Members of Thriller NYC dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” during New York City\u2019s 48th Annual Village Halloween Parade in 2021. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
If you are looking for the best Halloween experience, travel with your kids, family or the kid-within-yourself to the New York metropolitan area, a new study says.<\/p>\n
New York City has the most candy stores per capita, the second-most Halloween costume shops per capita and its residents search Google for \u201cHalloween parties\u201d and related terms more than people in any other city, according to the study by personal-finance website WalletHub. It\u2019s easy to go trick-or-treating, because New York has the nation\u2019s highest population density and the second-highest walkability score for ringing doorbells for candy handouts.<\/p>\n
To determine the best Halloween destinations, WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated U.S. cities based on three categories: trick-or-treater friendliness, Halloween fun and Halloween weather. Trick-or-treater friendliness was given the most weight and weather the least when determining the rankings. Twenty metrics were evaluated in the three categories, including share of the population younger than age 15, pedestrian fatality rate in motor vehicle crashes and number of Halloween costume stores and Halloween supply stores per capita.<\/p>\n
Just across the Hudson River from Manhattan in New Jersey, Jersey City ranks No. 2 and Newark No. 10 for best Halloween experience. Los Angeles is rated No. 3, followed, consecutively, by Chicago and Las Vegas. <\/p>\n
Model Heidi Klum performs Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ during Heidi Klum’s 18th Annual Halloween Party at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in New York in 2017. (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo\/GC Images)<\/p>\n
GC Images<\/p>\n
Jersey City also \u201cprovides a perfect environment\u201d for trick-or-treating, the study says, because it has the second-highest population density and the third-highest walkability score.<\/p>\n
\u201cSafety is key on Halloween, too, and Jersey City has the 15th-lowest violent crime rate and the fifth-lowest property crime rate in the U.S.,\u201d the study concludes. \u201cIt also has the 10th-lowest pedestrian fatality rate. Finally, Jersey City has a very high number of movie theaters per capita, providing good opportunities to celebrate with a scary movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
No. 3 Los Angeles has a very high number of pumpkin patches and Halloween party supply stores per capita. It also has the seventh-most Halloween costume stores and 10th-most candy stores per capita. The city\u2019s population density ranks 14th and its walkability score 11th.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeens who have aged out of trick-or-treating can benefit from the fact that Los Angeles has the 10th-most amusement parks and the most movie theaters per capita,\u201d the study finds. \u201cAnd, for adults who are looking for a thrill, Los Angeles has the sixth-most haunted houses per capita.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rounding out the top 10 for best Halloween experience are No. 6 Miami, followed, consecutively, by Anaheim, California; Boston; Gilbert, Arizona, and Newark.<\/p>\n
The average U.S. household is expected this year to spend $114.45 on Halloween decorations, treats and costumes, WalletHub says. Collectively, that\u2019s about $13.1 billion spent by the 73% of American households that celebrate Halloween.<\/p>\n
\u201cHalloween holds a big place in American popular culture, and we collectively spend billions of dollars celebrating every year,\u201d says WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. \u201cAt the same time, it\u2019s also a holiday that comes with a certain amount of risk, given that children visit strangers\u2019 houses in the dark. The best cities for Halloween are those that provide the safest conditions for celebrating, along with an abundance of activities, Halloween-related stores and good weather.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of Thriller NYC dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” during New York City\u2019s 48th Annual Village Halloween Parade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8287,245,12500,6966,1016,12499,1066,9,24,55,54,56,7728,12501],"class_list":{"0":"post-18116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-halloween","10":"tag-heidi-klum","11":"tag-las-vegas","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-michael-jackson","14":"tag-new-jersey","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","18":"tag-new-york-city-news","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-study","21":"tag-trick-or-treaing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}