It’s a weird year for Halloween and trick-or-treating. Different areas are in different states of covid-19 cases either expanding or contracting. We at CandyStore.com recommend you monitor your local situation and follow health guidelines if you plan to trick-or-treat. And wear an effective mask, not just a costume mask, please.
According to the National Retail Federation, trick-or-treaters are expected to be down 20% this year. That said, only 11% fewer people plan to hand out candy. I’m no math expert, but 11 is less than 20. So, there might be more candy per house to capture! Right?
Halloween candy sales are expected to reach $2.4 Billion, only down slightly from $2.6B last year. No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of candy!
The map above reveals the results of our annual data mining, the top 3 most popular Halloween candies in each state. Hover over your state to see the goods. (Apologies, it’s not interactive on mobile devices).
Do your state’s choices surprise you? The top Halloween candy in your state are not always what you think they were. Salt water taffy and Hot Tamales performed much better than some expected, for example.
For over 13 years, we’ve been delivering bulk candy around the country. As bulk candy retailers and distributors, we’ve got a lot of candy sales data to comb through. Including some we shipped to New York in recent years…
Hoda and Kathy Lee loved our map!
We have seen a lot of surprising favorites and least favorites over the years. That’s why working with unbiased data is so much fun. We looked at 13 years of sales data (2007-2019), looking in particular at the months leading up to Halloween. We sell nationwide (and to Canada) so we broke down our sales by state. We also have relationships with major candy manufacturers and distributors – all of whom contributed and helped us reach our conclusions.
Then we charted the best sellers in every state for Halloween. And we present it to you in the above retro 1980s sci-fi interactive map of the most popular Halloween candy. If you’d like to see the nationwide winners, we made a graphic for that too:
As mentioned above, the National Retail Federation is estimating that shoppers will spend $2.4 billion on Halloween candy.
As you might expect, consumer confidence is down quite a bit (-15%) this year, fueled mostly by uncertainty surrounding covid-19 vaccination outlook and the presidential election.
It’s 2020, baby. Anything can happen.
Industry research showed in 2015 that online candy sales were increasing by 15 percent. People are realizing they can save time and money – and not risk covid-19 exposure – by skipping the store and purchasing from the comfort of their home. But will you buy the right candy?
Have a look at the candy your state loves. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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State by State Data Table
| State | Top Candy | Pounds | 2nd Place | Pounds | 3rd Place | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AK | Twix | 4908 | Milky Way | 4072 | Blow Pops | 3988 |
| AL | Candy Corn | 115269 | Starburst | 111280 | Skittles | 98771 |
| AR | Jolly Ranchers | 228645 | Butterfinger | 201845 | Skittles | 76353 |
| AZ | Hot Tamales | 751772 | Hershey Kisses | 732991 | Snickers | 682562 |
| CA | Skittles | 1509827 | Reese's Cups | 1059223 | M&M's | 1009388 |
| CO | Hershey Kisses | 129826 | Twix | 127840 | Milky Way | 107636 |
| CT | Milky Way | 2987 | Almond Joy | 2278 | M&M's | 1582 |
| DC | M&M's | 27546 | Tootsie Pops | 24725 | Blow Pops | 19827 |
| DE | Skittles | 21336 | Life Savers | 16703 | Candy Corn | 11987 |
| FL | Skittles | 598285 | Reese's Cups | 501926 | Starburst | 410029 |
| GA | Swedish Fish | 145827 | Jolly Ranchers | 124872 | Reese's Cups | 92746 |
| HI | Skittles | 28091 | Hershey's Mini Bars | 25783 | Butterfinger | 20974 |
| IA | M&M's | 67829 | Reese's Cups | 59726 | Candy Corn | 48352 |
| ID | Starburst | 90284 | Snickers | 68546 | Candy Corn | 39876 |
| IL | Sour Patch Kids | 175867 | Kit Kat | 139723 | Starburst | 121845 |
| IN | Starburst | 99725 | Hot Tamales | 95638 | Jolly Ranchers | 75208 |
| KS | Reese's Cups | 229857 | M&M's | 213784 | Snickers | 189736 |
| KY | Swedish Fish | 75254 | Reese's Cups | 50272 | Hot Tamales | 33748 |
