Ranking the 50 Most Haunted States in America for Halloween 2025

Sure, America’s oldest cemeteries and iconic haunted asylums haven’t changed much over the past few years. But the number of unsolved murders, UFO sightings, and ghost reports has.

So, in honor of spooky season, we wanted to know where the U.S.’s most hair-raising places are right now.

To find out, we looked at scary phenomena across three categories:

• Spook Factor: The number and density of haunted places, the oldest city, the number of cemeteries, and the oldest cemetery
• Creep Factor: The number and density of unsolved murders, abandoned places, and UFO sightings
• Boo Factor: The number and density of ghost sightings and ghost towns

What did we discover? 

New Mexico is the most haunted state in America. From ghost towns to UFO legends, it’s the nation’s top realm where haunted history meets extraterrestrial mystery. 

*Read more about our sources and methodology here.

Our track record

Each year, 400,000+ people trust our moving recommendations. Here are a few reasons why:

• Founded in 2015
• 3,500+ moving companies analyzed
• $50,000 in moving grants delivered
• Up-to-date pricing info & industry data
• Fact-checked for accuracy

Key findings

• #1 New Mexico’s high Creep and Spook Scores make it the most haunted state, with one of the oldest cities in the dataset (418 years old), Acoma Pueblo’s centuries-old cemetery, established in 1629, and over 1,700 UFO sightings.
• Northern states account for 7 of America’s top 10 most haunted states, from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania and Alaska. 
• New Hampshire’s spine-tingling colonial vibes earn it the highest Spook Score, thanks to dense historical settlements (Portsmouth was founded in 1623) and burial grounds dating to the 1640s.
• California’s winning Creep Score is driven by 245 abandoned sites (2nd to Texas’ 385)  and an unsolved murder rate (with the nation’s largest unsolved case load overall by far, at 52,480).
• Boo Score winner South Dakota joins other high-scoring prairie states in a region where ghost towns and ghost sightings track together.

The 10 Most Haunted States

Whether it is ancient cemeteries, abandoned factories, or brushes with paranormal activity that really give you the creeps, you’re sure to find a rush of adrenaline in one of these hot spots for horror.

#1 New Mexico is the most haunted state in America

The Land of Enchantment ranks in the top third of all categories, offering full-spectrum chills.

That’s due to its historic settlement advantage: Santa Fe predates Plymouth Rock, and with its 418-year span, Native American, Spanish, and frontier mythologies meld across generations to create a uniquely rich hauntlore.

Tip of Terror: The Acoma Pueblo, 70 miles west of Albuquerque, maybe the oldest continuously occupied site in the Western Hemisphere. Acoma Indians lived in a village atop this sprawling mesa as early as 600 CE and Spanish missionaries arrived at the end of the 16th century. With thousands of years of history, including a brutal massacre of 800 Acoma Indians, the 2000 sq ft graveyard in the shadow of the mesa is among the most uniquely American haunted locations.

#2 West Virginia

Consistently strong across categories, West Virginia has the highest cemetery density in the nation (1,114 per 100K residents, totalling almost 20K cemeteries in a small state). Its coal mining history has created abundant abandoned places, ghost towns, and tragedies that fuel ghost stories.

Tip of Terror: One of America’s most monstrous creatures has roots in West Virginia. The glaring red eyes of the Mothman were first spotted in 1967 near the abandoned WWII bunkers in Point Pleasant. Since then, the Mothman has evolved into the town’s most feared and beloved ghost story and urban legend. Point Pleasant is now home to a 12-foot steel statue and an entire museum dedicated to this humanoid creature.

#3 New Hampshire

Achieving a perfect 10 in the Spook Score category, New Hampshire boasts 259 cemeteries per 100K residents and boasts settlements dating back to 1623. Colonial heritage isn’t all that New Hampshire’s chill-seekers find in the White Mountain State: 90.5 UFO sightings per 100K residents hint that the Granite State’s ghosts might have some company from beyond the stars.

Tip of Terror: Spend the night at the Mt. Washington Hotel, where a railroad baron’s ghostly widow floats through the halls, including the basement bar that once poured illegal drinks as a speakeasy. Much of the haunting is the work of this lady of the hotel, Princess Caroline Stickney, once married to a French aristocrat. Guests can stay in her room, number 314, for a chance at waking up with the lovelorn princess watching them from the foot of what was once her bed.

#4 Pennsylvania

With 649 haunted places and 13,802 cemeteries statewide, Pennsylvania’s sheer volume overcomes more modest per-capita rates. The state’s strong ghost sighting numbers (17.9 per 100K) echo centuries of tragedy, from Valley Forge starvations to mining catastrophes like the Centralia underground inferno. Add 10,314 unsolved murders, and you understand why Pennsylvania’s dead don’t keep quiet.

