This Formula Helps You Figure Out How Much Halloween Candy to Buy

By Sarah Shebek September 19, 2021

Does anyone ever know how much candy to buy for Halloween?

Ah, the age old question of how much candy to buy for Halloween. There’s nothing worse than running out halfway through the evening and having to hide in your house with the lights out. That’s why Shipt and Mars Wrigley have devised a new formula to help you determine how many sweets to purchase, plus a heat map of top treats by state.

The formula looks intimidating but is actually quite simple. It breaks down like this:

Time: The number of hours you plan to leave the lights on
Kids: Estimated number of kids per hour that will ring your doorbell
Generosity factor: How many pieces of candy you plan to give to each kid
Days: The number of days between the initial candy purchase and Halloween
Family: Number of family members in the household
Sneaky factor: Average number of pieces of candy each member of the household will eat per day

Shipt also sagely advises to divide the final count by 1.5 if rain is in the forecast. As for the most popular treats, it varies widely by state. However, 18 states would pick Snickers above all and 9 states are in favor of the classic M&Ms. Take a look to see which candy you should stock up on in your state!

Looks like Montana kids will be getting lots of gum. Shipt’s shopping data also shows that Halloween is the most popular day to buy candy, unsurprisingly.

To incentivize you as you stock up on treats this season, Shipt is offering $5 off to customers if they spend $25 on Mars Wrigley products for the two weeks leading up to Halloween. But since it’s a little early for that, you’re probably still plotting out your perfect costume and we have just the list for you