The Spookiest City in Every U.S. State, Mapped

Every city has its ghosts, if you believe in them. Yet which city in each U.S. state is the most haunted of them all? 

A new study from Nomad eSim crunched the data and ranked the most haunted city in every U.S. state. They determined the results based on the number of haunted locations, ghost tours, and Google searches related to paranormal topics in each city. Here’s what they came up with.

The most haunted cities in the U.S.

Many of the cities highlighted on the map above are renowned hotspots of paranormal activity. The study also ranked the top ten spookiest cities in the U.S. overall, and New Orleans, Louisiana, came in first on that list. The city offers 147 ghost tours and has 72 haunted locations, and is well-known for its historic cemeteries, its history of voodoo, and similar themes. 

Up next was Savannah, Georgia, which boasts 71 ghost tours and 68 haunted locations. The major metropolises of New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California came in third and fourth. NYC is well-known for its large concentration of haunted hotels, bars, and theaters, while Los Angeles has seen its fair share of ghostly activity and is known for famous crimes such as the Black Dahlia murder and a number of gruesome deaths at the Cecil Hotel, among others.

Not every city featured on the above map made the top 10 in the nation, of course. Historic cities like Deadwood, South Dakota and Cheyenne, Wyoming were also highlighted. Salem claimed the top spot in Massachusetts, as did the city of York in Maine—another state well-known for its high concentration of paranormal activity.

Predictably, the largest cities in each state often won out, undoubtedly due to higher levels of tourism and, consequently, higher numbers of ghost tours, paranormal search activity, and the like. 

Here’s what the study found for the top 10 most haunted cities in the U.S.:

1. New Orleans
2. Savannah
3. New York City
4. Los Angeles
5. Gettysburg
6. Chicago
7. San Antonio
8. Salem
9. St. Augustine
10. Pittsburgh
11. Orlando

The spookiest states in the U.S.

The study used the same methodology to rank the top 10 spookiest states in America. Massachusetts came in first, undoubtedly bolstered by Salem and the historic witch trials that took place there—though Salem is far from the only ghostly locale in this state. California was next, followed by Texas, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Georgia. 

Of course, there is no definitive way to rank the most haunted states or cities in the U.S. For all we know, ghosts (should they exist!) may cluster most abundantly in abandoned mansions and factories, small towns, and dense forests where ghost tours never tread. 

Still, here are the top 10 most haunted states in the U.S., according to this particular dataset:

1. Massachusetts
2. California
3. Texas
4. Pennsylvania
5. Kentucky
6. Georgia
7. Illinois
8. Florida
9. New York
10. Tennessee