Halloween is the spookiest time of the year, but when it comes to trick-or-treating around your neighborhood or participating in Halloween festivities, celebrating the spooky holiday shouldn’t have to be scary.
When considering factors such as safety, weather, family-friendliness and festiveness on Halloween night, some cities are better to celebrate the holiday in than others.
To determine the best cities to celebrate Halloween in 2022, SmartAsset compared 146 U.S. cities across 10 metrics including the violent crime rate, average Halloween temperature, daily new COVID-19 cases and percentage of residents 14 years or younger.
Three cities in the Phoenix metro area—Gilbert, Chandler and Peoria—placed among the Top 10 Best Cities to Celebrate Halloween.
Gilbert ranks No. 3 on the top 10 list for family friendliness, safety and Halloween weather. The city has the second-highest concentration of residents ages 14 or younger (24.63%) as well as the fifth-lowest violent crime rate per capita and the eighth-lowest property crime rate per capita. Gilbert also has the 14th-highest average temperature on Halloween night of 71 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chandler places seventh among the top 10, scoring well for Halloween weather and safety. Tying with Gilbert, Chandler has an average temperature of 71 degrees Fahrenheit on Halloween as well as a zero percent chance of rain. The city’s violent crime rate is the 15th-lowest and its property crime rate is the 36th-lowest.
Peoria is the tenth-best city for celebrating Halloween, also scoring highly for safety and Halloween weather. Peoria’s crime rates are relatively low, placing it in the top 25 list of cities with low crime rates. Additionally, the county in which Peoria is located had a low daily number of new COVID-19 cases at the time of SmartAsset’s study, adding to the city’s high safety score. Peoria also has an average temperature of 71 degrees Farenheirt and has zero average days of rain on Halloween night.
Other Arizona cities, including Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix and Glendale, rank 17th, 24th, 27th and 30th, respectively, among the best cities to celebrate Halloween.
Read the full findings from SmartAsset’s Halloween study here.
