One search term took over a quarter of the country this year.
Not a costume category. Not a classic. One specific, very 2025 search term.
We pulled the top costume search in every state to find out the top costume searches that America has been looking for and the results split into some clear patterns, one massive trend, and a handful of searches we genuinely cannot explain.
Here's what we found.
The Top Costume Search, By State
Alabama - Plus Size Womens
Alaska - Pet Costumes
Arizona - Plus Size Womens
Arkansas - Star Wars
California - Plus Size Womens
Colorado - Pirate
Connecticut - Dog
Delaware - Devil
Florida - KPop Demon Hunters
Georgia - Plus Size
Hawaii - Disney
Idaho - Clown
Illinois - KPop Demon Hunters
Indiana - KPop Demon Hunters
Iowa - KPop Demon Hunters
Kansas - Plus Size
Kentucky - KPop Demon Hunters
Louisiana - Disney
Maine - Sexy Womens Costumes
Maryland - KPop Demon Hunters
Massachusetts - Plus Size Womens
Michigan - Witch
Minnesota - Dinosaur
Mississippi - Scary
Missouri - Witch
Montana - Infant
Nebraska - Clown
Nevada - Womens
New Hampshire - Plus Size Womens
New Jersey - KPop Demon Hunters
New Mexico - Wizard of Oz
New York - KPop Demon Hunters
North Carolina - Ghostbusters
North Dakota - Sexy Womens Costumes
Ohio - Plus Size Womens
Oklahoma - Dinosaur
Oregon - Plus Size Womens
Pennsylvania - KPop Demon Hunters
Rhode Island - Plus Size
South Carolina - KPop Demon Hunters
South Dakota - Dinosaur
Tennessee - Ghostbusters
Texas - KPop Demon Hunters
Utah - KPop Demon Hunters
Vermont - Renaissance
Virginia - Disney
Washington - Plus Size
West Virginia - Plus Size Womens
Wisconsin - Witch
Wyoming - Plus Size Womens
The Pop Culture Takeover
Twelve states. One search term.
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah all had the exact same top search this year: KPop Demon Hunters.
That's not a regional pocket. That's coast to coast. North to south. Big states, small states, states that rarely agree on anything else. There's no obvious regional thread tying these twelve together, but it's easy to see where all the biggest KPop Demon Hunter fans reside.
It makes sense. KPop Demon Hunters was one of the biggest movies of 2025, and Halloween has a way of turning "biggest movie of the year" into "most-searched costume of the year" almost overnight. Twelve states landing on the same term at once shows just how fast a single piece of pop culture can sweep the entire country.
It wasn't the only franchise making noise. Ghostbusters took the top spot in Tennessee and North Carolina. Arkansas went all in on Star Wars. New Mexico searched for Wizard of Oz more than anything else. Pop culture, in one form or another, drove the top search in more states than anything besides one other category, which we'll get to.
What's interesting is how differently these franchises performed. KPop Demon Hunters swept a dozen states in a matter of months. Ghostbusters and Star Wars, both decades-old franchises, still managed to hold the top spot somewhere in 2025 — proof that a good costume idea doesn't have an expiration date, even against the newest thing on everyone's screen.
Disney Does Its Homework
Here's a fun one. Hawaii, Louisiana, and Virginia all had Disney as their top search and in each case, there's a real reason why.
Lilo & Stitch takes place in Hawaii. Princess and the Frog is set in New Orleans. Pocahontas tells the story of a real location in Virginia. Three states, three Disney movies, three genuine settings.
We're not saying every searcher in Honolulu is thinking about Stitch specifically. But it's a fun coincidence that the states searching Disney the most also happen to be the states Disney has been setting movies in for decades.
Evergreen Halloween, Midwest Style
Not every state is chasing the latest trend. A cluster of Midwest and Plains states kept it classic.
Minnesota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota all searched Dinosaur as their top costume. Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin went with Witch. No blockbuster movies required — just two of the most reliable, no-explanation-needed costumes Halloween has ever had.
There's something almost comforting about it. While a big chunk of the country was searching for a costume from a movie that came out months ago, these six states were searching for costumes that have worked every single year since costumes existed.
Plus Size Pride
Here's the biggest bucket on the entire list, and it's not pop culture at all.
Thirteen states had some version of Plus Size as their top search: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Wyoming, Georgia, Kansas, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama.
That's more states than KPop Demon Hunters. More states than any single pop culture franchise. The single most-searched costume category in America this Halloween wasn't tied to a movie at all — it was people looking for a costume that actually fits.
This one isn't concentrated in one region either. It shows up on the West Coast, in the Mountain West, across the South, and up through New England. When a search term shows up in that many different corners of the country at once, it's not a fluke — it's a real, consistent need.
We're proud of that one. HalloweenCostumes.com carries one of the largest plus size selections in the industry, and this data backs up what we already believed: people want great costume options in their size, and they're actively searching for them by name, not settling for whatever happens to fit.
The Weird and Wonderful
Not everything on this list fits a tidy pattern. Some of it is just fun.
Idaho and Nebraska both searched Clown as their top costume. No further comment.
Colorado's top search was Pirate — in a state with no coastline whatsoever. Somewhere out there is the most landlocked pirate crew in America, and we respect it.
Alaska searched Pet Costumes. Connecticut searched Dog. Different coast, same instinct: dress the dog first, worry about your own costume later.
North Dakota and Maine both landed on Sexy Womens Costumes as their top search — two states that share exactly zero border, climate, or culture in common, and somehow ended up on the same page anyway.
Vermont went with Renaissance, which tracks. Between the craft fairs, the historic towns, and the general "we do things a little differently here" energy, a Renaissance costume feels right at home.
And then there are the states that simply didn't match anyone: Delaware searched Devil. Mississippi searched Scary. Montana searched Infant. Nevada searched Womens. No pattern, no neighbor to compare notes with — just a state doing its own thing.
A quick note on outliers like these: smaller search volume can be part of the story. In a state with fewer total searches, it takes less to land on top — which means a state's number one search can end up being a little more unpredictable than a state with a much bigger search pool.
So, What's Your State Searching For?
Some of these searches make total sense the second you think about them. Some make no sense at all. And some are just proof that Halloween brings out something a little different in every corner of the country.
Does your search match your state's? Or are you the outlier throwing off the whole list?
Tell us what you're searching for this Halloween in the comments. We're always curious how far the trend actually goes.
