do not: a costume that fits over a coat, survives a mile of walking, and stays visible in the dark is worth more than a costume that photographs well.

Sizing is the hidden cost in kids costumes. A costume bought in September may not fit in late October, and a costume bought a size up for growth may drag or trip. The practical move is to buy the costume early enough for selection but try it on over the actual Halloween layers a week before the night, while exchanges are still possible. The second hidden cost is accessories: the base costume is often the cheap part, and the mask, wig, wand, or weapon accessory is where the receipt grows. Budget the accessories as a separate line, not as an afterthought, because retailers price them that way.

The pet costume: $0.86 billion

Pet costumes are the fastest-growing line in the costume category, at $860 million in 2025, with pumpkin, hot dog, bumblebee, ghost, and superhero leading the list. The pet costume is almost entirely a photo purchase: the dog wears it for ten minutes, the photo lasts all year, and the price reflects the photo, not the wear. That makes pet costumes unusually price-sensitive to cuteness and unusually insensitive to durability, which is why the range is so wide and the average so meaningless. A $12 pumpkin suit and a $40 elaborate outfit are the same purchase in the survey's eyes.

The pet costume also has a welfare constraint the other categories lack: the animal has to tolerate it. A costume that restricts movement, breathing, or vision is a bad purchase at any price, and the return rate on pet costumes reflects that. Buy the simple version, try it on indoors first, and keep the receipt: the pet's verdict is the only review that matters.

Store, thrift, or DIY

The three ways to get a costume have very different cost profiles, and the survey total blends all three. A store costume is the most expensive per wear but the most predictable: you know the price, the size, and the look before you buy. A thrifted costume is the cheapest, often under $15 for a complete outfit assembled from secondhand pieces, and the most variable: selection depends on what your local shop has that week. A DIY costume is the most variable of all: it can cost under $10 in materials if you own the tools and the time, or over $50 if you buy fabric, paint, and props for a single night. The honest comparison is not price alone but price plus time plus risk: a DIY costume that takes six hours has a time cost even if the materials were cheap.

The reuse question changes the math entirely. A costume worn once costs its full price per wear; a costume worn three years running costs a third per wear. Kids outgrow, so reuse usually means handing down to a sibling or a friend, which is a real saving across households even if it is not a saving on your receipt. Adults can reuse directly, and the best adult costume investment is a versatile base (a good witch hat, a quality vampire cape) that can be re-accessorized for years. The survey counts each year's purchase, so reuse shows up as a lower total for your household even though the national total keeps rising.

The boxed insight

Pet costumes now outspend greeting cards. The 2025 numbers put pet costumes at $860 million against $700 million for the entire greeting card category, which means Americans spend more dressing up their dogs and cats than on every Halloween card combined. That is not a joke about pet culture; it is a budgeting signal. The pet costume is the easiest line on the ledger to cut to zero without anyone except the dog noticing, and it is also the line most likely to have been an impulse buy: the pet costume is usually purchased in the same trip as the candy, on the same shelf, with the same casualness. If your Halloween ledger feels heavy, look at the pet line first. The photo is free; the costume is optional.

How to budget the costume line

Start with the headcount, not the price. Count the humans and pets actually dressing up, assign each a realistic price from your own shopping history or from the calculator's defaults, and add an accessory allowance of about a third on top of the base costume for kids and adults. Then compare the costume line to the rest of the night: if costumes exceed half your total, as they do at the calculator's defaults (51.3 percent), that is normal, not a warning. Costumes are the category. The warning sign is a costume line that exceeds the entire NRF per-person benchmark for your household, which at $114.45 per celebrant means $457.80 for a household of four: if costumes alone pass that, the night has become a costume budget with Halloween attached.

Run your own numbers

The calculator on this site prices costumes by headcount and price each, so you can enter your actual household: two adults, three kids, no pets, or whatever your house really is. Change the prices to your receipts and the ledger shows the costume share against the national 32.8 percent, so you can see whether your household is costume-heavy or candy-heavy before you shop.

Costume questions

How much does the average Halloween costume cost?: The NRF survey does not publish a single average costume price, but its 2025 category totals are $2.0 billion for adults, $1.4 billion for children, and $0.86 billion for pets, out of a $4.3 billion costume total. This site's calculator defaults to typical shelf prices of $45 adult, $35 child, and $20 pet, all editable.
What are the most popular Halloween costumes in 2025?: For kids: Spider-Man, princesses, witches, ghosts, and superheroes. For adults: witches, vampires, pirates, cats, and Batman. For pets: pumpkin, hot dog, bumblebee, ghost, and superhero, per the NRF 2025 survey.
Is it cheaper to make or buy a Halloween costume?: It depends on time and materials. A thrifted costume is usually cheapest, often under $15 assembled. A DIY costume can cost under $10 in materials if you own the tools, or over $50 with new fabric and props. A store costume is the most predictable price but the most expensive per wear unless reused.
How much do Americans spend on pet costumes?: About $860 million in 2025, per the NRF survey, more than the entire $700 million greeting card category. Twenty-three percent of celebrants planned to dress up a pet.