Naperville, Ill., Is Nation’s Fourth-Safest Trick-or-Treat Town

(TNS) — Record spending on Halloween means holiday-related activities are returning to pre-pandemic levels, one survey shows — good news for parents in Naperville, Ill., where the city recently ranked No. 4 on a list of safest places to go trick-or-treating.

Halloween purchases of costumes, decorations, candy, pumpkins and party supplies were projected to reach a record $10.6 billion, up from last year’s record $10.1 billion, according to Prosper Insights and Analytics.

That’s because the average consumer planned to spend $100 on average for Halloween supplies, which is on par with last year’s record of $103 and is the second highest amount in the survey’s history.

“Halloween is an exciting time for many families, and that enthusiasm is reflected in the number of Americans who plan to celebrate the holiday this year,” federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release.
Spending on costumes for children and adults was projected to total $2.9 billion, the highest amount since 2017, and spending on costumes for pets was likely to reach a record high of $710 million.

More than 2.2 million children plan to dress as Spider-Man and more than 1.9 million as their favorite princess.

Also in the top five most popular costumes are a witch and a ghost at third and fourth and Batman and other superheroes tied for fifth.

For adults, a witch is the most popular costume, followed by a vampire, ghost and a pirate. Tied for fifth place are cat and Batman costumes.

This year 67 percent of consumers surveyed said they would be handing out candy.
That’s good news for kids heading out to trick-or-treat on Monday.

As is news that Naperville ranked fourth on the list of top safest cities for trick-or-treating compiled by the online business directory ChamberOfCommerce.org.

The online service said it analyzed more than 300 communities with a population of at least 100,000.

The cities were rated on five variables: pedestrian fatalities, violent crime, property crime, number of registered sex offenders and number of law enforcement employees.

Gilbert, Arizona, ranked no. 1, followed by Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Cary, North Carolina.
The ranking noted Naperville is no stranger to making the list of “best cities” for families.

“With a population of just under 150,000, Naperville is located within the sweet spot of a small-to-mid-sized city. The city’s low number of registered sex offenders (20 per 100,000), violent crime (77 per 100,000), and property crime (1,311 per 100,000), as well as an average of two pedestrian fatalities per year, make it an ideal location for safe trick-or-treating,” the listing noted.

While Naperville has no city ordinance regulating hours for trick-or-treating, the police department recommends young children go home when it begins to get dark and older children stay out no later than 8 p.m.

Police also advise motorists to exercise extreme caution and avoid distractions when driving especially during the peak trick-or-treating hours of 4 to 8 p.m.


©2022 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.