COUNTY LIFE
America’s top Halloween candy
By Ben George, candy.com
The map above reveals the results of our data mining, the top three most popular Halloween candies in each state. Hover over your state to see the goods. (Apologies, it’s not interactive on mobile devices).
Do your state’s choices surprise you? The top Halloween candy in your state are not always what you think they were. Salt water taffy and Hot Tamales performed much better than some expected, for example.
For more than 12 years, we’ve been delivering tons of bulk candy around the country. As bulk candy retailers and distributors, we’ve got a lot of candy sales data to comb through. Including some we shipped to New York not too long ago…
We have seen a lot of surprising favorites and least favorites over the years. That’s why working with unbiased data is so much fun. We looked at 12 years of sales data (2007-2018), looking in particular at the months leading up to Halloween. We sell nationwide (and to Canada) so we broke down our sales by state. We also have relationships with major candy manufacturers and distributors – all of whom contributed and helped us reach our conclusions.
Then we charted the best sellers in every state for Halloween. And we present it to you in the above spooky HTML5 interactive map of the most popular Halloween candy. If you’d like to see the nationwide winners, we made a graphic for that too:
This year, the National Retail Federation is estimating that shoppers will spend $2.6 billion on Halloween candy. Same as last year.
Consumer confidence is not quite as high
this year, fueled mostly by uncertainty surrounding the impact of
tariffs and interest rate changes on the domestic economy. Feels like
2019 sales will be steady but not a break-out year.
Halloween Candy Quick Facts
172 million Americans celebrate Halloween
Nearly 1/4 of all Halloween purchases are made online
Among those who celebrate Halloween, 95% will purchase candy
They will spend about $25 on average
Most Halloween shopping is done the first 2 weeks of October.
In Oregon, full-sized candy bars are the norm for trick-or-treaters to receive
Over 50% of parents stash some Halloween candy to enjoy later in the year
Industry research showed in 2015 that online candy sales were increasing by 15 percent. People are realizing they can save time and money by skipping the store and purchasing from the comfort of their home. But will you buy the right candy?
The Nocona City Council gave its budget proposal a final once-over before setting a public hearing for it and the proposed tax rate for Sept. 9 at 8 a.m.
Council members also heard from Blake McNew who is against the recently approved fee and registration process for golf carts and related vehicles.
Last month the council approved an ordinance that set forth registration requirements for these vehicles with a $50 registration fee. After several close calls and complaints from downtown business people and citizens on near misses with ATVs and golf carts driving unsafely downtown the council took the step to add the ordinance.
City Secretary Revell Hardison said after some discussion the council asked for it to be back on next month’s agenda with possible consideration for repealing the fee. After some research she added a person can go through the state to obtain a license plate for these vehicles and the local sticker would not be needed.
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
The staff of Texas Education Agency on Aug. 14 announced the release of 2026 A-F Accountability Ratings for public school systems and campuses across the state.
Almost all of the school districts in the county saw their district ratings increase or remain consistent, along with some of their campuses.
There were 1,202 districts and 9,105 campuses rated in 2026. Some 24% of both districts and campuses increased in rating compared to 2025.
Read the full story and see all the county ratings in your Thursday Bowie News.
2026 state accountability ratings
Bowie Independent School District – B, 80 of 100 points
Elementary/intermediate – C, 74
Junior high – B, 84
High school – B, 86
Bellevue ISD – A, 92
Forestburg ISD – B, 82
Gold-Burg ISD – C, 76
Montague ISD – A, 93
Nocona ISD – B, 86
Elementary – B, 80
Middle school – C, 79
High school – A, 94
Prairie Valley ISD – B, 88
Saint Jo ISD – B, 82
Elementary – D, 66
High school – A, 92
Friends of the Bowie Animal Shelter will host the annual Clear the Shelter event from 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 22.
The shelter is located at 1508 E. Wise. While this is a nationwide effort to recognize the work of animal shelters, their staff and volunteers, this also is a chance to support their efforts by attending the bake sale, silent auction and food vendors.
Adoptable dogs from the Bowie shelter as well as Easy Street Shelter of Saint Jo, Lucky Paws in Nocona and McCares of Montague will be present.
If your family is considering adopting a pet this would be a great time to visit with the animals and meet the volunteers who can tell you a bit about the animals. Prospective volunteers also are welcome, so ask your questions.
Staff from Cross Timbers Vet will be giving reduced price vaccinations.
There will be a prize drawing at noon for a bounce house and a Turtle Box speaker. Tickets are $5 each for a chance to win either prize. Drawing at noon.
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