Nobody beats New York City when it comes to Halloween.
That was the conclusion of a study by WalletHub seeking to find the best big city to be on Oct. 31.
The results were released just in time for folks to decide where they might want to celebrate.
What makes NYC No. 1?
The city that never sleeps had the top score out of the 100 largest cities in the country, easily beating No. 2, Jersey City, N.J.
New York stood out for most candy stores per capita, among other categories.
What makes it the best?
WalletHub found the NYC to be No. 2 in trick-or-treater friendliness, fourth in Halloween fun and 29th in weather.
No other city had two top five scores, so New York was able to overcome the fact it might be a little chilly or wet for trick or treaters and partygoers a like on the last night of October.
Cincinnati was the only other city with two top 10 rankings. The Queen City came in No. 8 in Halloween fun and tied for fourth in weather, but a ranking of 64th in trick-or-treater friendliness dragged the southern Ohio city down to No. 18 overall.
That was still third in the Midwest, however, trailing Chicago (No. 4 overall) and St. Paul, Minn. (No. 14 overall).
Here are the top 10 cities overall according to WalletHub:
- New York City, N.Y.
- Jersey City, N.J.
- Los Ángeles, Cal.
- Chicago, Ill.,
- Las Vegas, N.V.
- Miami, Fla.
- Anaheim, Cal.
- Boston, Mass.
- Gilbert, Ariz.
- Newark, N.J.
Of course, what you want in your Halloween could vary.
If maximizing trick or treat is your goal, check out Hialeah, Fla.; Santa Ana, Calif.; Gilbert, Ariz.; Chesapeake, Va.; and Madison, Wisc.
For most costume stores per capita, Las Vegas, New York, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Atlanta all tied for the top spot while Jersey City, Newark, Aurora, Col.; Oakland, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. were the worst options in the study.
More on the methodology
WalletHub used 20 metrics to come up with these rankings.
Trick-or-treater friendliness included share of potential trick-or-treaters, potential stops, population density, walkability, crime rate, motor vehicle crash related pedestrian fatalities and perception of safety.
Halloween fun included how many people were searching on Google for Halloween parties, costume stores per capita, party supply stores per capita, candy and chocolate scores per capita and haunted houses per capita.
Farms per capita and pumpkin patches were also in the fun category along with number of amusement parks and bars and dance clubs.
For weather, the study relied upon the temperature on Halloween vs. the average temperature for the time period plus forecasted precipitation.
Data was gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Transportation – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Council for Community and Economic Research, AccuWeather, Walk Score, Yelp, Numbeo and Google Ads.