Tip of Terror: Once the most famous prison in the world, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is widely regarded as one of the most haunted places in America. Home to nearly 85,000 criminals in its long history, including the legendary mobster Al Capone. The Penitentiary closed in 1971 and is now a historic site open to the public as a museum, offering tours, including many terrifying Halloween season ghost tours. Is there really paranormal activity within the walls of Eastern State Penitentiary? Check it out to find out for yourself.

#5 Michigan

With the 3rd-highest unsolved murder rate (206.6 cases per 100K residents, totalling 20,765 cases), Michigan’s 27.9 ghost sightings per 100K might include crime victims still waiting for justice. Add 1.2 abandoned places per 100K, and the state’s industrial decay might serve as a foreboding backdrop where the auto industry’s collapse has fed both abandoned factories as well as unavenged souls.

Tip of Terror: Unsolved mysteries have long haunted Michigan, but few are as well-known as the tale of Jacob Crouch. Each year on November 21st, locals gather at the Reynolds Cemetery to witness a spectral reunion that has been a source of legends for over a century. The story begins November 21, 1883 when everyone in Jacob Crouch’s family home was brutally murdered, including his 9-month pregnant daughter Eunice, her husband, and a family friend. The killer was never found. 

#6 Massachusetts

Home to Plymouth (1620) and the Salem witchcraft trials, Massachusetts leverages historical clout with 4,050 unsolved murders (57.9 per 100K residents). Although ghost towns are rare (.19 ghost towns per 100K), its colonial cemeteries and frequent UFO sightings (40.8 per 100K) solidify its supernatural reputation. Further, travel its woodland trails and you’ll have to watch out for headless horsemen.

Tip of Terror: Most visitors don’t know if she gave her father 40 whacks, but you can investigate for yourself at the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River. It’s the 1892 scene of a double murder that claimed her father and stepmother’s lives, and remains the subject of much speculation about their acquitted daughter’s part in the crime. The museum/B&B offers day and evening tours, murder mystery parties, and overnight stays in the bedrooms where the Bordens were slaughtered (complete with the chance to wake to Lizzie’s hands around guests’ necks).

#7 Missouri

The “Show Me” state reveals a long history of tragic death, like 271 cemeteries per 100K residents (16,706 total) and 121 unsolved murders per 100K. From Jesse James’ outlaw days to being the jumping-off point for doomed wagon trails on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails, Missouri’s 27.5 ghost sightings per 100K may reflect the grim reality of its pioneer past, where westward dreams could easily end in unmarked graves.

Tip of Terror: Opened in 1836, The Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, once the oldest operating prison west of the Mississippi, is notorious for its paranormal activity. After 168 years of housing violent inmates, its bloody and turbulent legacy has led to reports of apparitions, eerie noises, and unexplained phenomena. Witnesses report dramatic temperature drops to full-bodied apparitions, and even physical encounters.

#8 Maine

Scoring 7.65 overall despite a small population, Maine maximizes its metrics with 532.7 cemeteries per 100K residents (7,338 total) and 90.8 UFO sightings per 100K. Its 402-year-old settlements and 58.9 ghost sightings per 100K prove that isolation and age make the veil between worlds especially thin.

Tip of Terror: Maine’s very own Fort Knox was erected to protect against British invasion, but today it hosts ghost tours, after-hours paranormal research expeditions through the granite tunnels and powder magazines, and even “Ghost Camp.” In the middle of the night, visitors may hear the echoing footsteps of soldiers. One resident apparition is Leopold, the fort’s one-time solitary guardian. The loyal sentinel still opens and closes the fort every day with a waft of cherry pipe tobacco trailing along behind him.

#9 Alaska

The Last Frontier dominates in isolation-driven metrics: 76.7 unsolved mysteries and 10.6 ghost towns per 100K (78 total). And with 90.7 UFO sightings per 100K across vast wilderness, Alaska’s 8.89 Creep Score shows how remoteness ensures dark presences can flourish undisturbed.

Tip of Terror: The majestic Baranof Castle in Sitka may have crumbled, but it remains one of the most haunted places in Alaska. At the top of Castle Hill, legends claim that the spirit of a Russian aristocrat draped in dark garments and a black veil haunts visitors. Rather than be forced into a loveless marriage, the woman tragically ended her life on her wedding night. To this day, she wanders the hill, eternally mourning the life she lost and the love she never had.

