All We Need to Know About Halloween Candy

When it comes to Halloween, our candy corn divides us. Residents of Mississippi and Kentucky (both red states) purchased candy corn more than 90% above the national average while a vast number of Floridians (also a red state) stayed away from it.

Rather happily, most other kinds of candy unite us.

Halloween Candy Favorites

State Preferences

For Halloween candy, there is less of a red and blue state divide. Among the states that agree, the people in New Jersey (blue) and North Dakota (red) prefer M&M’s. Next, shifting to New York (blue) and Texas (red), we would find that Sour Patch Kids are the favorite. And, at the same time, in Vermont (blue) and Utah (red), Peanut M&Ms were at the top:

The National Best and Worst

For Instacart’s most recent list, we have Reese’s at the top and then Peanut M&M’s:

We should note though that CandyStore places M&M’s at the top of its most popular Halloween candy list.

As for the worst, I suspect that this CandyStore graphic from a 2022 econlife post is still accurate:

Our Bottom Line: Halloween Spending

For economists, Halloween spending is about more than candy. It takes us to the consumption component of the GDP. While consumption has been estimated at 70 percent of the GDP, not all economists agree that the proportion is that large. But it is much more than the government, gross investment, and net exports segments of the GDP.

This year, Halloween spending could boost the GDP by more than $13 billion:

More precisely, the National Retail Federation predicts each of us could add an average of $114.00 to the GDP:

A slice of that $114, for some of us, will go to our pets’ pumpkin costumes:

Returning to where we began, it’s nice to know Halloween pulls Red and Blue together–even for chocolate.

My sources and more: For my top ten candy lists, it was the most fun to see each state’s candy preference at Instacart and to ponder the broader significance. Then, I checked the National Retail Federation website for more facts than you ever wanted to know about Halloween candy.

Finally, I wondered why Skittles were nowhere in the Instacart lists??