Illinois Loves Easter Candy More Than Most Of America And Here’s The Favorite

Christmas, Valentine's Day, and of course, Easter.

When you think of the best Easter candy that's currently all over the shelves, what comes to mind? Cadbury Mini Eggs are my first thought. Or it's the giant chocolate bunnies, hollow or not, that the kids will never finish. Peeps (which are delightful, back off), Reese's eggs, really the list goes on.

Innerbody Research looked at not only which states are keeping the Easter candy business thriving, but also every state's favorite Easter candy to get off the shelves.

The numbers are based on Google Trends across all 50 states, focusing on the month leading up to Easter, specifically stats from last year.

Numbers from Easter season last year show Illinois ranks 6th in highest overall Easter candy interest. That's a lot of Peeps and chocolate bunnies.

Illinois isn't the only Great Lakes state in the top 10: Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin join them there. Innerbody says there's actually some geographic history behind this. Midwest's stronghold in candy manufacturing (particularly the Chicago area) plays a part in that.

The Most Loved

Nationally, the top 5 Easter candies are: Peeps, Chocolate bunnies, Jelly Bellys, Swedish Fish, and Reese's eggs. The least favorite 5 are: Cadbury Creme Eggs (really??), Jolly Rancher gummies, Jordan Almonds, Easter M&Ms, and Pez.

Illinois' favorite Easter candy are Reese's (do they kind of own every candy holiday market by now?). Iowa's favorite are Swedish Fish (we can do better, come on). Minnesota and Wisconsin prefer Starbursts to all other Easter candies. Missouri loves Whoppers and Indiana likes the national favorite, Peeps.