TERRIFYING TREATS:
America's candy consumption in 2010 was nearly
25 pounds per person. If this candy were entirely Snickers bars, it would be the equivalent of
nearly 4 candy bars, per week, per person. The volume of candy consumed, much like home prices, peaked in the middle of the decade, dipped at the start of the recession in 2008, and
increased slowly each year since then.
American confectionery manufacturers produce about 35 million pounds of candy corn each year. That adds up to 9 billion candy corns - or about 30 kernels per person in the U.S.
For Halloween itself, Americans purchase nearly 600 million pounds of candy, spending nearly $2 billion for treats to hand out to trick-or-treaters.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Industrial Reports, Confectionery: 2010; National Confectioners Association; Daily Infographic 2011 and 2012
HOME PRICE PREMIUM NEAR FINAL RESTING PLACE
According to Redfin (and contrary to what one might guess)
homes near cemeteries sell for more, per square foot, than homes not near cemeteries.
"Redfin analyzed the price of homes less than 50 feet from a cemetery, and compared those to the price of homes less than 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 yards away. The numbers indicate that on average, homes near cemeteries are slightly smaller, but sell for more per square foot. On average, homes closest to cemeteries sold for $162 dollars per square foot, whereas the homes located more than 500 yards away sold for $145 per square foot."
But these homes were on the market for longer than their non-cemetery peers...
LITTLE GHOULS AND GOBLINS:
There were an estimated 41.1 million potential trick-or-treaters (children age 5-14*) in the United States in 2012, and 3.7 million in Canada.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features and Statistics Canada Hallowe’en... by the numbers
*Note: Of course, many other children - older than 14, and younger than 5 - also go trick-or-treating.
IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH:
U.S. pumpkin production totaled 1.2 billion pounds, in 2012, with a value of $149 million. In that year 47,800 acres of farmland were under cultivation for pumpkins.
Six states are pumpkin hotspots: Illinois, California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan each accounted for more than 100 million pounds of pumpkins grown in 2010.
In Canada, there were 7,027 acres of pumpkins patch in 2012, for production of more than 63,700 tonnes valued at $17.6 million.
Sources: USDA National Agricultural Statistics and Statistics Canada Hallowe’en... by the numbers
A BOOming INDUSTRY:
The average American adult will spend nearly $75 on decorations, costumes and candy, down a bit from
$80 per person last year, according to the
National Retail Federation.
Total Halloween spending is projected to be nearly $7 billion.
Source: National Retail Federation
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