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The Most Popular Halloween Costumes of 2021

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2 years ago

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Most Popular Halloween Costumes of 2021

The Most Popular Halloween Costumes of 2021

Halloween—it’s the time of year when kids and adults alike dress up, eat candy, and show off their spookiest selves. It’s also when the scariest home decorations are the talk of the town, and people are frightened left, right, and center.

With the help of data from Google Trends and their unique Frightgeist series, we visualized the most searched Halloween costumes in the U.S. in 2021.

From spooky to sweet, these are the costumes everyone wants to dress up as this Halloween.

A Brief History of Halloween

Halloween is celebrated each year on October 31, with this year’s Halloween occurring on a Sunday. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.

The concept of Halloween didn’t gain popularity until it reached the United States. Borrowing from European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition.

Other superstitions also started to form around the holiday. Young women believed they could divine the appearance of their future husbands by doing tricks with apple parings or mirrors.

Over time, Halloween moved away from focusing on witchcraft and ghosts to the festival we know and love today—a day focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes.

What Are the Most Popular Halloween Costumes?

With COVID-19 cases down compared to last year and Americans expected to spend over $10 billion on Halloween this year, much of the United States will be partaking in celebrating the spooky holiday.

From classy costumes and last-minute DIYs to pop-culture outfits and even era-inspired costumes, here are the top 25 most popular Halloween costumes in the U.S. in 2021.

RankCostume NameCategory
1WitchHorror Films
2RabbitAnimals
3DinosaurAnimals
4Spider-ManComic Book Characters
5Cruella de VilFilm Characters
6FairyFantasy Characters
7Harley QuinnComic Book Characters
8CowboyProfessions
9ClownProfessions
10ChuckyHorror Films
11CheerleaderProfessions
12PirateProfessions
13PumpkinFoods
14AngelCharacters
15VampireFantasy Characters
16Among UsTV Charaters
17ZombieHorror Films
181980'sEra
19SuperheroComic Book Characters
20DevilCharacters
21JokerFilm Characters
22NinjaProfessions
23Squid GameTV Charaters
24BeetejuiceHorror Films
25DollToys

Notable Trending Costumes

The Netflix show Squid Game has had a meteoric rise in popularity in recent weeks, becoming one of the most-watched shows on the streaming platform—just in time for Halloween.

Squid Game costumes are the 23rd most popular in Google’s search, and they continue to trend high, being the most searched costume idea in Detroit.

In 2020, the mobile game Among Us was the talk of the gaming world, and this year it is the 16th most popular costume, with its popularity spiking in Jacksonville, Florida.

Other notable costumes in the top 50 include Pokémon at #50, Fortnite at #44, Velma Dinkley (of Scooby-Doo fame) at #42, Poison Ivy (the comic book villain) at #33, Beetlejuice at #24 and the entire 1980s decade at #18.

Most Popular Halloween Costumes by State

When it comes to festivals, every state has its unique perspective and traditions on celebrating them. This extends to popular Halloween costumes too.

Though there might be some overlap, digging deeper into the most popular costumes in every state allows us a unique look into how diverse people’s tastes are across the country.

Here is a breakdown of the most popular costumes in the U.S. in 2020 by state:

StateMost Popular CostumeNational Rank in 2020
AlabamaHarley Quinn03
AlaskaBeetlejuice36
ArizonaRabbit04
ArkansasDoll12
CaliforniaWitch01
ColoradoDinosaur02
ConnecticutPowerpuff Girls32
DelawareDoll12
District of ColumbiaBeyonce333
FloridaRabbit04
GeorgiaWitch01
HawaiiMonsters Inc43
IdahoWitch01
IllinoisDinosaur02
IndianaWitch01
IowaChucky20
KansasMickey Mouse57
KentuckyZombie13
LouisianaWitch01
MaineDinosaur02
MarylandNinja09
MassachusettsDinosaur02
MichiganRabbit04
MinnesotaWitch01
MississippiAngel06
MissouriDinosaur02
MontanaPurge15
NebraskaJoker30
NevadaWitch01
New HampshireNinja09
New JerseyWitch01
New MexicoClueless74
New YorkDinosaur02
North CarolinaDinosaur02
North DakotaStar Wars28
OhioWitch01
OklahomaDragon35
OregonFortnite07
PennsylvaniaWitch01
Rhode IslandHermione Granger146
South CarolinaWonder Woman31
South DakotaSpider38
TennesseeHarley Quinn03
TexasHarley Quinn03
UtahWitch01
VermontDeer125
VirginiaRabbit04
WashingtonAngel06
West VirginiaZombie13
WisconsinWitch01
WyomingPhysician67

A look at popular costumes at the state level reveals some interesting quirks. Montana, for example, is uniquely interested in The Purge, and Rhode Island trick-or-treaters are big fans of Hermione Granger of Harry Potter fame.

Traditions are Here To Stay

At its core, Halloween still remains that same old fright-inducing festival it has always been.

Even though pop culture might influence your Halloween choices, traditional costumes will always have a unique place in everyone’s heart.

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Misc

How Hard Is It to Get Into an Ivy League School?

We detail the admission rates and average annual cost for Ivy League schools, as well as the median SAT scores required to be accepted.

Published

2 days ago

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April 17, 2024

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Graphic showing the admission rates and average annual tuition for Ivy League schools, as well as the median SAT scores required to be accepted.

How Hard Is It to Get Into an Ivy League School?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Ivy League institutions are renowned worldwide for their academic excellence and long-standing traditions. But how hard is it to get into one of the top universities in the U.S.?

In this graphic, we detail the admission rates and average annual cost for Ivy League schools, as well as the median SAT scores required to be accepted. The data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics and was compiled by 24/7 Wall St.

Note that “average annual cost” represents the net price a student pays after subtracting the average value of grants and/or scholarships received.

Harvard is the Most Selective

The SAT is a standardized test commonly used for college admissions in the United States. It’s taken by high school juniors and seniors to assess their readiness for college-level academic work.

When comparing SAT scores, Harvard and Dartmouth are among the most challenging universities to gain admission to. The median SAT scores for their students are 760 for reading and writing and 790 for math. Still, Harvard has half the admission rate (3.2%) compared to Dartmouth (6.4%).

SchoolAdmission rate
(%)		SAT Score:
Reading & Writing		SAT Score: MathAvg Annual
Cost*
Harvard University3.2760790$13,259
Columbia University3.9750780$12,836
Yale University4.6760780$16,341
Brown University5.1760780$26,308
Princeton University5.7760780$11,080
Dartmouth College6.4760790$33,023
University of
Pennsylvania		6.5750790$14,851
Cornell University7.5750780$29,011

*Costs after receiving federal financial aid.

Additionally, Dartmouth has the highest average annual cost at $33,000. Princeton has the lowest at $11,100.

While student debt has surged in the United States in recent years, hitting $1.73 trillion in 2023, the worth of obtaining a degree from any of the schools listed surpasses mere academics. This is evidenced by the substantial incomes earned by former students.

Harvard grads, for example, have the highest average starting salary in the country, at $91,700.

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