This Year's Most Popular Halloween Costumes Are ...

Princesses be warned: Your reign of popularity among kids celebrating Halloween is over. 2016 is the year of the superhero, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2016 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey.

The annual review of popular Halloween costumes, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, found that spending on costumes is expected to reach $3.1 billion, with 67% of Halloween celebrants planning to purchase costumes this year. Total spending for the holiday is expected to reach a record high of $8.4 billion, according to earlier data from the NRF. More than 171 million people are expected to take part in Halloween festivities, spending an average of $82.93 (up from last year’s $74.34).

The NRF’s costume trends survey, conducted September 6-13, asked 6,791 consumers about their Halloween costume plans. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

Here are the most popular costumes this year, broken down by age groups (and species), per the NRF.

Children

Action/Superhero
Princess
Animal (cat, dog, lion, monkey, etc.)
Batman Character
Star Wars Character
Tie: Witch & DC Superhero (excluding Batman)
Frozen Character (Anna, Elsa, Olaf)
Marvel Superhero (excluding Spiderman)
Zombie
Spiderman

Adults 18-34

Batman Character (Batman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, etc.)
Witch
Animal (cat, dog, bunny, etc.)
Tie: Marvel Superhero (Deadpool, Spiderman, etc.) & DC Superhero (Wonder Woman, Superman, excluding Batman)
Vampire
Video Game Character
Slasher Movie Villain (Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, etc.)
Pirate
Star Wars Character
Zombie

Adults 35 & Up

Witch
Pirate
Political (Trump, Clinton, etc.)
Vampire
Batman Character (Batman, Catwoman, etc.)
Animal (cat, dog, bunny, etc.)
Tie: DC Superhero (Superman, Wonder Woman, excluding Batman) & Star Wars Character
Tie: Ghost & Zombie
Scary Costume/Mask
Marvel Superhero (Iron Man, Hulk, Spiderman, etc.)

Pets

Pumpkin
Hot Dog
Bumble Bee
Tie: Lion & Star Wars Character
Devil
Batman Character
Witch
Superman
Action/Superhero
Cat

Don’t Dig a Debt Grave This Halloween

If you have big Halloween plans this year, it’s good to keep in mind that overspending can be scarier than any haunted house. If you’re carrying a large credit card balance that you’re finding difficult to pay off, consider some DIY decorating and costume tips.

Remember, too much debt can hurt your credit scores, keeping you from getting the best financing terms available on everything from auto and home loans to credit cards. You can monitor your credit by signing up for your free credit report summary, updated every 14 days on Credit.com. If your credit needs some work, you can generally improve your scores by paying down those high credit card balances, disputing errors on your credit reports (you can go here to learn how) and limiting credit inquiries.

Image: WilleeCole