With Halloween approaching, kids, teenagers and even some adults will bring big scores of candy home to enjoy and snack on for months to come.
After the COVID-19 pandemic caused a dip in candy sales in 2020, Halloween participation is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels. According to the National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween spending survey, candy spending could reach an all-time high of around $3.1 billion, with a record $10.6 billion expected to be spent on all things Halloween.
Most Halloween shopping is done in the first two weeks of October, and a new ranking by CandyStore.com reveals what candies might be most popular in your state.
From Hot Tamales to Salt water taffy, as well as the ever-lasting debate on candy corn, here is what the country had to say, according to Candy Store.
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What is the most popular candy?
CandyStore.com has been delivering and distributing bulk orders of candy across the country since 2007. Using sales data for the time period before Halloween, the distributor determined which candy was the most popular with the winner being: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Here are the top 10 candies in America, according to CandyStore.com:
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Skittles
- M&M’s
- Starburst
- Hot Tamales
- Sour Patch Kids
- Hershey Kisses
- Snickers
- Tootsie Pops
- Candy corn
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Which candy won the most states?
CandyStore.com also used the data to determine the most popular candy in each state.
Eighteen different candies got the top vote across the country, and while Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups is the overall top candy, it didn’t win the most states.
That title actually belongs to M&Ms and Sour Patch Kids, each being the top candy of choice in seven states. M&M’s was the most popular candy in Iowa, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oregon, Ohio, Kansas and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. Sour Patch Kids was the most popular candy in Alaska, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska and New York.
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In second place was Reese’s Cups with five states; California, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Wyoming, followed by Hot Tamales and Tootsie Pops, which were the most popular in four states. Hot tamales was the most popular candy in Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota and Virginia. Tootsie Pops was the most popular candy in New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.
What is the ‘best’ candy?
This title differs from the most popular candy in that this contest used a voting system. To determine the best and worst candies ever, Candy Store used rankings from multiple websites, as well as surveying over 15,000 people on their favorite candies.
Candy Store then used a point system where a candy voted No. 1 received 10 points, No. 2 received nine points and so on. Collectively, the best candy is also the most popular – Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Hot Tamales is a new addition to the top ten list.
Here are the top 10:
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- M&Ms
- Snickers
- Skittles
- Sour Patch Kids
- Hershey Bar
- Hot Tamales
- Kit Kat
- Twix
- Butterfinger
What is the ‘worst’ candy?
Move over, candy corn. Circus Peanuts reclaimed the throne as America’s “worst candy” after being replaced by candy corn three years ago.
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Here are the rest of the 10 “worst” candies ever:
- Circus Peanuts
- Candy Corn
- Peanut Butter kisses
- Necco Wafers
- Wax Cola Bottles
- Smarties
- Mary Janes
- Tootsie Rolls
- Licorice
- Good & Plenty
Camille Fine is a trending visual producer on USA TODAY’s NOW team.
