The Most Popular Halloween Candy By State, Mapped

Want to be the house everyone loves on Halloween? Hand out these popular candies.

Give your trick-or-treaters what they really want.
Give your trick-or-treaters what they really want. / Candy Store

Halloween is just around the corner. That means it’s almost time for incredible costumes and loads of candy on the year’s spookiest night. If you’re looking to impress the neighborhood, you may want to stock up on some of the country’s most popular sweets.

Online bulk candy seller Candy Store analyzed sales by state to learn each place’s top three sweet treats; the biggest candy manufacturers and distributors also helped provide the information. Researchers collected data from 2007 to 2023, focusing on candies bought closer to Halloween, to create the above map.

 The 10 Most Popular Halloween Candies in the U.S.

Ranking

Candy

1.

M&M’s

2.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

3.

Sour Patch Kids

4.

Skittles

5.

Starburst

6.

Hot Tamales

7.

Candy Corn

8.

Hershey Kisses

9.

Hershey Mini Bars

10.

Butterfinger

According to Candy Store’s findings, chocolate is the most popular candy in the United States. More specifically, M&M’s has captured the hearts of the nation, with nine states—including Oregon, Vermont, and Washington—listing it as their top choice. Six states chose it as their second favorite, and four named it as their third. Soldiers enjoyed M&M’s during World War II, and their popularity has clearly not faded (though the red ones did go missing for quite a while).

Resse’s Peanut Butter Cups came in second place. Wyoming, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Florida love the peanut butter-filled chocolate sweet the most. Six states voted for it as their second choice of candy, and two selected it as their third. Harry Burnett Reese, the mastermind behind the famous chocolate, began making candy in his home in Hershey, Pennsylvania, after he left the Hershey Company in 1919—yet the state did not crown the treat its favorite.

The most popular non-chocolate candy is Sour Patch Kids. These little guys are favored in seven states, including Texas, New York, and Illinois. Four other states chose these gummies as their second favorite candy. Sour Patch Kids were originally produced in Ontario, Canada, in the late 1970s but didn’t arrive in the U.S. until 1985, though that clearly hasn’t stopped them from becoming a hit.

And though candy corn remains as contentious as ever, it still managed to earn a spot in the top 10.

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