Time for Prom

We have come to the time of year when students celebrate the end of the school year by attending a prom.  The prom at my school happened last night.  Usually the local prom is open to students beginning in 7th grade on up.  Sometimes folks from the village attend.  The prices are usually $20 per couple in formal, $25 single in formal, $25 per couple in casual, $30 for a single in casual. This gives students a four hour dance with food and music.  Usually, they arrive on snow machines or on an ATV.

Their cost is usually for the tickets, dress, shoes, or suit and tie.  Some of the boys borrow their suits from older brothers or even their fathers so overall the cost is not that much.  The girls get their hair done by friends, aunts, mothers or cousins, so again little or no cost but that is not true of most other proms.

This is the perfect opportunity to have students create a spread sheet covering the cost of everything associated with the prom.  For the girl, it would be the dress, her make-up, hair, jewelry, and shoes.  For the boy it would be the transportation such as a limo or car, suit, shoes, tickets, perhaps even a room at the hotel where the prom is held.  There might be a cost for a dinner before the prom or an activity after the prom.

I would be interesting to compare the prices they paid with the national averages.  According to an article with money magazine, the average cost of attending the prom in 2013 was $1,139. The average dropped to $978 in 2014 and dropped again to $919.  According to a survey done by American Express, going to a wedding is likely to cost between $703 and $893.

Furthermore, the cost of attending the prom varies according to part of the country, and location within that area.  A person is more likely to spend more in New York City than in Topika Kansas.  If you lived in the northeastern part of the country, you would be likely to spend over $1,100.

 In addition, according to another survey, families who made less than $25,000 spent almost $1,400 for the prom while those who earned over $50,000 per year spent closer to $700.  The thought behind this discrepancy is those in the under $25,000 knew this might be the only big thing the children would attend so wanted to make it special.

This site shows the change in the average cost of proms from 1998 to 2014 as compared with the general consumer prices.  He even offers a spread sheet called Prom Price Index which people can change amounts to see how the overall price changes.

This site looks at 23 different statistics concerning prom both in the United States, Canada, and other seas. This goes so far as to look at how much of the prom costs parents will cover, cost of shoes, dresses, etc, and amount spent based on income.  It also looks at external costs of prom based on alcohol consumption.

Lots of fun stats to use and compare.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.