Birthday gifts for son: what people actually spend
The 4 ideas here run from $10 to $250, and 2 of them come in under the $55.65 people say they spend on an adult's birthday gift — per Empower, 2025.
This is the national figure for an adult's birthday gift, not a breakdown for a son — no published survey we could find breaks spending down by relationship, and the per-relationship numbers you will see elsewhere carry no source.
How the figure was collected — survey, sample and the date it was run.
- How much money should you give for a birthday gift for your son?
- No published survey we could find gives a figure for a son specifically. The one number that exists covers any adult: $55.65 (Empower, 2025). 2 of the 4 ideas here come in under it.
- How much do people spend on a birthday gift?
- $55.65 on average for an adult, per Empower (2025). The 4 ideas on this page run from $10 to $250, so 2 of them sit under that figure.
For a small son, the year he starts choosing rather than receiving
For a nine-year-old son, between the toy and the object
For a teenage son, the thing he would not ask you for
For an adult son, buy for the life he actually lives
The dashed line is the going rate — $55.65. Bars show each idea's price range; the exact figures are under every idea below.
Under $25
For a small son, the year he starts choosing rather than receiving
Around four or five a birthday stops being an event that happens to him and starts being an event he decides on. The gift that lands is the one that lets him decide something small back.
$10–$25
checked
$25–50
For a nine-year-old son, between the toy and the object
Nine is the age when toys stop working and adult objects do not fit yet. The gift that lands is a real thing his size — not a toy dressed as one, not an adult item scaled down.
$25–$50
checked
$50–100
For a teenage son, the thing he would not ask you for
The age when a boy stops asking, and the money spent on him quietly stops working. Nothing on the wishlist is the wrong answer to this — but the interesting one is a category off it.
$50–$100
checked
$100–250
For an adult son, buy for the life he actually lives
The mistake a parent makes at this stage is buying the life they remember him having. He has a different one now, and the good gift acknowledges it plainly.
$100–$250
checked
Also worth a look
Prices are bands with the date we last checked them, not exact figures — why we publish them that way.