Household cleaning spending is measured differently across consumer surveys, price indexes and labor statistics. In the United States, the broad BLS housekeeping-supplies category averaged $877 per consumer unit in 2024, while the narrower laundry-and-cleaning-products measure averaged $209 among non-veteran consumer units.
Key Household Cleaning Spending Statistics
The most quotable household cleaning spending statistics are:
- In 2024, $877 was the average annual housekeeping-supplies spending per consumer unit in the United States.
- In 2024, housekeeping supplies represented 1.1% of total annual consumer-unit spending in the United States.
- From 2023 to 2024, average housekeeping-supplies spending rose 7.2% among U.S. consumer units.
- In 2024, the average U.S. consumer unit spent $209 on laundry and cleaning products among non-veteran consumer units.
- In 2024, veteran consumer units averaged $231 on laundry and cleaning products in the United States.
- In 2024, active-duty military consumer units averaged $1,077 on housekeeping supplies in the United States.
- In December 2024, household cleaning products represented 0.300% of the U.S. city-average CPI basket.
- In December 2024, housekeeping supplies as a whole represented 0.806% of the U.S. city-average CPI basket.
- In December 2024, domestic services represented 0.312% of the U.S. city-average CPI basket.
- In the 2024 annual average, 1.413 million people were employed as maids and housekeeping cleaners in the United States.
- In the 2024 annual average, women represented 87.7% of U.S. maids and housekeeping cleaners.
- In the 2024 annual average, the unemployment rate shown for U.S. maids and housekeeping cleaners was 4.6%.
- In 2024, average household-operations spending was $1,921 per U.S. consumer unit.
- In 2024, household operations represented 2.4% of total U.S. consumer-unit spending.
- From 2021 to 2024, average household-furnishings-and-equipment spending fell from $2,701 to $2,414 per U.S. consumer unit.
- In 2024, the average U.S. consumer unit contained 2.4 people and 1.3 earners.
- In 2024, homeowners made up 65% of U.S. consumer units.
Contents
- Household cleaning spending scale and annual trends
- Household cleaning products in the consumer budget
- Laundry and cleaning product costs by consumer-unit group
- Cleaning services and housekeeping labor data
- Household cleaning prices and CPI basket weights
- Equipment, operations and waste-related context
Household Cleaning Spending Scale and Annual Trends
The Consumer Expenditure Survey reports population means for BLS consumer units, which are spending units and are not necessarily single households. The housekeeping-supplies category is broader than cleaning products alone: it includes laundry and cleaning products, paper products and other household products.
| Year | Average housekeeping-supplies spending | Share of total spending |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $803 per consumer unit | 1.2% |
| 2022 | $787 per consumer unit | 1.1% |
| 2023 | $818 per consumer unit | 1.1% |
| 2024 | $877 per consumer unit | 1.1% |
Source: Consumer expenditures in 2024, United States, all consumer units.
The series shows a 2.0% decline from 2021 to 2022, followed by a 3.9% nominal increase from 2022 to 2023 and a 7.2% nominal increase from 2023 to 2024. These changes are reported spending movements and are not inflation-adjusted.
In 2024, average household-operations spending was $1,921 per consumer unit, and the category declined 3.2% from 2023 to 2024. Household operations is a broad BLS grouping that includes personal and other household expenses, so it should not be treated as a cleaning-only total.
Household Cleaning Products in the Consumer Budget
The 2024 consumer-unit benchmark helps put the spending measures in context: average annual expenditures were $78,535, while income before taxes was $104,207. Income before taxes is not disposable income, and the expenditure figure is the relevant denominator for the reported budget share.
The BLS share for housekeeping supplies was 1.1% of total annual consumer-unit spending in 2024, compared with 1.2% in 2021 and 1.1% in both 2022 and 2023. Because the category is broad, these percentages describe household supplies rather than a pure measure of cleaning-product purchases.
The CPI uses a different concept. Its relative-importance values are expenditure weights for constructing the price index for the U.S. city average, not average household spending amounts.
