Ghost sightings recorded in Texas over the past 50 years numbered 7,099, the highest number of spooky reports among the 50 states, according to a study by the online poker community CardsChat.
Based on the data provided by CardsChat, the odds of running into a real apparition in Texas – as opposed to the Halloween-costumed variety – is 4,152 to one. In contrast, Maine residents have the best odds of seeing a spirit at 1,824 to one, the study found.
The study also provides specific locales of ghostly encounters over the past half century. Among them is the site of unexplained 2006 events in Fredericksburg, where homes had been built on a settlers’ cemetery. Residents reported the sounds of crying babies and the appearance of pioneers roaming hallways in the homes, CardsChat reported.
“In 2006, as they were building the Dallas North Parkway just east of the area, several bodies were uncovered in unmarked graves,” the website reported. “Could this be connected?”
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State-by-State Ghost-Sighting Statistics
| Rank | State | Number of Ghost Sightings, 1972 to 2021 | State Population | Odds of Seeing a Ghost |
| 1 | Texas | 7,099 | 29,472,295 | 4,152 to 1 |
| 2 | California | 6,558 | 39,937,489 | 6,090 to 1 |
| 3 | Ohio | 2,776 | 11,747,694 | 4,232 to 1 |
| 4 | Michigan | 2,576 | 10,045,029 | 3,899 to 1 |
| 5 | Illinois | 2,398 | 12,659,682 | 5,769 to 1 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 2,138 | 12,820,878 | 5,997 to 1 |
| 7 | New York | 2,044 | 19,440,469 | 99,511 to 1 |
| 8 | Indiana | 2,032 | 6,745,354 | 3,320 to 1 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 1,835 | 3,954,821 | 2,155 to 1 |
| 10 | Virginia | 1,787 | 8,626,207 | 4,827 to 1 |
| 11 | Florida | 1,697 | 21,992,985 | 12,960 to 1 |
| 12 | Georgia | 1,683 | 10,736,059 | 6,379 to 1 |
| 13 | Missouri | 1,558 | 6,169,270 | 3,960 to 1 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 1,475 | 10,611,862 | 7,194 to 1 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 1,474 | 5,851,754 | 3,970 to 1 |
| 16 | Massachusetts | 1,328 | 6,976,597 | 5,253 to 1 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 1,272 | 6,897,576 | 5,423 to 1 |
| 18 | Washington | 1,235 | 7,797,095 | 6,313 to 1 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 1,185 | 4,499,692 | 3,797 to 1 |
| 20 | Alabama | 1,157 | 4,908,621 | 4,243 to 1 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 1,058 | 5,700,671 | 5,388 to 1 |
| 22 | New Jersey | 1,033 | 8,936,574 | 8,651 to 1 |
| 23 | Oregon | 1,011 | 4,301,089 | 4,254 to 1 |
| 24 | Iowa | 984 | 3,179,849 | 3,232 to 1 |
| 25 | Kansas | 908 | 2,910,357 | 3,205 to 1 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 849 | 5,210,095 | 6,137 to 1 |
| 27 | Maryland | 815 | 6,083,116 | 7,464 to 1 |
| 28 | Colorado | 797 | 5,845,526 | 7,334 to 1 |
| 29 | Arkansas | 785 | 3,038,999 | 3,871 to 1 |
| 30 | Maine | 738 | 1,345,790 | 1,824 to 1 |
| 31 | Arizona | 730 | 7,378,494 | 10,108 to 1 |
| 32 | Louisiana | 677 | 4,645,184 | 6,861 to 1 |
| 33 | New Mexico | 586 | 2,096,640 | 3,578 to 1 |
| 34 | Mississippi | 573 | 2,989,260 | 5,217 to 1 |
| 35 | West Virginia | 573 | 1,778,070 | 3,103 to 1 |
| 36 | Utah | 565 | 3,282,115 | 5,809 to 1 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 548 | 1,952,570 | 3,563 to 1 |
| 38 | Idaho | 508 | 1,826,156 | 3,595 to 1 |
| 39 | Connecticut | 452 | 3,563,077 | 7,883 to 1 |
| 40 | South Dakota | 409 | 903,027 | 2,208 to 1 |
| 41 | North Dakota | 400 | 761,723 | 1,904 to 1 |
| 42 | Montana | 368 | 1,086,759 | 2,953 to 1 |
| 43 | Nevada | 349 | 3,139,658 | 8,996 to 1 |
| 44 | New Hampshire | 261 | 1,371,246 | 5,254 to 1 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 239 | 1,056,161 | 4,419 to 1 |
| 46 | Alaska | 228 | 734,002 | 3,219 to 1 |
| 47 | Vermont | 224 | 628,061 | 2,804 to 1 |
| 48 | Wyoming | 201 | 567,025 | 2,821 to 1 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 182 | 1,412,687 | 7,762 to 1 |
| 50 | Delaware | 124 | 982,895 | 7,927 to 1 |