October 24, 2016
There is only a week remaining until Halloween, though a recent study suggests that residents in the Greater Philadelphia area are already prepared for the occasion.
WalletHub, a personal finance company, named the City of Brotherly Love one of the best U.S. cities in which to celebrate Halloween. Philly was ranked No. 16 among the nation's 100 largest cities.
To determine the list, researchers examined 18 factors, including the population of children, the number of costume stores per capita and the weather forecast.
The list praised Philly residents for their friendliness toward trick-or-treaters and ranked the city 20th in that category, which took the city's crime rate into account. Last week, Philly was recognized by real estate company Zillow as the best city for trick-or-treating.
However, Philly's overall ranking in WalletHub's study was punished for the city's poor performance in providing affordable Halloween parties and activities. The city was ranked 77th due to the price of holiday party tickets, the number of haunted houses per capita, the price of movie tickets and the number of pumpkin patches per capita.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans plan on spending $8.4 billion this year on Halloween-themed expenses. That's an average of $82.93 per person.
Lastly, Mother Nature helped bolster Philly's ranking. The forecast calls for nearly ideal conditions for Halloween, according to researchers. The list ranked the city No. 16 in that category.
The list's top five cities were Santa Ana, California; New York City; Jersey City, New Jersey; Newark, New Jersey; and Laredo, Texas.
