Halloween 2026 · two cameras · one candy cauldron

The Great Trick-or-Treat Census

— people came to our candy table, and we handed out candy — times. They kept coming, about — people a minute, until we ran out of candy at 8:21 PM.

People at the table

—

From the first stop at 5:37 PM until the candy ran out at 8:21 PM.

Candy handouts

—

Kids nearly always took candy. Adults took it about 1 time in 6.

People per candy handout

—

The parent-tagging-along factor.

Dogs

—

— of them in costume.

Groups

—

Averaging — people each.

The rush never really stopped

Things took off around 5:50 PM and stayed busy for the next two and a half hours. The biggest burst came at 7:45 PM, well after dark, and a final rush arrived just before the candy ran out.

People arriving, every 5 minutes

The last bar is short because we ran out of candy at 8:21 PM.

KidsAdultsTeensBabies & strollers

Busiest 5-minute stretches

Start time and people arriving.

People per half hour

The last half hour ends early, at 8:21 PM.

Grown-ups outnumbered kids

Adults were the biggest group at the table, which is why the candy count sits so far below the people count. Kids nearly always took candy. Adults took it about 1 time in 6, for — adult handouts.

Who came

Everyone who came to the table. Dogs aren't in the people total.

Who dressed up

Share of everyone we could make out. Adults were by far the likeliest to wear street clothes, and most dogs outdressed them.

Recognizable costumeDressed up, unidentifiedStreet clothes

Day shift, night shift, same crowd

You'd expect the little kids to go home at dark and the teens to take over. They didn't. The mix barely moved after sunset, and the pace actually picked up.

KidsAdultsTeensBabies & strollers

The costume parade

Team jerseys edged out skeletons for the crown, with witches and Spider-Man right behind them. These counts cover the costumes we could put a name to.

Top 20 costumes

Variants are grouped, so Spider-Man includes Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen.

Costumes by theme

People in a recognizable costume.

Costumes through the night

People in a recognizable costume, per half hour. A darker square means a bigger share of that half hour's costumes.

Team jerseys faded as the night went on, witches surged around 7:30, and horror was actually strongest at 6:00, not after dark.

How everyone was dressed

"Dressed up, unidentified" is everything from a black robe to a neon rainbow suit.

Best sightings of the night

    The candy-carrier census

    The plain plastic bucket beat the classic pumpkin, 201 to 154. Backpacks showed up 78 times, with 19 of them worn on the front, and 49 pillowcases made the trip, mostly with teens and kids.

    What people carried

    800 carriers we could identify.

    Hall of fame

    The carriers that made us look twice.

      How the sausage got counted

      • The footage. Two timelapse cameras ran all night, one overhead and one at street level. The street-level camera did the counting, and the overhead covered the first few minutes.
      • The count. AI reviewers went through high-resolution frames in order and logged people one by one. A separate frame-by-frame count of three 10-minute stretches came within 2%.
      • The candy. Each person was counted by what we could see, or by the usual candy rate for their age group when the crowd blocked the view.
      • The hosts. Our own crew and party guests aren't in the numbers, including the scout trooper and the Jawa.