Life in the Time of COVID-19: Happy Halloween?

Celebrating Halloween

Among the US population, about 46% say that they celebrated Halloween in 2019, and only about 35% say they plan to celebrate this year.

Among those who have celebrated Halloween (either in the past or future), fewer are agreeing that they are “excited” to celebrate Halloween this year compared to last (48% vs. 70%).

Spending for Halloween, Compared to Typical Years

Even though about 11% fewer Americans plan to celebrate this year, those who do plan on spending over $100 more than they typically do, particularly for costumes. On average, people say they spent about $88 typically on costumes, but this year, they think it will be about $170 on average.

How People Plan to Celebrate Halloween

About 58% of Americans are planning on participating in some type of in-person event. That contrasts with about 21% who will participate in virtual events this year. That is almost exactly the same number (22%) who don’t plan to participate in any events outside of their home, and the same number of people seem to be undecided (22%) just a week before Halloween. This means that 44% of those who are celebrating Halloween are either undecided, or not celebrating outside of the home.

While the average amount spent on decorations will be slightly higher this year, the frequency of those decorating will be less. In previous years, only about 13% of those who celebrate Halloween say they typically did not decorate, compared to about 25% saying they don’t plan to decorate this year.

To find out more about guidelines on celebrating Halloween this year, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html

Respondents for this survey were collected via Lucid Marketplace.