63 Household Hygiene Statistics

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These household hygiene figures cover the measurement periods and populations identified in the available source material. Estimates, surveys and forecasts retain their reported scope.

Key Household Hygiene Statistics

The main findings are:

  • People age 15 and over spent an average of 1.99 hours per day on all household activities in 2025 (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+).
  • Men averaged 1.58 hours per day on all household activities, compared with 2.38 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+).
  • U.S. plastic containers and packaging generation was estimated at 14.53 million tons in 2018 (United States municipal solid waste).
  • In a Tianjin study, median total dust-mite allergen concentration was 524 ng/g in spring (Study seasonal measurements, published 2022; 399 inspected homes in Tianjin, China).
  • About 19% reported washing fruits, vegetables or other food products with bleach in the previous month (May 2020, previous month; United States opt-in Internet panel).
  • Current asthma was reported by 6.9% of participants in the NSLAH study population (1998–1999 survey; published 2007; United States, 2,456 participants living in 829 homes).
  • Interior cleaning averaged 0.33 hours per day, or about 20 minutes, among U.S. people age 15 and over (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+).
  • Men averaged 0.20 hours per day on interior cleaning, compared with 0.45 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+).
  • Plastic containers and packaging represented about 5.0% of total municipal solid-waste generation in 2018.
  • The Tianjin study median was 351 ng/g in summer (Study seasonal measurements, published 2022; 399 inspected homes in Tianjin, China).
  • About 18% reported using household cleaner to clean or disinfect hands or bare skin (May 2020, previous month; United States opt-in Internet panel).
  • Ever-diagnosed asthma was reported by 11.2% of participants in the NSLAH study population (1998–1999 survey; published 2007; United States, 2,456 participants living in 829 homes).
  • Food preparation and cleanup averaged 0.71 hours per day (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+).
  • Men averaged 0.07 hours per day on laundry, compared with 0.26 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+).
  • About 1.98 million tons of plastic containers and packaging were recycled in 2018.

Contents

Household hygiene statistics: how much time people spend cleaning

  • People age 15 and over spent an average of 1.99 hours per day on all household activities in 2025 (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Interior cleaning averaged 0.33 hours per day, or about 20 minutes, among U.S. people age 15 and over (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Food preparation and cleanup averaged 0.71 hours per day (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Laundry averaged 0.17 hours per day (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • People who did household activities spent 2.5 hours on them on an average day (2025 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • Eighty-seven percent of women and 75% of men spent some time on household activities on an average day (2025 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • Women who did household activities averaged 2.8 hours, compared with 2.1 hours for men (2025 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • People ages 15–19 spent 43 minutes per day on household activities, while people 65 and older spent 2.7 hours (2025 annual average; United States, civilian population by age). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • Among adults living with children under 18, unemployed adults spent 3.1 hours per day on household activities versus 1.7 hours for employed adults (2025 annual average; United States, adults living with children under 18). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • Housework occurred on 40% of weekend days versus 35% of weekdays (2025 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • Food preparation and cleanup occurred on 66% of weekdays versus 63% of weekend days (2025 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)

ATUS averages primary activities; household activities are broader than hygiene alone.

Average across the population, including people who did no interior cleaning that day.

Includes food preparation as well as cleanup, so it is not a pure cleaning measure.

Population average; does not measure loads, frequency or water use.

Conditional average for participants, and household activities include cooking, lawn care and management.

Self-reported time-use categories include non-hygiene tasks.

Conditional sex-specific averages; not a measure of cleaning quality.

Household activities include chores beyond hygiene and the figures are population averages.

Includes all household activities and is an association by employment status.

Housework is a BLS activity category, not a clinical hygiene standard.

Combines food preparation with cleanup.

Household cleaning and hygiene routines by sex, age and household context

  • Men averaged 1.58 hours per day on all household activities, compared with 2.38 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Men averaged 0.20 hours per day on interior cleaning, compared with 0.45 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Men averaged 0.07 hours per day on laundry, compared with 0.26 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Men averaged 0.51 hours per day on food preparation and cleanup, compared with 0.91 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Men averaged 0.26 hours per day on lawn and garden care, compared with 0.13 hours for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Interior maintenance, repair and decoration averaged 0.06 hours per day overall (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • Household management averaged 0.17 hours per day overall, 0.12 for men and 0.22 for women (2025 annual average; United States, persons age 15+). (Average hours per day spent…)
  • People who did food preparation and cleanup spent an average of 1.06 hours on it; the participant average was 0.86 hours for men and 1.20 hours for women (2024 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)
  • People who did housework spent an average of 1.68 hours on it; the participant average was 1.43 hours for men and 1.80 hours for women (2024 annual average; United States, civilian population age 15+). (American Time Use Survey Summary…)

Sex categories and household activities are as defined by ATUS; this is not a hygiene-only measure.

Population averages include nonparticipants.

Measures time, not number of loads or garments.

Combined activity category.

