Pop Culture & CharactersNo. 1603 · The 2026 edition

The Most-Searched Halloween Costumes in Every State

Discover which costume ruled each state this Halloween, from classic witches to pop culture sensations.

Movie list · 10 titles Mild scares

Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at rd.com.

The Most Popular Costumes in Every State 2022 — PHOTO · RD.COM

A state-by-state breakdown reveals the most sought-after Halloween costumes of 2022, highlighting regional favorites and nationwide trends.

About this

A Reader's Digest roundup of the most-searched Halloween costumes in the U.S., drawn from Google's Frightgeist site. It lists the top 10 costumes nationwide ranked by search volume, then breaks down the most popular costume picks for nearly every state (a few states are marked as having no data). It also notes recurring trends, such as Witch and Dinosaur dominating across many states and Hocus Pocus 2 rising in popularity. Confidence is low on media_type: the page is a costume-trends listicle with no single film, series, or other media as its subject; movie was chosen as the closest fit given the Hocus Pocus 2 and Stranger Things references.

Tips

Use Frightgeist's search bar to check how popular a costume idea is before committing.
The site's costume wizard lets you tune suggestions by spookiness, style, trend and uniqueness.
Witch and Dinosaur costumes are especially common this year, so expect to see many of them.
Hocus Pocus 2 costumes are trending, likely boosted by the Disney Plus release.

The list

01

Witch

Top nationwide; noted as a Halloween classic
02

Spider-man

Ranks second nationally
03

Dinosaur

Third overall
04

Stranger Things

Group costume tied to the show
05

Fairy

Fifth most searched
06

Pirate

Sixth nationally
07

Rabbit

Seventh nationally
08

Cheerleader

Eighth nationally
09

Cowboy

Ninth nationally
10

Harley Quinn

Tenth nationally

Facts from the original

Rankings are based on Google Frightgeist data, which uses costume ideas with the highest searches nationwide, state-wide and locally.
Frightgeist lets users search a costume to see its popularity and use a 'costume wizard' to pick a costume based on spookiness, style, trend and uniqueness.
Witch is one of the top-searched costumes in 18 states.
Dinosaur is one of the top-searched costumes in 13 states.
Hocus Pocus 2 ranks 14th most popular costume nationwide and is among the highest-searched costumes in 8 states.
Alabama: Witch, Dinosaur, Cheerleader and Hocus Pocus
Alaska: 1970s, Rabbit and Fox
Arizona: Witch and Dinosaur
Arkansas: Pirate, Top Gun, Cheerleader and Rabbit
California: Chucky, Dinosaur, Witch, Fairy, Clown, Spider-Man and 1980s
Colorado: Witch, Dinosaur and Star Wars
Connecticut: Stranger Things
Delaware: no data
Florida: Pirate, Dinosaur, Tinker Bell and Rabbit
Georgia: Goddess, Barbie, Pirate, Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, Dinosaur and Clown
Hawaii: Maui
Idaho: Tinker Bell, Fairy and Spider-Man
Illinois: Rabbit, Fairy, Witch, Hocus Pocus and Stranger Things
Indiana: Spider-Man, Chucky, Fairy, Cheerleader, Cowboy and Ninja
Iowa: Dinousar, Cheerleader, Angel and Ninja (spelling as printed on the page)
Kansas: Rabbit, Fairy and Spider-Man
Kentucky: Witch and Padmé Naberrie
Louisiana: Barbie, Stranger Things, Mermaid, Tinker Bell, Witch and Cowboy
Maine: Poison Ivy, Pirate and Horse
Maryland: Iron Man and Pirate
Massachusetts: 1980s and Hocus Pocus
Michigan: Broken Doll, Witch, Cowboy and Dinosaur
Minnesota: The Renaissance and Cowboy
Mississippi: Mermaid, Thing 1, Witch, Police Officer, 1980s and Toy Story
Missouri: Witch, Cowboy, Zombie, Dinosaur and Stranger Things
Montana: Black Cat, Rabbit, Cowboy, Witch, Spider-Man and Cheerleader
Nebraska: Dinosaur, Ninja and Rollercoaster
Nevada: Spider-man and Stranger Things
New Hampshire: Dinosaur
New Jersey: no data
New Mexico: Dinosaur
New York: Pumpkin, Cattle, Cow, Rabbit, Stranger Things, Doll, Cheerleader, Fairy and Dinosaur
North Carolina: Cheerleader, Fairy, Hocus Pocus, Spider-Man, Dinosaur and Harley Quinn
North Dakota: Horse and Fairy
Ohio: Dinosaur, Goddess, Cowboy, Zombie, Hocus Pocus, Witch, Stranger Things and Harley Quinn
Oklahoma: Vampire, Fairy, Dinosaur and Stranger Things
Oregon: Cowboy, 1980s, Fairy and Pirate
Pennsylvania: Pirate, Stranger Things, Rabbit and Princess
Rhode Island: no data
South Carolina: Witch, Cheerleader, 1980s and Fairy
South Dakota: Vikings and Star Wars
Tennessee: Dinosaur, Hocus Pocus, Spider-Man and Chucky
Texas: Fairy, Stranger Things, Dinosaur, Witch, Cheerleader, Pirate, Joker, Angel, 1980s and Toy Story
Utah: Witch
Vermont: no data
Virginia: Vampire, Spider-Man, Harley Quinn, Cowboy, Hocus Pocus and Witch
Washington: Witch and Stormtrooper
West Virginia: Michael Meyers, Witch, Cowboy and Police Officer
Wisconsin: Hocus Pocus, Doll, Pumpkin, Cheerleader and Star Wars
Wyoming: Tinker Bell