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In a city where spotting a 6-foot-tall rat on the subway could mean a costume, a publicity stunt or a normal Tuesday, Halloween has a considerable home-field advantage. Now, a ranking backs up what New Yorkers already know: Nobody does October 31 quite like us.
WalletHub has named New York the best city in America for Halloween in 2026, beating Los Angeles, Jersey City, Las Vegas and Chicago for the top spot. Our winning score was a commanding 71.22 out of 100, compared with runner-up L.A.’s 61.11.
The personal finance website compared 100 of the country’s most populous cities across 20 metrics, including trick-or-treater friendliness, Halloween fun and weather. That meant considering everything from walkability and candy stores to costume shops, haunted houses and pedestrian safety. Trick-or-treater friendliness carried the most weight, accounting for 60 of the possible 100 points. New York finished second in that category, fourth for Halloween fun and 29th for weather.
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Some of our strongest credentials involve getting dressed and getting sugar. We tied with Honolulu and Las Vegas for the most candy and chocolate stores per capita and WalletHub’s analysis put the city second for Halloween costume shops. New Yorkers also led the cities studied in Google searches for Halloween parties and related terms.
Then there’s the practical advantage of living so close to one another. WalletHub cited New York’s population density and third-highest walkability score as assets for trick-or-treating. (More doors = less distance between candy opportunities.) The study also placed New York second for movie theaters per capita, offering plenty of opportunities to spend the holiday watching someone else make terrible decisions in the woods.
Across the Hudson, Jersey City deserves some credit, too: it finished third overall and first for trick-or-treater friendliness. Newark also cracked the top 10, landing in 10th place. A strong showing for the neighborhood overall.
Of course, a spreadsheet can only explain so much about New York’s Halloween appeal. Our willingness to turn a sidewalk into a runway and take an absurd outfit completely seriously is next to impossible to quantify. But alas, we’ll happily accept the trophy.