Halloween Fun Facts

Halloween, which dates back to Celtic rituals thousands of years ago, has long been associated with images of witches, ghosts and vampires. Today, Halloween has evolved into a celebration characterized by child-friendly activities, such as costumes, trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns.

Trick or Treat!

41.2 million The estimated number of potential trick-or-treaters in 2013 — children age 5 to 14 — across the U.S. Of course, many other children — older than 14 and younger than 5 — also go trick-or-treating.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013 Population Estimates, PEPASR6H
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/PEP/2013/PEPASR6H>

115 million Number of occupied housing units across the nation in first quarter 2014 — all potential stops for trick-or-treaters. 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Vacancies and Homeownership, Table 8 <http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/histtabs.html>

93.3%Percentage of households with residents who considered their neighborhood safe in 2011. In addition, 79.5 percent said there was no place within a mile of their homes where they would be afraid to walk alone at night.  
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Extended Measures of Well-Being: Living Conditions in the United States, 2011, <http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p70-136.pdf>

Hauntingly Delicious

1,333Number of U.S. manufacturing establishments that produced chocolate and cocoa products in 2012, employing 37,150 employees. This industry's value of shipments totaled $14.4 billion, up slightly from $14.1 billion in 2007. 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Economic Census, NAICS 2012: 311351, 311352 and 2007: 311320, 311330
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2012_US/00A1//naics~311351%7C311352>, <http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2007_US/00A1//naics~311320%7C311330>

439Number of U.S. manufacturing establishments that produced nonchocolate confectionary products, employing 19,141 employees. This industry's value of shipments totaled $8.0 billion in 2012.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Economic Census, NAICS 311340
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2012_US/00A1//naics~311340>

Dressed to ThrillA sampling of occupations that one may dress up as for a Halloween costume:

Occupation	Number of Full-Time,
	Year-Round Employees
Athletes, coaches, umpires and related workers	114,456
Bailiffs, correctional officers and jailers	387,955
Dentists	97,562
Detectives and criminal investigators	117,375
Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers	499,775
Firefighters	256,196
Police and sheriff's patrol officers	623,338
Registered nurses	2,061,647