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Candy and Costumes: America’s 2022 Halloween Favorites

Which choices are the most popular according to surveys?

By:  |  October 28, 2022  |    529 Words
GettyImages-1350489945 Halloween

(Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

It’s that time of year again when kids of all ages (and even some adults) get dressed in their scariest or cutest costumes and flood the streets, knocking on every door and hoping to fill their baskets with treats. But what candy are they hoping for this Halloween, and what costumes top the charts as this year’s favorites?

2022’s Most Sought-Out Candies

Trick-or-Treating is a staple of Halloween. Over the years, kids begin to remember which houses supply the best goodies. Is it the houses with the full-size chocolate bars, or do the little ghosts and goblins prefer the sweet and sour chewy candies? A report from CandyStore.com revealed the sweet treats that topped this season’s sales chart. Coming in at number one is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. In second place is Skittles, and M&M’s come in third. The report also described the country’s least favorite choice, with circus peanuts holding the top spot. Not surprisingly, candy corn is the second least favorite.

GettyImages-1262999657 candy

(Photo by: Jeff Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

CandyStore.com also discovered the most popular candy in each state. M&Ms and Sour Patch Kids were the favorites in the highest number of states – claiming seven each. While Reese’s Cups were America’s top-selling choice, they were only the favorite in five states. Tootsie Pops were the most popular candy in four states (New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington), but Americans ranked it the eighth-worst candy choice overall.

Check out the survey to see what cavity-inducing treat your state loves the most.

Most Popular Costumes of 2022

Choosing the year’s costume is a big decision made by millions of people each Halloween. Many will attempt to resemble characters from the year’s popular films, while others will choose more traditional options, and some will try to be more original when contemplating what to wear. According to USA Today and a report released by Google Trends’ FrightGeist, the most popular costume in 2022, taking first place for the second year in a row, is a witch. Spider-man took the second spot on the list, and dinosaurs came in third. The hit TV series Stranger Things swept Chicago as the city’s most wanted costume, while a good portion of Philadelphia opted to dress up as rabbits.

Halloween Trends

A lot has changed over the past couple of decades when it comes to money spent on Halloween and the number of yearly participants. In 2005, about $3.5 billion was spent across the nation, according to the National Retail Federation. Compared to the $10.6 billion spent in 2022, it’s clear that a big increase has occurred in sales across the country over decades.

The overall interest in Halloween has also grown over time, though enthusiasm has fluctuated from year to year. In 2005, 53% of Americans participated in the spooky celebrations. In 2022, 69% of the nation plans to celebrate the fall holiday. The most involvement occurred in 2012 and 2017, when 72% of America joined in. Each household this year spent an average of $102.74 to take part in the spooktacular festivities that make up Halloween.

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