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Reference

How much to spend on a gift.

Every gift decision starts with a number, and almost nobody knows what the number is — half of Americans told Empower they don’t know the “right” amount to spend. These pages answer that first, with the survey or source behind every figure, and only then point you at something to buy.

How much to spend on a wedding gift Most wedding guests spend $100–$150. Zola’s 2026 First Look Report puts the average gift at $130; The Knot’s guest research puts it at $150. Scale by how close you are to the couple — not by what their caterer charged for your seat. How much to spend on a coworker gift $25 is the working ceiling. In CareerBuilder’s workplace survey, 73% of employees buying coworker gifts expected to spend no more than $25 each, and 33% capped it at $10. Office gift exchanges typically set the limit at $25–$40. Secret Santa and white elephant price limits Set an office Secret Santa limit of $25–$40. Elfster’s 2026 guidance is $30–$50 for friend groups, $40–$75 for families and $15–$25 for students. White elephant runs lower: around $20 is standard. How much to spend on a housewarming gift $20–$75 covers most housewarming gifts. PocketWell’s July 2026 guidance puts coworkers and acquaintances at $15–$30, friends at $25–$50, and siblings or close family at $50–$100. Buy for the room, not the person. How much to spend on a birthday gift About $56 for an adult, $83 for a child. That is the going rate 2,202 US adults named in Empower’s August 2025 survey ($55.65 and $83.03). Coworkers run lower — around $25 — and immediate family runs higher. How much to spend on a baby shower gift $25–$50 from a coworker, $50–$100 from a friend, $100–$200 from close family. Those are the bands Greatest Gift publishes. Babylist’s registry data puts the average value of a baby gift near $130 — skewed upward by big-ticket registry items. Gift budget calculator Pick an occasion, say how close you are, and get a suggested range built from the same cited figures — plus the guide that fits it.

Why this section exists

Very Cool is a shopping site, and shopping sites are bad at this question because the honest answer is often “less than you think.” The figures below are published by wedding platforms, workplace pollsters and personal-finance research — not by us — and several of them come in well under what etiquette columns recommend. We publish the gap rather than the flattering side of it.

When a number comes from a real survey we say who ran it, how many people they asked and when. When it is etiquette convention with no poll behind it — which is true of housewarmings and baby showers — we say that too, on the page, rather than dressing guidance up as data. Where we couldn’t source a figure at all, we generalised instead of asserting.

Then pick the thing

A number on its own doesn’t solve anything. Each reference page ends by handing you to the shelf that fits it: weddings to cool wedding gifts, the office draw to under $25 and gifts for coworkers, a new place to housewarming gifts, and a birthday to cool birthday gifts. Or start from the full set of gift guides.

Where these numbers come from