The $4 billion prom industry: By the numbers

It's prom season, the American teenage right of passage that marks a time of celebration, stressful corsage pinnings, precarious high-heel experiments, and very serious spending. Here, a guide to the highly profitable prom business, by the numbers:

$4 billion

Estimated value of the American prom industry

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

$1500

Prom night rental fee for a stretch SUV limo that can accommodate 14 people, in Virginia

$750

Rental fee for the same SUV limo on any other night of the year. When asked about the price discrepancy, an employee of the Virginia company said, "Teenagers are horrible."

$13,997

Cost of the diamond-studded, "most expensive prom dress ever" on offer from Philadelphia-based company, Dress Goddess

$400

Cost of the average prom dress

$45,000

Cost of renting San Diego's Broadway Pier and tranforming it into a reasonable replica of Pandora, the fictional planet in Avatar, for San Marcos High School's graduates

$542

Average amount a family in the South will spend on prom, according to VISA's 2011 prom spending survey

$667

Average amount a family in the Northeast will spend on prom

$943

Average amount a family in the Midwest will spend on prom

$1,073

Average amount a family in the West will spend on prom

$778

Average amount parents with a combined income of less than $50,000 will spend on prom

$916

Average amount parents with a combined income of more than $50,000 will spend on prom

$3,000

Amount one suburban New York mother spent on her 15-year-old's first prom, which included teeth whitening, hair extensions, makeup, and, of course, the dress

Sources: ABC News, Martinsville Bulletin, Huffington Post, Fox News, North County Times