As the countdown to trick-or-treating accelerates, grocery delivery giant Instacart has officially released its annual Halloween Sweet Tooth Report, revealing exactly which sweets are filling digital shopping carts across the United States this October.
According to the newly published 2026 consumer data, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have once again claimed the ultimate crown as the number one Halloween candy by ounces sold. The iconic peanut butter and chocolate treat completely dominated the national map, taking the absolute top seller spot in an impressive 40 out of 50 states.
Chocolate Dominates The National Top Five
When analyzing nationwide purchasing habits, American shoppers demonstrated an overwhelming preference for classic chocolate bars over fruity, chewy, or sour alternatives. The top five best-selling candies in the country for 2026 are entirely chocolate-based creations:
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- Peanut M&M's
- Hershey's Milk Chocolate
- Regular M&M's
- Snickers
The highest-ranking non-chocolate confection on the 2026 Instacart leaderboard is Sour Patch Kids, which secured the number seven spot overall. Additionally, secondary seasonal tracking from CandyStore.com noted a massive retail surge for NERDS Gummy Clusters, which climbed into their national top five for the very first time.
Surprising Regional Candy Quirks And Capitals
While Reese's Peanut Butter Cups swept most of the nation, Instacart's grocery cart data uncovered several highly specific regional candy loyalties and purchasing trends that buck the national chocolate trend: Rhode Island stands alone as the only state in the country where Sour Patch Kids beat out both Reese's and Peanut M&M's for the number one spot; Montana residents purchase chewy HI-CHEW candies at an astonishing 616% above the national average; Louisiana shoppers showed immense loyalty to Tootsie Pops, buying them at 141% above the national share. Western states lead the pack in total volume, with Utah, Idaho, and Alaska purchasing the most candy overall relative to the rest of the United States. The Pacific Northwest claims the title for the most candy-crazed municipalities, with Anchorage, Alaska, and Eugene, Oregon, leading the entire nation in local candy purchasing volume.
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