Here's The Most Popular Halloween Costume In Florida

TAMPA BAY, FL — Halloween is the one day a year that you can transform into someone (or something) you’ve never been before.

In 2022, Americans are going old-school with their costumes—prepare to see pointy hats, pointy ears and pointy teeth on your trick-or-treating journey.

For the fifth year in a row, the team at All Home Connections found the most searched Halloween costume in each state. This year, witches and cats rule the nation with a combined 22 states searching for them most.

But don’t underestimate the power of pop culture—costumes inspired by Lightyear and Encanto also made the list with 11 states searching for characters from these new Disney classics.

Whether you’ll attend a monster mash or stream the newest scary movie on your couch, here’s a look at the biggest costume trends of the year, so you can decide if you’ll join the crowd or try something new.

The Breakdown

Referencing articles from DIYs, Rent, Reader’s Digest and Visual Capitalist, All Home Connections analyzed current Google Trends data to create a projection of 2022’s most popular costumes per state.

Freaky Facts

• The classic cat costume is the most googled Halloween costume in the most states, with 12 states searching for it most.
• Eleven states searched for witch costumes the most. With Hocus Pocus 2 set for release this year, it’s no wonder their popularity has soared.
• Vampire is the third most searched costume. Perhaps it’s due to Twilight’s resurgence in popularity.
• Disney has influenced several states this year, with Buzz Lightyear and Encanto-inspired costumes being searched most in six and five states, respectively.
• Mississippi and Nevada searched for Elvis Presley costumes the most, perhaps motivated by the biopic about the singer released earlier this year.
• With HBO’s House of the Dragon garnering 20 million viewers in its premiere episode, it’s no surprise some states have Game of Thrones on their minds—Jon Snow is the most searched Halloween costume in Alabama and Oklahoma.
• Nearly a third of states (14 total) are searching for witches this year, so if you see a lot of Sabrina Spellmans or the Charmed sisters walking around, you’re probably not the only one.
• 25 percent of the costumes are mythical creatures.
• Of the over 140 million Americans who celebrate Halloween each year, many spend more than $90 a person on their costume.

With pop-up Spirit Halloween stores popping up around Tampa Bay, your route to the nearest costume store is likely a short distance away. With more than 1,400 stores across the country, Spirit Halloween is the largest Halloween retailer in North America, specializing in Halloween décor, costumes and accessories for children, teens and adults.

Spirit Halloween stores in Tampa Bay can be found at:

• Former Bed Bath and Beyond, 6222 Commerce Palms Drive, Tampa
• Former Sears, 347 Westshore Plaza, Tampa
• Former Sears, 686 Brandon Town Center Mall, Brandon
• Former LA Fitness, 4764 Florida Ave S, Lakeland
• Former Charming Charlie, 28329 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel
• Former Burlington Coat Factory, 3800 U.S. 98 N, Lakeland
• JC Penney, 501 Eagle Ridge Drive, Lake Wales
• Next to Best Buy, 6250 Grandview Parkway, Davenport
• Next to Publix, 2522 N McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater
• Former Tuesday Morning, 13819 Walsingham Road, Largo
• Former Ulta, 9409 U.S. 19, Port Richey

Customers who do their shopping online can filter costumes by category including TV shows, movies, decades, clowns — and more specifically, “scary clowns." Filters are also available by size, price or rating.