Back-to-School Shopping Trends 2026: How Parents Are Financing the Bill

A third of parents will use a credit card as their primary payment method for back-to-school shopping this year, according to a Motley Fool Money survey of 2,000 parents of K-12 students in the U.S. conducted in July 2026.

With back-to-school shopping expected to average around $864 per family this year, according to the National Retail Federation, that is a significant expense to put on a credit card, though most parents said they would only charge a portion of their total spending on one.

Higher-income families, those making $150,000 or more a year, are largely choosing to use a credit card for back-to-school shopping, citing rewards and convenience as their top reasons. Tellingly, they're also the least likely income group to say they're spreading payments out over time, the clearest sign their credit card use is a choice, not a cash-flow crutch. Lower-income earners, who earn less than $50,000 a year, by contrast, are more likely to say they're concerned about affording their back-to-school shopping bill. For a third of American parents in 2026, back-to-school shopping is as much a financing decision as a spending one.

Back-to-school shopping trends in 2026: a third of parents are financing with a credit card

Back-to-school spending is projected to reach $43.3 billion this year, an average of $864 per family, according to the National Retail Federation. Motley Fool Money's survey finds a clear divide in how parents are paying for it.

• Debit cards remain the default back-to-school payment method, but credit cards are a close second. 49% of parents name a debit card as their primary back-to-school payment method this year, compared with 34% who pick a credit card, 12% who plan to pay mostly in cash, and 5% who point to a buy now, pay later service as their primary payment method, the survey finds.
• Credit card use for back-to-school shopping rises sharply with income and skews male. 22% of parents earning under $50,000 name a credit card as their primary back-to-school payment method, compared with 58% of parents earning $150,000 or more. Fathers are also more likely than mothers to rely on credit for this type of shopping (42% vs. 25%).

The income divide points to two different reasons parents reach for a credit card for back-to-school shopping: one driven by need, one by preference. The next section explores why.

Higher earners are financing more of the back-to-school bill, and it's by choice, not necessity

Nearly half of parents earning $150,000 or more, 49%, expect a credit card to cover 76% to 100% of their back-to-school spending this year, compared with just 11% of parents earning under $50,000.

Picture two families buying the same back-to-school list. For a family earning under $50,000, leaning on a credit card for most of that bill tends to come with real financial stress: this income group is also the most likely to say it is extremely concerned about affording the season at all. For a family earning $150,000 or more, the same choice looks more like optimization than necessity: this group is the least likely to be worried about their back-to-school shopping bill and the most likely to say convenience or rewards, not need, is the reason for using a credit card.

• Extracurricular costs and electronics push up back-to-school spending. 62% of parents will use a credit card for back-to-school extracurricular costs like sports fees or instruments, separate from core school shopping. Electronics, the priciest back-to-school category at $293 per buyer this year according to the National Retail Federation, are likely driving that reliance on credit cards.
• Concern about affording the back-to-school bill runs the opposite direction from credit use. 43% of parents overall are very or extremely concerned about affording back-to-school costs this year, and parents earning under $50,000 are far more likely to say they are extremely concerned (26%) than parents earning $150,000 or more (14%).
• Convenience and rewards outrank every other reason parents give for using a credit card. Among parents who use a credit card for back-to-school shopping, 50% cite convenience and 48% cite rewards or cash back, both well ahead of the 31% who cite spreading payments out over time. Both reasons are more common among higher-income parents, and convenience breaks sharply at the top: 65% of parents earning $150,000 or more cite it, compared with 44% to 51% at every other income band.

"Depending on where you shop, category rewards cards can give your rewards a real boost," said Joel O'Leary, a Motley Fool Money personal finance expert. "For example, if you're grabbing most of your supplies on Amazon, lean on a card that pays extra for online purchases. And if you're opening a new card to snag a welcome offer, travel cards tend to carry the biggest offers, an easy chunk of cash toward your next family trip."

