Hank Vaughn
Audio By Carbonatix
OK, listen. We’re just kidding about the carrots. Do not drop snack bags of baby carrots in any child’s Halloween bag. That’s just traumatizing. Besides, that neighborhood tyke you foisted veggies on might grow up to be a teen someday and seek revenge. Given the price of candy this year, you might be better off just leaving your porch light off and keeping away from windows when little boys and ghouls come calling.
According to a recent report by the finance website FinanceBuzz, candy prices have increased by 78% since 2020. “A 100-piece bag of assorted Halloween candy averages $16.39 this year – up $7.20 over the past 5 years,” according to their study, based on a review of archived grocery flyers. “…The majority of that cost increase has come in the last two years, as the cost for a 100-piece bag of candy went up by $2.45 from 2023 to 2024 and another $2.34 from last year to now, for a total increase of $4.78 in just two years.”
FinanceBuzz collected prices for bulk bags of mixed Halloween candy from Walmart, Target, Kroger and Albertsons. They excluded sale prices and included information on at least 25 different bags of candy in each year.
Their information is supported by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which tracks inflation data. Its graph for the last year for candy and gum prices tracks a steep slope.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
So yeah, it’s going to be an expensive Halloween, and, checking out some prices online at Dallas grocery stores, we’re frankly a little suspicious of FinanceBuzz’s 25 bags of candy. Does that variety include Sixlets or, God forbid, candy corn?
Tom Thumb had a 200-count variety pack of some of the good stuff — M&Ms, Snickers, etc. — for $29.99, or $24.99 for a 160-count bag. The prices seemed similar at Walmart, where you could order a 180-count Hershey’s variety for $19.88. The prices don’t include any loyalty discounts and vary by whether you’re buying the “fun” size of “mini” bars, or we call them, “chintzy” or “chintizier.”
Of course, none of this is surprising to anyone who has gone shopping lately or who read our recent story on how inflation is hitting vendors at the State Fair of Texas this year.
“The big one, though, is chocolate,” long-time concessionaire Mark Zable told Observer Food Editor Lauren Drewes Daniels. “Last year, for 20 kilos I paid $339.29, and this year it went up to $580.51. That is a huge change [71%]. I think that is probably the most terrifying change for me.”
Still, Americans do spend a ton of money on Halloween, including treats and costumes, FinanceBuzz reported. “According to S&P Global, Americans spent a record $4.1 billion on Halloween candy last year, which comes out to about $31 per household. With more than half of Americans reporting that rising prices will change how much they spend on Halloween candy in 2025, that record may stand for another year,” they wrote.
For no particular reason, we checked estimates of the average price of eggs in Dallas, $3.44 a dozen, and toilet paper, $4.17 for four rolls. Wait! JUST KIDDING, KIDS! Do not even think about it, carrots or not. People are cranky in 2025, and there are too many damn guns out there.
Otherwise, grown-ups, enjoy your Halloween. We will — silently crouching behind the couch until the coast is clear.
