Virginia City bested 73 other U.S. destinations in a new ranking, thanks to its ghostly attractions, spiritual retail offerings, and a high volume of searches tied to the supernatural.
Which U.S. City Is Truly the Spookiest – and Why Isn't It Salem?
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When Halloween comes around, a few destinations instantly spring to mind. Salem, Massachusetts, built its reputation on the witch trials, while New Orleans has long been tied to ghost lore, haunted mansions, and tales of the supernatural. Yet a new study from smart home security company Vivint finds that neither city lands among America's 10 spookiest places.
For the study, Vivint ranked 74 U.S. cities across seven factors: reported ghost sightings, haunted places, funeral services, haunted house attractions, psychics and astrologers, spiritual shops, and Google searches on spooky topics. Most business and search figures were calculated per 10,000 residents, with each factor scored from 0 to 100. The seven scores were then averaged to produce a final ranking.
Virginia City, Nevada, took No. 1, leading several categories – including its density of haunted house attractions, spiritual shops, and spooky-related Google searches. The historic mining town logged roughly 10,870 spooky searches per 10,000 residents and 124.2 haunted house attractions per 10,000 residents. Tombstone, Arizona, finished second overall with the study's highest concentration of psychics and astrologers, while Eureka Springs, Arkansas, completed the top three.
Smaller destinations swept the rankings, taking the first seven spots. Galena, Illinois, came in fourth, followed by Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Cape May, New Jersey, and Estes Park, Colorado. Austin, Texas, was the first major city to appear at eighth, followed by Los Angeles in ninth and Weston, West Virginia, in 10th. Austin also logged the most reported ghost sightings of any city studied, with 115, while Los Angeles led in reported haunted places, with 61.
Surprisingly, several of the country's most storied haunted destinations missed the top 10. Amityville, New York – known for the house where six family members were murdered in 1974, later the inspiration for The Amityville Horror – ranked 13th. New Orleans, famed for its Voodoo history and supposedly haunted French Quarter, landed 22nd. Savannah, Georgia, with centuries of ghost sightings and haunted historic homes to its name, placed 28th. Salem, Massachusetts, infamous for its hysteria-driven witch hunt in the late 1600s, came in 41st, while New York City and Boston ranked 68th and 69th, respectively.
Before planning a haunted road trip, travelers may want to sort out airport parking services in advance – and sites like AirportParking.deals make it easy to compare off-site airport parking options and find airport parking coupons along the way. Here's the full top 10:
- Virginia City, Nevada
- Tombstone, Arizona
- Eureka Springs, Arkansas
- Galena, Illinois
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- Cape May, New Jersey
- Estes Park, Colorado
- Austin, Texas
- Los Angeles, California
- Weston, West Virginia
