One in four people think Easter isn’t going to be affordable this year, according to a survey by WalletHub, a personal finance website. Nearly one in three Americans don’t feel confident about their finances heading into the spring.
To save money for your Easter celebration, focus on shared experiences rather than expensive gifts, Can (John) Uslay, Ph.D., professor of marketing at Rutgers Business School at Newark and New Brunswick, said.
Uslay also suggests plan a potluck-style meal with friends and family, organize free outdoor activities such as egg hunts in local parks, and prioritize time and connection over material possessions.
Big money wasters, he said, are overspending on elaborate, single-use decorations and excessively large Easter baskets.
“The impulse to purchase trendy, high-priced candy and gifts often leads to unnecessary expenditures,” Uslay said.
Eighty percent of Americans plan to celebrate Easter. Total Easter-related spending expected in 2026 is $25 billion, according to the WalletHub survey. That’s $196 per person celebrating.
For Easte spending, the estimates are: candy, $3.5 billion; food, $7.5 billion; clothing, $3.7 billion; and gift spending, $3.9 billion.
Other facts and figures on Easter 2026 from WalletHub are:
Easter candy and baskets
- Easter baskets: 67 percent of people prefer to make their own Easter baskets, and 89 percent of Easter baskets will include chocolate or candy.
- The most popular Easter basket items are: chocolate eggs and bunnies, 29 percent; jelly beans, 25 percent, and peeps, 14 percent.
- Parents, 60 percent, plan on sending Easter baskets to their children after they’ve moved out.
- Chocolate bunnies are popular with 90 million sold in the United States each year for Easter.
- Enough jelly beans are eaten for Easter, 16 billion, to circle the globe three times.
- Marshmallow peeps are popular with 1.5 billion-plus eaten each Easter.
Easter traditions
- The majority of Easter meals, 56 percent, will be cooked at home.
- The majority of people, 52 percent, plan to visit family and friends on Easter Sunday.
- The top family Easter activities are Easter egg hunt, 83 percent; eating candy, 69 percent; dyeing eggs, 69 percent; taking family photos, 58 percent; and making Easter dinner, 57 percent.
- Eggs are an Easter staple with 180 million purchased for Easter at the average price of $2.50 a dozen.
- Decorating Easter eggs will be done by 94 percent of Americans. Ten million dyeing kits are sold each year.
- Thirty-six percent parents plan an Easter egg hunt for their kids.
Christians in America
- Easter is the most popular church day of the year.
- Sixty-nine percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians.
- Forty-three percent of Americans plan to attend church on Easter Sunday.
Whatever your plans, best wishes for your Easter celebrations.
