Halloween is a festive celebration characterized by activities like carving pumpkins and donning masks and costumes to trick-or-treat. Some trace the spooky tradition to the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. When large numbers of Irish and other immigrants went to the United States beginning in the mid-19th century, they took their Halloween customs with them. In the 20th century, Halloween, celebrated October 31 (the night before All Saints’ or All Hallows’ Day), became a favorite pastime, especially among kids.
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The number of occupied U.S. housing units — potential stops for trick-or-treaters — in 2023.
Source:
The estimated number of U.S. children under the age of 18 (read: potential trick-or-treaters) as of July 1, 2024.
Source:
The number of occupied U.S. housing units with steps that trick-or-treaters had to climb to collect their treats – or tricks – in 2023.
Source: 2023 County Business Patterns*
* County Business Patterns data represent establishments with employees.
* More information is available on the City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2024 webpage.
Observances in our Facts for Features series:
Editor’s note: These data come from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. We generally release Facts for Features about two months before observances to accommodate magazine production timelines. For more information, contact the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office at (301)763-3030 or <[email protected]>.
Profile America's Facts for Features provides statistics related to observances and holidays not covered by Stats for Stories. For observances not listed above, visit our Stats for Stories webpage.
Stats for Stories provides links to timely story ideas highlighting newsworthy Census Bureau statistics that relate to current events, observances, holidays and anniversaries. The story ideas are intended to assist the media in story mining and producing content for their audiences. Dates with presidential proclamations are marked with (P).