Outdoor care is included in household activities but is not indoor hygiene.

Maintenance and decoration are not cleaning outcomes.

Management includes planning and administration, not only hygiene.

The conditional averages are for participants and the category combines preparation with cleanup.

Housework is broader than hygiene and excludes people with zero reported housework that day.

Household hygiene waste statistics for paper, plastic, glass and metal packaging

EPA modeled packaging generation; it is not specifically household cleaning-product packaging.

Packaging category excludes single-service plates/cups and trash bags classified elsewhere.

EPA estimate based partly on industry data.

Packaging-wide rate, not a rate for household hygiene products alone.

EPA waste-management estimate.

Rounded wording on the EPA page; remainder reflects the category’s modeled management pathways.

PET bottles and jars are a packaging subset, not all household plastic.

Subset includes examples such as milk and water bottles; not cleaning-product bottles specifically.

All glass containers and packaging, not household-only hygiene containers.

Packaging estimate; does not isolate household collection.

Waste-management estimate.

Includes food cans and other steel packaging, not hygiene packaging alone.

Includes recovery from combustion-facility magnetic separation and nonresidential sources.

EPA packaging estimate.

Includes beverage cans and other aluminum packaging; recycling figure is for cans only.

Recycling data represent aluminum cans, not all aluminum packaging.

All paper and paperboard packaging.

EPA estimate across paper packaging categories.

Packaging-wide estimate.

Indoor dust, dampness and allergen statistics linked to household hygiene

  • In a Tianjin study, median total dust-mite allergen concentration was 524 ng/g in spring (Study seasonal measurements, published 2022; 399 inspected homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • The Tianjin study median was 351 ng/g in summer (Study seasonal measurements, published 2022; 399 inspected homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • The Tianjin study median was 1,022 ng/g in autumn (Study seasonal measurements, published 2022; 399 inspected homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • The Tianjin study median was 1,010 ng/g in winter (Study seasonal measurements, published 2022; 399 inspected homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • Indoor relative humidity was associated with dust-mite allergen concentration with reported relative risks from 1.18 to 1.34 (Study measurements, published 2022; 399 homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • Indoor dampness was associated with relative risks from 2.92 to 3.83 for the studied dust-mite allergen outcomes (Study measurements, published 2022; 399 homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • Changing quilt covers, bedsheets or pillowcases showed relative risks from 0.66 to 0.75 for the studied allergen outcomes (Study measurements, published 2022; 399 homes in Tianjin, China). (Role of ventilation and cleaning…)
  • In Mexican homes, 85% had at least one allergen in dust above the detection limit (Study field investigation, published 2015; Homes in Cuernavaca, Mexico). (Indoor determinants of dustborne allergens…)
  • In the same Mexican study, 52.1% of homes had high exposure defined as four or more allergens above detectable limits (Study field investigation, published 2015; Homes in Cuernavaca, Mexico). (Indoor determinants of dustborne allergens…)
  • A further 11.7% of homes had detectable levels for more than eight allergens (Study field investigation, published 2015; Homes in Cuernavaca, Mexico). (Indoor determinants of dustborne allergens…)

Study-home medians are not national prevalence estimates.

Study-home median; seasonal and local.

Association from an observational home study; not proof that humidity reduction alone causes the change.

Observational association; outcome and exposure definitions are study-specific.

The abstract reports association, not a randomized cleaning effect.

Study sample and detection-limit definition; not a national Mexican estimate.

High exposure is the study’s multi-allergen definition, not a universal hygiene threshold.

Study-specific allergen panel and detection limits.

Household cleaning and disinfection practices during COVID-19

Self-reported, cross-sectional and pandemic-specific; multiple responses were allowed.

Self-reported and not a causal estimate; multiple responses were allowed.

Self-reported and pandemic-specific; multiple responses were allowed.

Self-reported; exact percentage is read from the CDC figure and may be rounded.

Household hygiene statistics: dust exposure and respiratory outcomes

  • Current asthma was reported by 6.9% of participants in the NSLAH study population (1998–1999 survey; published 2007; United States, 2,456 participants living in 829 homes). (Dust Weight and Asthma Prevalence…)
  • Ever-diagnosed asthma was reported by 11.2% of participants in the NSLAH study population (1998–1999 survey; published 2007; United States, 2,456 participants living in 829 homes). (Dust Weight and Asthma Prevalence…)
  • Wheezing in the past year was reported by 15.9% of participants in the NSLAH study population (1998–1999 survey; published 2007; United States, 2,456 participants living in 829 homes). (Dust Weight and Asthma Prevalence…)

Cross-sectional survey outcome based on questionnaire reporting; not a causal effect of household cleaning or dust.

Cross-sectional questionnaire measure; ever-diagnosed asthma is not the same as current asthma or a household-hygiene prevalence rate.

Self-reported symptom measure from a cross-sectional study; it does not establish that dust or cleaning practices caused wheeze.

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