#10 Florida

Florida’s hides a darker side beneath its beaches and swamps — 20,000 unsolved murders and 263 ghost towns. It’s also home to the nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine, founded in 1565, and the oldest cemetery. The state’s age and eerie legacy secure its place in the top ten.

Tip of Terror: Miami’s Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables is marked by the fatal shooting of Gangster Thomas “Fatty” Walsh in 1929. Today, his spirit is said to haunt the 13th floor, mysteriously shaking glasses, slamming doors, and appearing in bathroom mirrors. One report claims that a couple was taken to the 13th floor; after the wife stepped out, the elevator shot down with her husband still inside. She was left hearing footsteps, laughter, and smelling cigar smoke in the shadows.

Spook Factor: The Chilling Geography of New Hampshire

The Spook Score combines a location’s number and age of cemeteries and the age of its oldest settlement to assess how much of the past hangs in the air — and how many ghouls per living resident permeate the streets.

New Hampshire’s #1 Spook Score stems from its long-standing supernatural history, with more than 5 haunted places for every 100K state residents — so ghost hunters will always find a quiet corner alone with ominous vibes. That adds up to 72 total haunted locations and 3,597 total cemeteries, including some with graves that potentially date back to the 1640s.

Start with Hollis’ Pine Hill Cemetery, where locals swear that the pointing finger on Abel Blood’s grave moves as it tries to identify the 19th-century killer who was never brought to justice.

When you’re done, visit Star Island’s Oceanic Hotel, where the top floor’s empty, but guests who hear the sound of moving furniture and footsteps swear otherwise.

Overall, it’s hard to beat the top-scoring New England states for their centuries-old cities and cemeteries. #2 Rhode Island has a high concentration of haunted places (6.21 per 100K residents), plus a solid cemetery density, while #3 Maine ranks high due to its very old founding city (Kittery is 402 years old) and its cemetery density and age.

However, New England’s 17th-century graveyard energy doesn’t mean it sweeps the top 5: other historical heavy-hitters, like New Mexico with its 1610 mission settlement in Santa Fe, and Virginia, with its colonial presence, also headline this category. But they all share deep historical roots in common: each top-5 state boasts a founding city and a cemetery over 300 years old.

Creep Factor: California is Teeming With Murder, Mines, and Aliens

The Creep Score isn’t about a deep, spooky history. It’s about other types of paranormal phenomena that might give you the heebie jeebies: a high number of unsolved murders, abandoned places where explorers might dare to tread, and the number and density of UFO sightings.

The 10 Creepiest States in America

#1 California

California excels based on a balanced profile of creepy factors, from its #2 abandoned places rank to its 52,480 unsolved murders and its sheer volume of UFO sightings: 16,940 (over twice Florida’s tally, the next-highest in the nation).

Its high abandoned place ranking reflects the state’s 19th-century Gold Rush history, which dotted modern California with the remnants of boom and bust cycles born of dreamers from another age. With ~245 documented abandoned sites, Golden Staters have the unique ability to explore derelict mills, mines, rail yards, and resorts galore.

It gets even more unsettling: the state hosts abandoned sites like a desert waterpark with a tragic backstory, the entrance portal to a sanitorium, steeped in cult lore, and a derelict ghost fleet. And California compounds its abandoned places score with a cluster of decommissioned midcentury military bases; the state lost 19 major bases in the post-Cold War era, more than any other state at the time.

There are also plenty of unsolved crimes for Californians to wonder about…and perhaps, plenty of undetected murderers to mull over on the next moonless night when you’re out strolling past a dead waterpark.

#2 New Mexico

The country’s UFO vortex, New Mexico leads the pack 33% over Colorado, so residents have a significantly higher chance of spying a little green man. Roswell (1947) sits at the center of America’s saucer mythology, though official reports tied the craft debris to weather balloons. Nevertheless, the vast deserts, secretive military installations, and rich indigenous history of “Sky Beings” have made it a magnet for otherworldly rumors.

Terror Tip: Dulce, a tiny town located 220 miles from the nearest city of 100K+ residents, is more bustling than you’d think. When one former engineer spilled that he helped create a secret military base dedicated to alien investigation under the town, the rumors were quickly compounded by reports of cow mutilations and electrical signals. Today, Dulce can help you bone up on your alien lore: the town hosts an annual ufology conference.

#3 Alaska

Alaska’s a top-10 in the UFO department, which, for a vast wilderness state, reflects a highly disproportionate number of sky lights and uninvited visitors. Lock your cabin doors if you’re a believer in the JAL 1628 Incident, the 1986 event where a pilot reported massive, luminous orbs hovering over the frozen frontier.

