Prom Costs Rise 5 Percent to National Average of $1,139
Average prom expenses are up 5 percent, according to Visa.
April 27, 2013— -- intro:
The cost of going to prom -- the perfect dress or tuxedo, a limo, and pre-dance festivities -- has risen to a nationwide average of $1,139.
That figure represents a 5 percent increase from the $1,078 in 2012 that American families who have a teenager attending a prom spent on all aspects of the dance.
"The thing that stuck out the most is that this trend is continuing to grow," Nat Sillin, head of Visa's US Financial Education, told ABCNews.com. "Prom affects so many families in the country, and every teen has an experience, whatever it could be."
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Visa surveyed an equal number of men and women, with a random sample of 3,000 live telephone interviews, according to Sillin. Of the 3,000 surveyed, "1,025 had a child going to prom," Sillin said.
According to the survey, there are large disparities in prom spending between regions. While the Northeastern families surveyed will spend the most, with an average of $1,528, those surveyed going to prom in the Midwest will only spend an average of $722.
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"Statistics worth further investigating are the difference in spending in different incomes," Sillin said.
Visa found that the parents surveyed who fell within lower income brackets, earning less than $50,000 a year, planned to spend more than the national average with $1,245. Parents who earned more than $50,000 planned to spend an average of $1,129.
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The survey also discovered that married parents planned to spend $770, while single parents would spend nearly double, with $1,563.
With the high cost of this special night in every high school student's career, Sillin stressed the need to budget and plan ahead for all the expenses associated with prom.
Here are the average prom costs for 2013 broken down by region, according to Visa.
quicklist:category: New England region title: New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticutmedia: text: Average cost $1,528
quicklist:category: Middle Atlantic regiontitle: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jerseymedia: text: Average cost $1,528
quicklist:category: South Atlantic region title: West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Floridamedia: text: Average cost $1,203
quicklist:category: East South Central region title: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabamamedia: text: Average cost $1,203
quicklist:category: West South Central region title: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texasmedia: text: Average cost $1,203
quicklist:category: West regiontitle: Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaiimedia: text: Average cost $1,079
quicklist:category: East North Central regiontitle: Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohiomedia: text: Average cost $722
quicklist:category: West North Central region title: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri media: text: Average cost $722
