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Made in America: How Stranger Things' Electrified the US Economy
Entertainment
02 December 2025
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One night in a small Indiana town that changed lives forever. Nearly 10 years of a critically acclaimed and fan-favorite series that turned the world upside down.
Now that Stranger Things has kicked off the first volume of its epic fifth and final season, which had the biggest premiere week for an English-language show on the Netflix Global Top 10 with 59.6M views, we wanted to take one last bike ride down memory lane to look back at the show's impact across America.
While the series may take place largely in the (formerly) sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana, the show contributed to the economy of every single US state. Since production on Season 1 began in 2015, the series has created over 8,000 production jobs across the US and contributed over $1.4B to the US GDP.
Over the course of five seasons and 42 heart-stopping episodes, we hired over 3,800 vendors headquartered in nearly every state to provide goods and services for production. Some of these businesses have even become popular fan destinations since the show's 2016 debut, like Bradleys Olde Tavern in Jackson, Georgia, which served as a stand-in for the Hawk Theater in downtown Hawkins.
Bradleys Olde Tavern in Jackson, Georgia, which served as the stand-in for the Hawkins movie theater. (Courtesy of Netflix)
Other key Georgia locations that have popped up on camera include Tucker Recreation Center (which doubled for Hawkins Elementary), Madison Hospital (aka Hawkins Hospital), Emory at Briarcliff (Hawkins Lab), Dominick's (Enzo's) and Stone Mountain Park (Castle Byers) as well as Creel House, Tara Movie Theater and Moondogs City Bar.
While the production of Stranger Things generated economic benefits in every state, the economic impact was highest in Georgia, where the series was primarily filmed, generating over $650M for the state's GDP. Georgia was also home to more than 2,000 vendors that pitched in during production. California - which served as the backdrop for Lenora Hills, Eleven's home away from home - had the second-highest state-level contribution with over $500M contributed to the Golden State's GDP.
Stars David Harbour, Winona Ryder and Millie Bobby Brown on the set of Stranger Things 5' in Georgia with series creators and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer. (Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix 2024)
During production on the fifth and final season, Stranger Things also embraced clean mobile power, reducing Season 5's overall diesel generator fuel usage by 43%. The show was also our first production to create a renewable energy microgrid at base camp using clean solar technology, which we've since rolled out to other productions such as Ransom Canyon. Additionally, Stranger Things leveraged electric grid tie-ins, solar-powered trailers, battery-generator hybrids and a wide range of mobile batteries.
The reaction to the first four episodes of Season 5, which debuted on November 26, has been similarly electric. In addition to opening at #1 on the Netflix Global Top 10, Season 5 reached the Top 10 in all 93 countries tracked and #1 in 90 countries. Fans spread the love beyond the latest episodes, sending every other season back into the Top 10 for the week of November 24 and making Stranger Things the only English show to have five seasons in the Top 10. Seasons 1-4 now have over 1.2B views globally since the show's 2016 debut.
Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 is streaming now - only on Netflix. Volume 2 debuts on Christmas Day at 5pm PT, followed by the series finale on New Year's Eve at 5pm PT. Are you ready to say goodbye?
ABOUT STRANGER THINGS:
Created by The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things debuted in 2016 and quickly became one of Netflix's most popular television series ever, with its fourth season alone amassing over 140.7M views globally. Rooted in 80s nostalgia, it boosted Kate Bush's track Running Up That Hill into the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in its 38-year history. The series has also garnered over 70 awards worldwide including Emmys and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and has been nominated for over 230 awards. The highly anticipated fifth and final season will release in three volumes at 5pm PT: four episodes on November 26, three episodes on Christmas and the finale on New Year's Eve. The beloved franchise offers fans various ways to engage with the cultural phenomenon year-round, including: the Olivier and Tony-award winning stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow; a collection of books takes fans deeper into the story; the touring Stranger Things: The Experience which recently expanded to Brazil and Australia; Stranger Things: Escape the Dark; a brand new immersive experience set to open at Netflix House later this year; Stranger Things: Tales From 85, an animated series that will take fans back to Hawkins in 2026; fans celebrate November 6 - the day Will Byers went missing - as Stranger Things Day;' and they can follow @StrangerThings.Things for fun ways to bring the world into their everyday lives.
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