9 Back-to-School Costs Catching North Carolina Grandparents Off Guard in 2026
Wake County Public Schools raised student meal prices again this year, the fifth straight year of increases.
North Carolina grandparents helping foot the back-to-school bill get no discount on any of it.
A few of this year’s costs are brand new.
A few are old costs that simply crept higher.
These are the back-to-school costs catching North Carolina grandparents off guard in 2026.
Note: This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Fees, prices, and tax rates are subject to change.
1. Backpacks and Supplies
Backpacks and other paper school supplies have jumped more than 20% this year, an East Carolina University economist told a Greenville news station.
That’s a steeper jump than clothing, which is up closer to 3%.
Grandparents used to a $25 backpack lasting through August now watch that same purchase creep toward $30 or $35 before the first bell even rings.
Ouch.
A grandkid’s wish-list backpack with a favorite team logo or character print runs even higher, sometimes north of $50 before a single notebook goes in it.
2. Electronics Outweigh the Supply List
Electronics are the single biggest line on a North Carolina family’s back-to-school list this year.
The average family plans to spend $863.86 total per K-12 student this year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Of that, $293.11 goes to a laptop, tablet, or graphing calculator alone.
Compare that to $146.45 for pens, folders, and notebooks combined.
Grandparents replacing a cracked screen or a dead battery from last year often assume it’s a cheap fix.
It rarely is.
3. Clothes and Shoes Cost More
Clothes and shoes rank right behind electronics on this year’s North Carolina back-to-school list.
A grandkid who outgrew last year’s sneakers by an inch doesn’t care what a national survey says about the timing.
New shoes are new shoes.
Families plan to spend $250.29 on clothing and $174.01 on shoes per student this year, a combined $424.30, according to NRF.
That combined total works out to about half of everything a family spends on one student this season.
4. North Carolina’s Tax-Free Weekend Is Gone
North Carolina hasn’t run a back-to-school sales tax holiday since 2013.
Lawmakers ended the exemption on clothing, school supplies, and computers as part of a broader tax overhaul.
A 2026 push to bring it back stalled in the General Assembly.
Still gone.
A shopper buying backpacks, shoes, or a new laptop now pays the full combined sales tax rate on all of it.
That rate is 7.25% in Wake County and rose to 8.25% in Mecklenburg County as of July 2026.
What Losing North Carolina’s Tax Holiday Costs a Grandparent’s Wallet
North Carolina’s back-to-school sales tax holiday used to waive tax on clothing, school supplies, and computers for one weekend every August.
That exemption ended after 2013.
On the $863.86 the average family spends per student this year, a grandparent shopping in Wake County now pays about $63 in sales tax that weekend used to erase.
Shop in Mecklenburg County instead, where the combined rate rose to 8.25% in July 2026, and that same total carries closer to $71 in tax.
5. School Meals Cost More This Year
Wake County Public Schools raised meal prices again for the 2026-27 school year, the fifth straight year of increases.
Breakfast now runs $2.25 at elementary schools and $2.50 at middle and high schools.
Lunch rose to $4 for elementary students and $4.25 for middle and high schoolers.
A grandkid buying both meals every school day costs a household about $6.50 to $6.75 a day.
Multiply that across 177 school days.
It adds up.
6. Durham Adds a New Technology Fee
Durham Public Schools started charging a yearly technology fee for the first time in 2025-26.
Grades K-5 pay $15 a year.
Grades 6-12 pay $30 a year.
The fee covers one accidental repair a year, a cracked screen or a broken hinge.
Break the device twice, though.
The family then owes the full repair or replacement cost.
Grandparents who grew up with a shared classroom set of encyclopedias never budgeted for a school laptop line item.
Now they do.
7. Driver’s Ed Isn’t Free Anymore
North Carolina’s driver’s ed requires 30 hours of classroom time and six hours behind the wheel before a teenager can test for a license.
Grandparents who took driver’s ed decades ago often remember it as a free class built into the school day.
Not anymore.
State law now lets districts charge up to $65 to cover the cost of the program.
Many North Carolina high schools run driver’s ed as an after-school class timed to the academic calendar, with fall sessions filling up right as students head back to school.
Wake County’s contracted driver’s ed provider opens fall registration in August.
Payment of the fee is what finalizes a teenager’s seat in that class.
Durham charges $45.
Dare County charges the full $65.
Either way, it’s a bill a grandparent covering a teenager’s first year of driving doesn’t see coming.
8. Sports Physical Bill Lands Before Tryouts
North Carolina middle and high school athletes need a sports physical on file before every season.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) requires it for every sport, every year, with no exceptions.
Without insurance, that exam runs $40 to $75 at an urgent care.
A grandkid playing three sports across a school year still only needs one physical on file per season.
Small mercy.
But tryouts don’t wait for a doctor’s appointment to open up.
9. Before- and After-School Care Isn’t Cheap
North Carolina’s before- and after-school care isn’t free when a program covers the gap between the dismissal bell and a parent’s workday.
Many grandparents already cover that gap themselves, handling pickup and drop-off for working parents.
Hand it to a program instead, and the bill starts.
North Carolina YMCA branches charge around $230 a month for after-school care on average.
Some charge by the week instead, $64 for members and $84 for nonmembers, plus a $30 registration fee.
Steep start.
Sign up for coverage both before and after school.
The monthly total can run past $350 before summer camp season even starts.
Psst! How much do you know about North Carolina’s school bus history and this year’s shopping season? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
NC Back-to-School IQ
Answer these questions on North Carolina school history and this year’s shopping season. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
For how many years did North Carolina run its back-to-school sales tax holiday before lawmakers let it expire?
A Nonprofit Covers Part of the Classroom List
WakeEd Partnership runs Tools4Schools, a free store in Raleigh where Wake County Public Schools teachers shop for classroom supplies at no cost.
Wake County families aren't shouldering every supply request alone because of it.
The program has handed out more than $2 million worth of glue sticks, folders, and tissues since it opened in 2022.
Not nothing.
That's relief teachers pass straight to their classrooms instead of adding it to a family's wish list.
It won't cover a laptop or a pair of sneakers.
But it still shrinks the pile of tissues, folders, and glue sticks a grandparent might otherwise be asked to send in.
6 Things That Change at the North Carolina DMV in Your 60s
A driver in Winston-Salem walks up to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) counter three days after her 66th birthday, expecting the same routine she's done for decades.
North Carolina's rulebook treats that birthday like a small reset button, and grandparents renewing a license soon should know what's coming.
6 Things That Change at the North Carolina DMV in Your 60s
9 Waffle House Mistakes North Carolina Regulars Never Make
Waffle House's yellow sign glows over I-85 outside Kannapolis at 2 a.m., and a first-time visitor studies the menu like it's written in another language.
Longtime regulars already have their order down, the kind of habit that marks a true North Carolina regular.
