Trick or Treat! Top 20 U.S. Markets with the Highest % of Kids Ages 4-12

Happy Halloween week! 🎃

Followers of the SiteSeer blog know that we have access to many types of data and preferred data providers that offer everything from population data to cell phone data to planned construction data. You also probably know that we like to have a little fun around here!

With Halloween just a couple of days away, it’s a good opportunity to give an example of the kind of data you can access in SiteSeer. Our demographic data partner, Synergos Technologies, Inc. (STI) is the creator of STI: PopStats data. PopStats includes current quarter and eight previous quarters of population data in every release, as well as other critical trending data.

SiteSeer users who subscribe PopStats data use it to understand real population growth, which is important when forecasting sales, identifying growth trends, and planning markets for expansion.

Who’s Trick-or-Treating? 🎃

Back to Halloween! As all American parents know, trick-or-treating is a cherished tradition where youngsters dress up in costumes and walk door to door asking for candy.

In a survey of nearly 8,000 consumers last month (September 2024), the National Retail Federation found that:

• 72% of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween this year (2024).
• 67% plan to hand out candy, while 52% plan to decorate their home or yard and 43% plan to carve a pumpkin.
• Those taking part in Halloween plan to spend an average of $104.
• 6 million children plan on dressing up as Spider-Man this year, while 1.8 are planning to dress as a ghost, 1.7 million are planning on going as a princess, 1.6 million plan to dress as a witch, and 1.5 million will suit up as their favorite superhero.

We thought it’d be interesting to look at the metropolitan statistical areas in the United States with the highest percentage of children between the ages of 4 and 12 (i.e., trick-or-treaters), using PopStats' population data. Here are the top 20 markets:

#1: Provo, Orem, UT | 15.6%

#2: Idaho Falls, ID | 14.4%

#3: Ogden/Clearfield, UT | 14.0%

#4: Logan, UT | 13.9%

#5: Midland, TX | 13.9%

#6: Hinesville, GA | 13.8%

#7: Visalia, CA | 13.6%

#8: Laredo, TX | 13.5%

#9: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 13.5%

#10: Clarksville, TN-KY | 13.3%

#11: Odessa, TX | 13.2%

#12 : Merced, CA | 13.1%

#13 : Twin Falls, ID | 13.1%

#14: Kennewick-Richland, WA | 13.0%

#15: Bakersfield, CA | 13.0%

#16: Sioux Falls, SD | 12.8%

#17: Fresno, CA | 12.8%

#18: Yakima, WA | 12.8%

#19: Elkhart-Goshen, IN | 12.8%

#20: Killeen-Temple, TX | 12.6%

Note that we’ve rounded to the nearest tenth of a percentage here, but these 20 metro areas are in order from highest to lowest. Meaning, the four metro areas with 12.8% of their populations being residents ages 4 to 12 years old were close…but Sioux Falls came in at 12.818%, whereas Yakima’s 4-12-year-old group was 12.807%.

What Cities Aren't Seeing as Many Trick-or-Treaters? 

It probably won't surprise you to learn that The Villages, Florida, home to a large active adult retirement community, had the lowest percentage of children ages 4-12...just 3.3%. You might not see many ghouls and goblins roaming the streets there! The Villages was #2 on our list of the fastest-growing metro areas in our last data study (published July 2024). 

The rest of the bottom five: Punta Gorda, FL (5.7%), Barnstable Town, MA (6.5%), Homosassa Springs, FL (6.9%), Mayaguez, PR (7.0%). 

Interested in PopStats or Other Data? Contact Us

The SiteSeer team can help you understand how incorporating different types of data into your research can support better decision making and help you get answers to your most pressing site selection and location decisions. Use data to your advantage!

Contact us to learn more and schedule a demo of SiteSeer. Whether you're a retailer, commercial real estate broker, grocery chain, or other chain business, let us show you how to put the power of data analytics to work.

Happy Halloween! 🎃👻🏮