Terror Tip: Start your exploration of the eerie, quiet wilderness on Portage Bay in Whittier, where the massive Buckner Building, a Cold War “City Under One Roof.” It’s said to be haunted by the soldiers that once held its military secrets, as well as one “lady in white” — a soldier’s wife who locals speculate was killed here. While you’re there, check out the clear skies stretching beyond it, which seem made for spotting unexplainable lights in the vast darkness.

#4 Arizona

In 1997, the Phoenix Lights united hundreds of witnesses, including actor and pilot Kurt Russell, who insisted they’d all seen the floating V-shaped formation. Whether military flares or extraterrestrial interlopers, the lights solidified this New Mexico neighbor as another UFO hotspot in the desert. With over 5,000 reported sightings, it’s clear the lights are brighter out here thanin most states.

Terror Tip: A top-secret underground base near Phoenix is rumored to sit beneath the Dreamy Draw Dam, built for a cover-up following a UFO crash. It’s even said to be connected to New Mexico’s Dulce Base via a series of underground tunnels. Is it a joint alien-human cooperation project, a flood solution, something more sinister? Your inner conspiracy theorist will have to decide.

#5 Colorado

Colorado rises into the top 10 by virtue of its abandoned places; with a total score of 8.95, it ranks #5 overall, mostly due to its abundant mines and abandoned pioneer buildings that seem frozen in time, as if the men and their mining gear might return at any moment.

Terror Tip: St. Elmo is a ghostly, well-preserved mining town, best visited after dusk, with 40 abandoned buildings. Stroll among them and you might hear disembodied piano music floating from the saloon, or glimpse movement in the windows of the Stark family’s old hotel as their reclusive daughter peers out on the town.

#6 Ohio

Ohio excels in abandoned sites, with 158 total sprinkled across the rolling midwestern farmland. The crown jewel is “Helltown,” a 20th-century ghost town made up of 1970s buyouts where closed roads and abandoned churches (with their inverted cross decorations) spur local rumors of haunted buses and Satanic cults.

Terror Tip: Visit the abandoned Ohio State Reformatory for a hefty dose of the paranormal on your tour of abandoned places. It once touted state-of-the-art conditions for reforming the criminally insane, but failed to deliver on that promise. Instead, inmates suffered in dark corners like “the Hole” within the castle-like fortress, and the warden’s ghostly wife makes the rounds: her perfume lingers around residential rooms and offices.

#7 Missouri

Missouri lands in the top 10 due to its high number of abandoned buildings and a strong history of unsolved murders. In other words, Missouri’s creepiness comes from the places people left behind, as well as the violent histories accompanying them.

Terror Tip: Take a ghost tour at the Missouri State Penitentiary, dubbed “the bloodiest 47 acres in America.” You can explore dungeon cellblocks as the tour guide plunges visitors into the deep, permeating darkness that inmates once endured. You’ll also explore the gas chambers where 40 inmates lost their lives from 1939 to 1989, when the prison was finally decommissioned.

#8 Michigan

Coming in #3 to the District of Columbia and Louisiana, Michigan is one of the country’s unsolved murder capitals. With a total of 20,765 murders still open on the books (207 per 100K residents), it’s the potential that a local killer lives next door, undetected, that ramps up the chill factor in the Wolverine State.

Terror Tip: Michigan’s infamous “Babysitter Killer” case saw four separate children abducted and ultimately murdered in Oakland County from 1976 to 1977. The children were held captive for 4 days before being murdered, their bodies dumped in remote, wooded areas. To this day, the case haunts Michigan, leaving behind the possibility of a killer’s undiscovered hidden lair.

#9 New York

New York comes in second to California in the abandoned places category, which keeps New York in the top 10 despite low UFO activity. From State Hospitals to military mind control camps, New York is a curious East Coast case where abandonment isn’t just about whole communities vanishing when a vein was tapped out. Here, dead rail lines, collapsed resorts, and rusting fleets provide just as much disquiet as a mine shaft ever could.

Terror Tip: Head out to Camp Hero where believers contend a Cold War radar tower and a series of underground tunnels were once the site of secret, dark experiments. From weather control to teleportation and using kidnapped children to fiddle with mind control, the facility’s history keeps visitors wondering why, if the camp no longer has an official mission, the satellite dishes keep changing positions.

#10 Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s high abandonment factor makes up for mid-range UFO activity and unsolved murders. Nevertheless, Keystone Staters will find a massive, decaying infrastructure to make the hair on their arms stand on end. The state is home to the tragic Centralia mine fire and Eastern State Penitentiary, Al Capone’s one-time “home” and today a ghastly reminder that its enthusiasm for solitary confinement continues to reap the echoes of human suffering.

