Back to school shopping is already underway for most Gen Z and Millennials in 2026, with parents leading the charge. More than half of 13-39-year-olds plan to shop for back to school this year, including nearly all middle and high schoolers, along with the majority of parents and college students, and estimated budgets are climbing across every category, led by electronics and clothing. Parents are the earliest planners, starting well before July at roughly twice the rate of middle and high schoolers, while college students alone estimate spending $335 on electronics and $239 on textbooks this year. Deal-hunting is having a moment too: scoring a sale is now nearly as exciting to shoppers as getting new clothes, especially for parents, who are the ones mostly footing the bill.
In YPulse’s 2026 Back to School Shopping Report, we dive into why back-to-school budgets are climbing across every category, how AI is becoming part of the shopping discovery process, and why back-to-school style has splintered into a mix of micro-aesthetics with no single dominant trend.
Report length: 22, North America report is based on a survey of 1500 13-39-year-olds in the U.S. and Canada (n=1000 U.S., n=500 Canada), fielded May 27–June 4, 2026.