• Some parents are actively seeking out new credit for the back-to-school shopping season, not just using what they already have. 19% opened a new credit card specifically for back-to-school shopping, and another 32% considered it, including some weighing a 0% intro APR credit card. Gen Z parents are twice as likely as Gen X parents to have opened one (28% vs. 14%).

Back-to-school shopping's tight timeline can also make hitting a new card's welcome offer easier than usual. "Most welcome offers are designed so an average family can earn one through regular monthly spending. School shopping just speeds up the timeline," O'Leary said. "If you're going to drop, say, $850 on school supplies over the next couple months, you're most of the way to a $1,000 minimum spend requirement. The bigger your budget, the easier the math works."

Preference more than necessity explains the pattern: higher-income parents aren't financing more of their back-to-school shopping because they need to. They're doing it because a credit card pays them back.

9% of parents took at least four months to pay off last year's back-to-school shopping

Last year's back-to-school shopping offers a preview of how this year's charges are likely to play out.

• Most parents who financed last year paid it off within a few months, according to Motley Fool Money's survey. 40% of parents who used a credit card for back-to-school shopping last year paid it off within a month, and 24% took two to three months.
• A combined 9% needed at least four months to clear last year's back-to-school credit card charges. Roughly 4% took four or more months to pay it off, and another 4% still have not finished, a year later.
• A quarter of parents skipped credit entirely last year. 25% did not use a credit card for back-to-school shopping.

For families weighing whether to pay off charges over several months rather than in one shot, the type of card matters. "If you can clear the balance in a month or two, a regular card is perfectly fine," O'Leary said. "But if a big electronics haul will take several months to pay off, a card with a 0% intro APR on purchases buys you that time with zero interest. Just make sure you pay that debt off as quickly as you can, so you don't get stuck with the regular APR after the promo period ends."

For parents still carrying last year's charges into this year's shopping season, there's a specific fix worth considering. "A balance transfer can absolutely reset the clock, and it's one of my favorite moves for old debt," O'Leary said. "It makes the most sense when the balance is big enough that a transfer fee, usually 3% to 5%, is worth paying. If you're staring down 20%-plus interest and need several months, pausing that interest can save you real money. Small balances you'll clear quickly probably aren't worth the fee."

This slow-payoff pattern is not unique to the back-to-school shopping season. Outside of back-to-school shopping, 45% of parents say they pay their credit card balance in full every month, and 19% regularly carry a balance month to month, according to Motley Fool Money's survey. For the roughly 1 in 5 that carry a balance each month, adding at least part of a nearly $864 back-to-school bill to a balance that's already accruing interest can make the season cost more than the sticker price suggests.

1 in 4 parents is using buy now, pay later for back-to-school shopping

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) has moved from a niche checkout option to a mainstream one for many parents, and back-to-school shopping makes it an easy service to reach for.

• BNPL has moved well past the experimental stage. 25% of parents are using or plan to use BNPL for back-to-school shopping, and 40% considered it but opted not to, according to Motley Fool Money's survey.
• 10% of parents were not aware that BNPL was an option for back-to-school shopping.
• Younger parents are driving BNPL adoption. Combining current use with serious consideration, 79% of Gen Z parents and 68% of millennial parents are using or have considered BNPL for back-to-school shopping, compared with 54% of Gen X parents and 50% of baby boomers, according to the survey.

Younger parents are once again the most open to a financing option older generations are more likely to pass on entirely. Motley Fool Money's broader buy now, pay later research tracks this shift across categories beyond back-to-school shopping.

The bottom line

The clearest divide in back-to-school financing is not between parents who use credit and parents who do not. It is between parents using a credit card by preference and parents using one by necessity. High-income families are choosing a credit card for back-to-school shopping for convenience and rewards. Low-income families are the ones most anxious about the bill.

For families feeling the squeeze rather than chasing the rewards, building a budget for back-to-school costs ahead of time may matter more than which payment method they use.