Salem Halloween 2026: Witch City Sees 1.6 Million October Vistors, Up 12 Percent

SALEM, MA — Salem saw nearly 1.6 million out-of-town visitors descend upon the Witch City during October — an increase of nearly 12 percent from 2025 — including nearly 200,000 people who traveled to the city on Halloween day and night.

Destination Salem Director Ashley Judge said, according to Pacer.ai, the city saw 170,000 more unique visitors make a total of 2.9 million visits, with more than a million multiple visits over the course of the month.

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Judge allowed that a five-weekend October and Saturday Halloween may have helped bolster the numbers. But the overall pattern is clear, with visitation on Halloween itself up 80,000 — or 93.7 percent — from 2019, when the holiday was on a Thursday.

Judge said the holiday season is also getting longer, with visits during what she called "Septober" up 5 percent when combining September and October, to a total of nearly 4.7 million visits from 2.2 million unique visitors.

Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said the holiday itself was relatively quiet despite the massive crowds with four people taken into protective and no arrests.

"This is a testament to the extensive preparations with which Salem marks every October," Chief Miller said. "It also reflects the respectful behavior of our visitors and we are grateful."

Judge said the goal of Destination Salem is not necessarily to break records every year, but to share visitation trends to help businesses, public officials and police understand trends.

"Our goal is tourism that supports Salem's local economy, benefits our businesses, and respects the quality of life of the people who call Salem home," she said. "Salem's appeal is extraordinary, but so is the work required to welcome the world into a city of approximately 45,000 residents.

"Thank you to the residents, businesses, city employees, public safety personnel, and community partners who make it possible."

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