The Most Popular Halloween Candy in Each State, According to Grocery Shopping Data

Maybe you have a go-to candy you grab every year in preparation for Halloween. Or maybe you wait to see what's on sale (like me). Whether you go for a traditional favorite or switch it up every year, it's always interesting to see the big winners in our trick-or-treat bags at the end of the night. And while we all tend to stay loyal to our trusted brand of confection, we also always like to see where the trends lead us so we can be in the (spooky season) know.

Thanks to new Instacart data, we have some fun—and sweet—details about what the candy season might look like this year based on top candies sold overall last year, and more unique candies sold above average in each state across America.

The Top 10 Most Popular Halloween Candies

Grocery delivery and pick-up service Instacart came with receipts from 2022—specifically, they gave us the total weight of each type of treat sold last October for an ultimate Halloween candy ranking.

10. Starburst

9. Kit Kat

8. Candy Corn

7. Sour Patch Kids

6. Hershey's Milk Chocolate

5. Twizzlers

4. Tootsie Pops

3. M&M's

2. Peanut M&M's

1. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

So what does this tell us exactly? According to Instacart it's:

• Chocolate over everything: Year after year, [they] see Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut M&M's, and regular M&M's at the top of the list, proving we all love chocolate. Following the top three, Hershey’s Chocolate comes in sixth, followed by ninth place Kit Kat.
• Fruity fun: Classic Tootsie Pops come in at number four, followed by Twizzlers (fifth), Sour Patch Kids (seventh), and Starburst (tenth)—all of which deliver a fruity counterpart to trick-or-treat celebrations.
• Not Halloween without...Candy Corn. Whether you see this tri-colored treat as controversial or a beloved classic, they come in at number eight on the list—practically guaranteed to show up during the spooky season.

"Comparing this list of the top 10 Halloween candies to last year reveals some exciting changes. We've got three newcomers: Tootsie Pops, Sour Patch Kids, and Candy Corn—two classics and a candy with a modern sour twist, which tells us there’s a delectable blend of nostalgia and contemporary flavors showing up in candy bowls,” added Instacart's Trends Expert Laurentia Romaniuk.

The Most Popular Halloween Candy by State

Now we have our list of the most popular candies on the whole, but how does it compare to the most popular where you live? Instacart gave us that data as well with a state-by-state breakdown of uniquely popular confections (candies sold above the national average last October 2022).

• Alabama: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Alaska: Hi-Chew
• Arizona: Peanut M&M's
• Arkansas: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• California: Red Vines
• Colorado: Peanut M&M's
• Connecticut: Twizzlers
• Delaware: Twizzlers
• Florida: Dum-Dums
• Georgia: Trolli Gummi Candy
• Hawaii: Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates
• Idaho: Peanut M&M's
• Illinois: Twizzlers
• Indiana: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Iowa: M&M's
• Kansas: M&M's
• Kentucky: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Louisiana: Tootsie Pops
• Maine: Twizzlers
• Maryland: Twizzlers
• Massachusetts: M&M's
• Michigan: M&M's
• Minnesota: M&M's
• Mississippi: Candy Corn
• Missouri: Tootsie Pops
• Montana: Peanut M&M's
• Nebraska: Peanut M&M's
• Nevada: Red Vines
• New Hampshire: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• New Jersey: Twizzlers
• New Mexico: Tootsie Pops
• New York: Twizzlers
• North Carolina: Candy Corn
• North Dakota: Peanut M&M's
• Ohio: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Oklahoma: Tootsie Rolls
• Oregon: Peanut M&M's
• Pennsylvania: M&M's
• Rhode Island: Sour Patch Kids
• South Carolina: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• South Dakota: M&M's
• Tennessee: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Texas: Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates
• Utah: Peanut M&M's
• Vermont: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Virginia: Candy Corn
• Washington: Peanut M&M's
• Washington, D.C.: Snickers
• West Virginia: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Wisconsin: M&M's
• Wyoming: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Not only do we now know which candy is being bought in bulk across the U.S., but we also can see which of these states go all out on Halloween, stocking up on the list of favorites. Here’s a look at the states that buy the most (and least) amount of candy for the season—according to Instacart purchase data:

Utah, you're the big winner, coming out on top with the most candy purchased, at 9.8 ounces per customer. Utah is followed by Montana, Alaska, Idaho, and Wyoming. Hawaii buys the least, at 3.7 ounces per customer, followed by Washington, D.C., Maine, Florida, and Alabama.

Happy Halloween candy shoppers!