A basket of notebooks and lunchboxes costs 8% more than it did last year. Nearly 80% of parents saw it coming. Here’s where the extra money is actually going.
Somewhere around the third aisle of the school supply run, a lot of parents are doing math they didn’t sign up for. It’s not in your head. Families with kids in K-12 are budgeting an average of $489 per child this year, up from $437 last year, close to an 11% jump per kid. Multiply that across a household with two or three kids and you start to understand why “back-to-school season” has quietly become one of the more dreaded lines on the family calendar.
Where the money actually goes
Electronics lead the list at roughly $293 per family, which makes sense once you count laptops, calculators, and the headphones that mysteriously vanish by October. Clothing and accessories come in around $250, shoes about $174, and traditional school supplies, the notebooks and folders and glue sticks, around $146. That last category is the one getting the most attention this year, because a basic basket of supplies costs nearly 8% more than the same basket cost in 2025. Notebooks, lunchboxes, and index cards are not luxury items. When their prices move that much in a single year, families notice immediately.
Why is this happening now, specifically?
A few forces are stacking on top of each other. General inflation is part of it. So are new tariffs on imported goods, since a meaningful share of school supplies, backpacks, and electronics are manufactured overseas and now cross the border with an added cost attached. School lunch costs are climbing too, up around 11% year over year, which turns a five-day school week into a real monthly line item most families are budgeting around for the first time.
78% of back-to-school shoppers expect to see higher prices this year, and a typical school supply basket costs nearly 8% more than in 2025.
, Back-to-school shopping surveys, July 2026
How families are actually responding
Not by giving up, but by getting strategic. About two-thirds of parents say they’re aggressively hunting sales and coupons this year. Roughly 43% plan to buy fewer items than they normally would. More than a quarter are reusing supplies left over from last year instead of replacing them wholesale, about one in five is switching to store brands, and 14% are turning to secondhand for things like clothing and calculators. None of that is glamorous, but it’s the difference between a manageable August and a genuinely stressful one for a lot of households.
Is there an upside anywhere in this?
A small one. Total household back-to-school spending is actually projected to be a bit lower than last year in some surveys, even as the cost per item climbs, which tells you families are actively cutting quantity to protect their budgets. That’s not nothing. It means the sticker shock is real, but it’s not out of anyone’s control. The families managing it best right now are the ones treating school shopping like a real budget line with a plan attached, not a last-minute August scramble.
So here’s the actual question worth asking before your next store run: are you buying what your kid needs, or what the display at the front of the store wants you to think they need? This year, that distinction is worth real money.
Quick Answers
Q: How much are parents spending on back-to-school shopping in 2026?
A: An average of about $489 per child, up from $437 last year, with total family spending ranging roughly $864 to $922 depending on the survey.
Q: Why are school supplies more expensive this year?
A: A combination of general inflation, new tariffs on imported goods like electronics and backpacks, and rising school lunch costs, which are up about 11% year over year.
Q: How are families coping with higher back-to-school costs?
A: About two-thirds are hunting sales more aggressively, 43% are buying fewer items, over a quarter are reusing last year’s supplies, and roughly 1 in 5 are switching to store brands.
Sources
- CBS News, back-to-school costs and tariffs
- NerdWallet 2026 Back-to-School Shopping Report
- JLL 2026 Back-to-School Shopping Report