| LA | Lemonheads | 115789 | Blow Pops | 101889 | Reese's Cups | 82675 |
| MA | Sour Patch Kids | 70772 | Butterfinger | 72838 | Dubble Bubble Gum | 47282 |
| MD | Reese's Cups | 36887 | Hershey Kisses | 30423 | Milky Way | 24817 |
| ME | Sour Patch Kids | 59873 | Starburst | 51899 | Candy Corn | 33776 |
| MI | Candy Corn | 115269 | Starburst | 111280 | Skittles | 98771 |
| MN | Skittles | 190827 | Tootsie Pops | 178092 | Candy Corn | 120938 |
| MO | Milky Way | 45221 | Almond Joy | 36782 | Dubble Bubble Gum | 36772 |
| MS | 3 Musketeers | 95727 | Snickers | 94772 | Butterfinger | 68683 |
| MT | Dubble Bubble Gum | 29773 | Twix | 21863 | M&M's | 16729 |
| NC | Reese's Cups | 85779 | Snickers | 84322 | M&M's | 78772 |
| ND | Candy Corn | 61837 | Hot Tamales | 56745 | Jolly Ranchers | 49883 |
| NE | Sour Patch Kids | 98486 | Salt Water Taffy | 89734 | Twix | 35620 |
| NH | M&M's | 69692 | Starburst | 59822 | Jolly Ranchers | 35775 |
| NJ | Tootsie Pops | 141782 | M&M's | 137992 | Skittles | 130098 |
| NM | Jolly Ranchers | 80092 | Candy Corn | 74637 | Milky Way | 60829 |
| NV | Hershey Kisses | 310974 | Hot Tamales | 286464 | Candy Corn | 219836 |
| NY | Sour Patch Kids | 150325 | Hot Tamales | 142677 | Candy Corn | 65820 |
| OH | Blow Pops | 170236 | M&M's | 156773 | Starburst | 140772 |
| OK | Dubble Bubble Gum | 19232 | Skittles | 14990 | Snickers | 12109 |
| OR | M&M's | 89772 | Reese's Cups | 80726 | Candy Corn | 60827 |
| PA | Hershey's Mini Bars | 275617 | Skittles | 249827 | M&M's | 182093 |
| RI | Twix | 17827 | M&M's | 15627 | Candy Corn | 12363 |
| SC | Butterfinger | 119664 | Skittles | 113847 | Candy Corn | 70838 |
| SD | Starburst | 26371 | Jolly Ranchers | 19217 | Candy Corn | 13826 |
| TN | Tootsie Pops | 55627 | Salt Water Taffy | 48888 | Skittles | 38991 |
| TX | Starburst | 984627 | Reese's Cups | 972849 | Sour Patch Kids | 659870 |
| UT | Jolly Ranchers | 413099 | Tootsie Pops | 260378 | Candy Corn | 240993 |
| VA | Snickers | 165255 | Hot Tamales | 150993 | Tootsie Pops | 99009 |
| VT | Skittles | 34670 | M&M's | 24536 | Milky Way | 19909 |
| WA | Tootsie Pops | 205882 | Salt Water Taffy | 180722 | Skittles | 90828 |
| WI | Starburst | 110827 | Butterfinger | 98272 | Hot Tamales | 63829 |
| WV | Hershey's Mini Bars | 39812 | Blow Pops | 38747 | Milky Way | 32884 |
| WY | Salt Water Taffy | 25864 | Reese's Cups | 24790 | Dubble Bubble Gum | 18776 |
So, what candy do people in your area like? If you get the wrong thing, the consequences could be dire. The inverse of treat is trick, as we all know. Streaming TP from your tree limbs? Ok hopefully kids in your neighborhood wouldn’t do that. But the adults might :|
So how did we do? Did your personal favorite match your state?
Leave a comment and let us know!
For more info or press inquiries contact Ben at: ben@candystore.com
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i like candy corn
“We sell to all 50 states – plus Canada – so we broke down our sales by state.”
Where’s the breakdown by province?
epic
In some states it’s legal to burn someone’s house to the ground if they hand you candy corn.
Hahaha
nice
Missourians HATE Milky Ways! I don’t agree with this AT ALL!!!!!
Awesome map! I hope you make this an annual thing. I am sharing this to see what my friends in different states will say. :)
Thank you!
I live in Western NC and we also live Dove Chocolate!
Unfortunately Salt Water Taffy is not packaged for Halloween distribution.
Let’s remember ‘most popular’ candy isn’t the same as ‘favorite candy’ because many of these #1’s (I’m looking at your candy corn, Alabama) are candies that are purchased to give out to trick-or-treaters and many are on a budget so they go with the most affordable option to give away. Trust me, every kid in Birmingham would prefer a Reese’s over candy corn. Every. Single. One. LoL
What? No caramel-covered sardines?
Hot Tamales may be the rage for NY City. There is a whole lot more to New York than New York City. I wish they would have done due diligence and surveyed the rest of the state. Then again candy corn is the third place in NY State. Please. Go ahead and give the kiddies candy corn and Hot Tamales. See what happens to your house.
What? No Three Musketeers? Who da thunk it??