Laundry and Cleaning Product Costs by Consumer-Unit Group
A 2024 BLS table comparing military-status groups separates the narrower laundry-and-cleaning-products measure from the broader housekeeping-supplies category.
| Consumer-unit group | Laundry and cleaning products | Housekeeping supplies |
|---|---|---|
| Non-veteran | $209 | — |
| Veteran | $231 | $1,028 |
| Active-duty military | $230 | $1,077 |
| Retired-military | $226 | $793 |
| Other military status | $206 | $857 |
All figures are 2024 U.S. dollars per consumer unit. The non-veteran laundry-and-cleaning-products figure is shown in the source comparison, while the supplied group values for the broader housekeeping-supplies measure are reported for the military-status groups.
The category definitions matter more than small differences between groups. Laundry and cleaning products are narrower than housekeeping supplies, and “other household expenses” is broader still: veteran consumer units averaged $1,654 in 2024, while active-duty military consumer units averaged $1,748.
Some detailed subgroup estimates are flagged in the source for caution, including the retired-military housekeeping-supplies estimate. Small-group estimates can be less precise, so these figures should not be used to infer a definitive ranking of household cleaning behavior.
Cleaning Services and Housekeeping Labor Data
Household cleaning spending can also connect to paid services, but the available occupation data measure the workforce rather than household purchases or the number of cleaning jobs. The Current Population Survey’s 2024 annual averages describe maids and housekeeping cleaners in the United States.
- Employment totaled 1.413 million people.
- Women represented 87.7% of occupation employment, while men represented 12.3%.
- The annual-average unemployment rate shown for the occupation was 4.6%.
- The median age shown for the occupation was 52.5 years.
Source: Household survey data, 2024 annual averages.
The same occupation table reports age-band employment counts of 35 thousand workers in the youngest listed age band, 331 thousand in the middle listed age band, 120 thousand in the second-oldest listed age band and 45 thousand in the oldest listed age band. The supplied figures retain the source table’s age-band framing rather than assigning labels that are not included here.
These labor statistics help describe the scale and composition of cleaning work, but they do not quantify what households paid for domestic services. The CPI’s domestic-services weight is a separate price-index measure.
Household Cleaning Prices and CPI Basket Weights
The December 2024 CPI relative-importance table provides a consistent set of expenditure weights for the U.S. city average. These values are not household-level spending averages and should not be combined with the Consumer Expenditure Survey means as though they measured the same thing.
| CPI component | December 2024 relative importance |
|---|---|
| Household cleaning products | 0.300% |
| Household paper products | 0.178% |
| Miscellaneous household products | 0.329% |
| Housekeeping supplies | 0.806% |
| Domestic services | 0.312% |
| Repair of household items | 0.172% |
| Household operations | 1.030% |
Source: Relative importance of components in the Consumer Price Indexes: U.S. city average, December 2024.
The CPI table also places adjacent household categories in the same measurement framework. Household furnishings and operations together represented 4.406% of the December 2024 CPI basket, while garbage and trash collection represented 0.341% and water and sewerage maintenance represented 0.738%.
Those adjacent values describe price-index weights, not cleaning participation, service use or product quantities. They are useful for understanding how cleaning-related prices sit inside the CPI basket, but they do not establish an average bill for a household.
Household Cleaning Spending Context: Equipment, Operations and Waste
Cleaning products are only one part of household upkeep. In the Consumer Expenditure Survey, average household-furnishings-and-equipment spending fell from $2,701 per consumer unit in 2021 to $2,414 in 2024, and the category declined 3.7% from 2023 to 2024.
The category is broad and includes furniture and equipment, not only vacuum cleaners or other cleaning appliances. The related December 2024 CPI weights were 0.214% for appliances, 0.068% for major appliances, 0.143% for other appliances and 0.059% for floor coverings.
Tools, hardware and supplies represented 0.240% of the December 2024 CPI basket. This is a broad household-supply proxy rather than a cleaning-spending total.
Household operations represented 2.6% of total consumer-unit spending in 2023 and 2.4% in 2024. The average consumer unit contained 2.4 people and 1.3 earners in 2024, and homeowners made up 65% of consumer units.
Source: Consumer expenditures in 2024.
Taken together, the measures show why “household cleaning spending” needs a definition before a number is quoted. Consumer Expenditure Survey means describe spending per consumer unit, CPI relative importance describes price-index weights for the U.S. city average, and CPS occupation figures describe the cleaning workforce.