Terror Tip: While some residents still call the rusting Williams Grove Amusement Park home, you can appreciate its melancholy from outside the gates: booths retaken by vines, a silent wooden coaster with blackened wood, and paranormal activity like orbs, movement, and the feeling of being followed, all overpower the joy of past park-goers. In life, the park was scorched by a fire, nearly drowned by a hurricane, and saw rides collapse under snowdrifts. In death, ghosts own the midway.

Boo Factor: The Scary Prairie Boasts the Most Ghosts

Believe it or not, a place can be haunted by a lengthy historical timeline and a bumper crop of spooky old gravemarkers and creaking floorboards, but deliver frighteningly few ghost sightings. Our Boo Factor, therefore, differs from the Spook Factor, where a decaying vibe is key. A high Boo Score means something slightly different: that a place has an excess of ghost towns and ghost sightings.

#1 South Dakota, along with #2 Oklahoma, #3 Texas, #4 Kansas, and #5 North Dakota, top the list of states with the most ghost sightings and towns.

With 3.86 ghost sightings per 100K residents, South Dakota is second only to Maine in terms of its residents’ chance of glimpsing a transparent Victorian dress floating down the hall. And with 226 ghost towns, South Dakota’s density of abandoned cities is 5th overall.

That ghost town history is pronounced in South Dakota since the Black Hills gold and silver finds were particularly vulnerable to extinction. In the state, the rush spun up some 500+ patchy camps in the late 1800s to mine for mixed ores, but those miniature communities couldn’t sustain larger economies. When the mines closed, most became ghost towns overnight.

Today, many prairie states have a high ghost factor and a high density of ghost towns. Besides South Dakota, among the top states:

Oklahoma ranks #8 in ghost sightings and #3 in ghost towns.

Kansas ranks #2 in sightings and #10 in ghost towns.

Why? These states have low populations, so they’re favored by per-capita math. But they’re also places where rail and boom/bust settlement left a footprint of towns that later thinned, leaving a cache of abandoned buildings along with dark skies and ghost-town cultures, both of which favor spooky stories and on-the-horizon sightings.

Some states, like Texas (#1 in ghost towns but #22 in sightings) and North Dakota (#24 in towns and #2 in sightings), don’t align as perfectly, illustrating that states have their own unique mix, and while the pattern is often strong, not all ghost towns have an active population of dearly departed residents.

Final Warnings for the Living

The hot, dry air of New Mexico’s desert preserves ghost towns that often outnumber living ones. Here, abandoned buildings stand like tombstones under endless, alien-filled skies, and at night, coyote calls can sound eerily like the cries of every prospector who vanished into mine shafts blasted into the hills.

But the desert doesn’t have a monopoly on scary.

In New England’s forests, colonial apparitions fire Revolutionary cannonballs.

And in the plains, pioneers, still strolling the abandoned saloons they once knew in life, are common.

Ultimately, there’s no definitive “spooky map” of the country, where many kinds of scares can exist side by side. Every region conjures its own terrors from its history, be they mine collapses or battlefield massacres. And that means that the ghosts we encounter are likely those created from whichever state we’re already in, with stories shaped by centuries about what happened there, and what may wait for us in the dark.

Terrified that you live in one of the most haunted states in the U.S.? Use the moving cost tool to find the best way to pack your bags and head for a ghost-free state!

Methodology

To find the spookiest states in the USA, we assigned each state a relative score of 0-10 according to factors in three categories:

Spook Score

• The number of haunted locations per capita, as compiled in the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index, a comprehensive set of haunted places in the United States.
• The age of the state’s oldest town or city, as reported by TitleMax.
• The number of cemeteries per capita, as compiled by FindAGrave.com.
• The age of the state’s oldest cemetery, as reported by Laura Cahn for Reader’s Digest.

️ ️️Creep Score

• The number of unsolved homicides and the density of unsolved homicides, as compiled by Project Cold Case.
• The density of abandoned locations, by UER.
• UFO sightings and density of UFO sightings, from The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) Reports

Boo Score

• The number and density of notable ghost towns (defined as a village, town, or city that has lost or experienced a steep decline in its residents but still features remnants of its buildings), as compiled on Wikipedia.
• The number and density of ghost sightings per capita as reported to GhostsOfAmerica.com, a crowd-sourced supernatural sighting forum.

All state population data is based on the most recent estimates from the census.

Detailed ranking for all category scores: