Special Report

States Obsessed With Halloween

John Harrington, Cheyenne Buckingham

Published: October 15, 2018 5:20 pm

Last Updated: March 19, 2020 10:57 am

Halloween has become big business in recent years. Americans will spend $9 billion to celebrate the holiday this year, according to the National Retail Federation estimates. Even though this is a slight pullback from last year’s record of $9.1 billion, it is still a significant increase from Halloween expenditures in 2005, when Americans spent $3.3 billion on Halloween-related items such as candy, costumes, and decorations.

Though every state celebrates Halloween, the holiday is more intensely celebrated in some states than others. To try and capture that fervor, 24/7 Wall St. has created a list of the states most obsessed with Halloween.

Among the factors we considered for the list were the number of costume stores, candy stores, haunted tours, and haunted houses that were reviewed on Yelp in cities where the population is at least 100,000 people. For smaller states, we considered the five largest cities. Our index also included the total pounds of the top three candies bought in each state.

Click here to see the states obsessed with Halloween.
Click here to read our detail findings and methodology.

50. Maryland
> Top candy purchased: Milky Way
> Costume stores: 0
> Candy stores: 16
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Urbana

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49. New Jersey
> Top candy purchased: Skittles
> Costume stores: 2
> Candy stores: 6
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Fair Haven

48. Georgia
> Top candy purchased: Jolly Ranchers
> Costume stores: 12
> Candy stores: 19
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Johns Creek

47. Connecticut
> Top candy purchased: Almond Joy
> Costume stores: 3
> Candy stores: 3
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Darien

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46. South Carolina
> Top candy purchased: Skittles
> Costume stores: 4
> Candy stores: 10
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Tega Cay

45. Virginia
> Top candy purchased: Hot Tamales
> Costume stores: 16
> Candy stores: 20
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Fort Belvoir

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44. Delaware
> Top candy purchased: Life Savers
> Costume stores: 0
> Candy stores: 3
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Clayton

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43. Minnesota
> Top candy purchased: Tootsie Pops
> Costume stores: 8
> Candy stores: 22
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Elko New Market

42. Florida
> Top candy purchased: Snickers
> Costume stores: 40
> Candy stores: 52
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Parkland

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41. Maine
> Top candy purchased: Sour Patch Kids
> Costume stores: 4
> Candy stores: 4
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Winslow

40. New York
> Top candy purchased: Sour Patch Kids
> Costume stores: 5
> Candy stores: 14
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Rye

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39. North Carolina
> Top candy purchased: M&M’s
> Costume stores: 26
> Candy stores: 27
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Whispering Pines

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38. Mississippi
> Top candy purchased: 3 Musketeers
> Costume stores: 3
> Candy stores: 7
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Madison

37. Massachusetts
> Top candy purchased: Sour Patch Kids
> Costume stores: 14
> Candy stores: 18
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Hanscom

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36. Alabama
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 10
> Candy stores: 8
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Margaret

35. Washington
> Top candy purchased: Salt Water Taffy
> Costume stores: 16
> Candy stores: 55
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Snoqualmie

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34. Alaska
> Top candy purchased: Twix
> Costume stores: 1
> Candy stores: 9
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Valdez

33. Vermont
> Top candy purchased: Milky Way
> Costume stores: 1
> Candy stores: 4
> Best place for trick-or-treating: South Burlington

32. Wisconsin
> Top candy purchased: Butterfinger
> Costume stores: 11
> Candy stores: 14
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Barneveld

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31. Texas
> Top candy purchased: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
> Costume stores: 105
> Candy stores: 137
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Randolph

30. Iowa
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 6
> Candy stores: 12
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Bondurant

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29. Pennsylvania
> Top candy purchased: Skittles
> Costume stores: 11
> Candy stores: 38
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Franklin Park

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28. Michigan
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 4
> Candy stores: 12
> Best place for trick-or-treating: East Grand Rapids

27. Missouri
> Top candy purchased: Milky Way
> Costume stores: 11
> Candy stores: 23
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Glendale

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26. South Dakota
> Top candy purchased: Starburst
> Costume stores: 1
> Candy stores: 6
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Tea

25. Oregon
> Top candy purchased: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
> Costume stores: 5
> Candy stores: 29
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Sherwood

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24. Tennessee
> Top candy purchased: Tootsie Pops
> Costume stores: 21
> Candy stores: 32
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Nolensville

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23. Montana
> Top candy purchased: Dubble Bubble Gum
> Costume stores: 4
> Candy stores: 6
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Malmstrom

22. Wyoming
> Top candy purchased: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
> Costume stores: 0
> Candy stores: 6
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Bar Nunn

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21. Kansas
> Top candy purchased: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
> Costume stores: 7
> Candy stores: 17
> Best place for trick-or-treating: St. Marys

20. Illinois
> Top candy purchased: Kit Kat
> Costume stores: 24
> Candy stores: 93
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Gilberts

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19. North Dakota
> Top candy purchased: Hot Tamales
> Costume stores: 0
> Candy stores: 4
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Lincoln

18. Indiana
> Top candy purchased: Hot Tamales
> Costume stores: 5
> Candy stores: 24
> Best place for trick-or-treating: New Whiteland

17. Ohio
> Top candy purchased: M&M’s
> Costume stores: 17
> Candy stores: 52
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Powell

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16. Arkansas
> Top candy purchased: Jolly Ranchers
> Costume stores: 7
> Candy stores: 6
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Cave Springs

15. Oklahoma
> Top candy purchased: Dubble Bubble Gum
> Costume stores: 15
> Candy stores: 30
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Piedmont

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14. West Virginia
> Top candy purchased: Blow Pops
> Costume stores: 1
> Candy stores: 1
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Charles Town

13. Kentucky
> Top candy purchased: Swedish Fish
> Costume stores: 3
> Candy stores: 7
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Francisville

12. Louisiana
> Top candy purchased: Lemonheads
> Costume stores: 25
> Candy stores: 31
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Blanchard

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11. Colorado
> Top candy purchased: Twix
> Costume stores: 24
> Candy stores: 46
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Firestone

10. Nebraska
> Top candy purchased: Salt Water Taffy
> Costume stores: 10
> Candy stores: 14
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Waverly

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9. New Hampshire
> Top candy purchased: Starburst
> Costume stores: 5
> Candy stores: 11
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Milford

8. Idaho
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 6
> Candy stores: 8
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Shelley

7. California
> Top candy purchased: Skittles
> Costume stores: 269
> Candy stores: 469
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Ladera Ranch

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6. Arizona
> Top candy purchased: Snickers
> Costume stores: 38
> Candy stores: 61
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Gilbert

5. New Mexico
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 15
> Candy stores: 19
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Holloman

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4. Utah
> Top candy purchased: Jolly Ranchers
> Costume stores: 14
> Candy stores: 19
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Saratoga Springs

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3. Rhode Island
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 2
> Candy stores: 6
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Warwick

2. Nevada
> Top candy purchased: Candy Corn
> Costume stores: 25
> Candy stores: 51
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Winnemucca

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1. Hawaii
> Top candy purchased: Skittles
> Costume stores: 8
> Candy stores: 37
> Best place for trick-or-treating: Hickam Housing

Detailed Findings & Methodology

More than 175 million Americans plan to participate in the holiday, according to the NRF, and celebrants intend to spend an average of $86.79 each.

According to the NRF survey, the category where Halloween celebrants will spend the most is costumes, where 68% of them plan to spend $3.2 billion. About 74% of consumers intend to shell out $2.7 billion on decorations, while 95% of the holiday’s celebrants plan to spend $2.6 billion on candy. About 35% of consumers plan to spend $400 million on greeting cards.
Shoppers plan to make most of their Halloween purchases in discount stores (44.6%), followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (34.9%). The top-selling costume for children is a princess, the best-seller for adults is a witch, and the preferred costume for pets is a pumpkin. Costume sales for pets have become a very lucrative segment of Halloween retail. Nearly 20% of celebrants plan to dress their pets in costumes this year, up from 16% in 2017.

Based on our methodology, the American West and Southwest are well-represented among the states most obsessed with Halloween. Hawaii, the nation’s youngest state, tops the list. Other western and southwestern states in the top 10 include Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Idaho.

Rhode Island is the highest ranked eastern state, at No. 3, and the highest southern state is Louisiana, at No. 12.

To determine the states that are most obsessed with Halloween, 24/7 Wall St. created an index that includes the frequency at which Halloween-specific terms were searched on Google. We retrieved these statistics from Google Trends and placed a heavier weight on terms that are most closely associated with Halloween, such as Halloween costumes and Halloween decorations. The index also includes the number of costume stores, candy stores, haunted tours, haunted houses, and the total pounds of the top three candies bought in each state. We retrieved the number of costume and candy stores and haunted tours and houses from Yelp. We only considered cities with at least 100,000 people. For smaller states, we considered the five largest cities. The pounds of candy purchased in each state comes from the blog Candy Store, and is a weighted yearly average based on sales data compiled from 2007-2017 in which more recent years were weighed more heavily. For each state, we added the total number of pounds of the three most purchased candies. To identify the best place in each state for trick-or-treaters, 24/7 Wall St. created an index using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and the FBI’s 2016 Uniform Crime Report. The index consists of four measures: rates for poverty, housing occupancy and violent crime, and the share of the population aged 14 and younger.