Halloween is right around the corner, and whether you most look forward to the candy, the costumes, the horror movie marathons, or all the fright-inducing events, your Halloween will only be as spooky as the city you spend it in, and we New Yorkers are in luck.
WalletHub recently set out on a hunt to determine the best cities to celebrate Halloween. The site compared the 100 largest U.S. cities based on three key dimensions: Trick-or-Treater-Friendliness, Halloween Fun, and Halloween Weather, looking at everything from costume stores per capita to the number of haunted houses per capita to the share of potential trick-or-treat stops.
Each metric was then graded on a 100-point scale to determine which city has the most favorable conditions for a Halloween celebration, and with a total score of 71.83 New York City was named the best city to celebrate Halloween.
New York City tied for first when looking at its number of costume stores per capita as well as its number of candy and chocolate stores per capita. The ranking writes:
New York City…residents search Google for “Halloween parties”…more than people in any other city. On top of that, New York… [is] the third-most walkable city. That means it’s easy to go trick-or-treating and get a lot of candy…New York also has the second-most movie theaters per capita and the 17th-most haunted houses, along with many amusement parks.
And it’s not only the fact that NYC is so walkable that makes it easy to go trick-or-treating–the fact that 100 NYC streets go car-free for the city’s annual Trick-Or-Streets provide ample car-free pedestrian space for NYC residents. And while you’re walking around the city be sure to check out all of NYC’s best neighborhoods for Halloween decorations.
Find the full study of the best cities to celebrate Halloween WalletHub’s website, and be sure to check out the best Halloween parties happening in NYC to figure out your spooky plans!