Most of us know we own too much stuff. We feel the weight and burden of our clutter. We tire of cleaning and managing and organizing. Our toy rooms are messy, our drawers don’t close, and our closets are filled from top to bottom. The evidence of clutter is all around us.
Today, data is constantly being collected about our homes, our shopping habits, and our spending. The research is confirming our observation: we own too much stuff. And it is robbing us of life.
Here are 21 surprising statistics about our clutter that help us understand how big of a problem our accumulation has actually become.
1. There are 300,000 items in the average American home (LA Times).
2. The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years (NPR).
3. And still, 1 out of every 10 Americans rent offsite storage—the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades. (New York Times Magazine).
4. While 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle. (U.S. Department of Energy).
5. The United States has upward of 50,000 storage facilities, more than five times the number of Starbucks. Currently, there is 7.3 square feet of self storage space for every man, woman and child in the nation. Thus, it is physically possible that every American could stand—all at the same time—under the total canopy of self storage roofing (SSA).
6. British research found that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily (The Telegraph).
7. 3.1% of the world’s children live in America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally (UCLA).
8. The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine (Forbes).
9. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually (Forbes).
10. While the average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year (Huffington Post).
11. Nearly half of American households don’t save any money (Business Insider).
12. But our homes have more television sets than people. And those television sets are turned on for more than a third of the day—eight hours, 14 minutes (USA Today).
13. Some reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago (The Story of Stuff).
14. Currently, the 12 percent of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe account for 60 percent of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2 percent (Worldwatch Institute).
15. Americans donate 1.9% of their income to charitable causes (NCCS/IRS). While 6 billion people worldwide live on less than $13,000/year (National Geographic).
16. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education (Psychology Today).
17. Shopping malls outnumber high schools. And 93% of teenage girls rank shopping as their favorite pastime (Affluenza).
18. Women will spend more than eight years of their lives shopping (The Daily Mail).
19. Over the course of our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items.The research found we lose up to nine items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime. Phones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork top the list (The Daily Mail).
20. Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually on nonessential goods—in other words, items they do not need (The Wall Street Journal).
21. The $8 billion home organization industry has more than doubled in size since the early 2000’s—growing at a staggering rate of 10% each year (Uppercase, note: link no longer available).
The numbers paint a jarring picture of excessive consumption and unnecessary accumulation. Clearly, many of us have far too much stuff.
Fortunately, the solution is not difficult. The invitation to own less is an invitation to freedom, intentionality, and passion. And it can be discovered at your nearest drop-off center.
Further reading:
For more helpful tips, here’s an article filled with tips on how to declutter your home. You can also use our Decluttering Checklist to keep yourself organized and focused.
For a complete lifestyle change that will prevent clutter from coming back into your life, learn more about simple living from this article on minimalism.
Tamara Swerline says
Reminds of the this poem: Making A Man
Hurry the baby as fast as you can,
Hurry him, worry him, make him a man.
Off with his baby clothes, get him in pants,
Feed him on brain foods and make him advance.
Hustle him, soon as he’s able to walk,
Into a grammar school; cram him with talk.
Fill his poor head full of figures and facts,
Keep on a-jamming them in till it cracks.
Once boys grew up at a rational rate,
Now we develop a man while you wait,
Rush him through college, compel him to grab,
Of every known subject a dip and a dab.
Get him in business and after the cash
All by the time he can grow a mustache.
Let him forget he was ever a boy,
Make gold his god and its jungle his joy,
Keep him a-hustling and clear out of breath,
Until he wins—nervous prostration and death.
by Nixon Waterman
Brooke says
Wow! These statistics are just plain sad. I’m still on my journey to minimalism and it’s tough but I love it! It’s so freeing!
Donna says
The 300,000 figure is stunning. Ouch!
My son has probably 20,000 legos, and it’s all he plays with. Does that count as 1 toy or 20,000? :)
Hans Cummings says
I wouldn’t have to store my lawn care equipment in my garage bay if our draconian home owner’s association would allow us to have a shed or something in which I could store it. I have enough property for such a building, but they dictate what we can and cannot build, what kind of fence we have, and probably even how high our grass is supposed to be.
But that’s another topic altogether….
Sarah M says
Wow. Truly fascinating statistics. I’m glad I spend less than $300 on clothes for myself in a year. I had a capsule wardrobe (i.e. uniform) before I’d ever heard the phrase…it’s just so easy!
Sarah M
J Weber says
I’m surprise that #8 is only 30. I would have thought at least twice that number.
My guess is that of the 300,000 items in our homes, most are things accumulated and then forgotten. I’m currently working on the bathroom. Last night we found six curling irons to add to the giveaway pile. One of them even had a European plug, which supports my theory that there is a wormhole in my house that sucks in all these objects. Just kidding, of course, but I seriously have no idea where it came from.
Florida Life Minimalist says
Very disturbing statistics. I agree that with the right mindset, the solution is simple.
Linda@Creekside says
Yeah, the stats SHOUT truth, Josh. I’ve unloaded hundreds of things in the last month as we prepare to move into the next season.
Literally.
We’re free-er and light-er as we go … and the resale shop, library, and auction house are rubbing their hands with glee.
;-}
Michael Boyink says
And yet our culture is fixated on vehicles — buying a new car that gets better fuel mileage is the best way to save the planet.
Looking around our downsized life I’m still curious to count the number of things we have.
More than we need, I’m sure.
Jess Townes says
#4 – guilty. I know the garage is where you started your journey, but in my first months-long sweep of my home/possessions, it is my last stop. It has served as our outbox of things we are donating/giving away, a sort of last stop before departure and I’m only now getting the very last of it out of here. Our garage doesn’t hold two cars easily because of a narrow side-entry, but I sure am looking forward to getting at least one of them back in there!
Mike Raaymakers says
I wouldn’t say “guilty,” then, since you’re using it for good. :)
Vicki Cook says
Same here. I work through my house back to front and top to bottom – so the garage is the last place things go before they go out the door. My “project” this spring is to work in the garage at least once a week, usually on Wednesday because it is the day before garbage day. I throw out at least one trash can and donate a trunk full of stuff each week. I’m actually starting to see space in my garage again!
Katie says
Wow, you own a lot of stuff! Must feel good to clean out?!
Vicki Cook says
Katie – Yes. 50 years of my stuff, 50 years of my husband’s stuff, and 20 years of my daughter’s stuff really adds up. But I’ve been working on moving out anything that I don’t need, want or use, and my home is much better for it!
Julie says
Way to go Vicki! Very Inspiring:-)
Jess Townes says
Great job Vicki!
Nate says
My wife and I bought a 2-car garage home and were determined to fit both cars in it, which we do, though it sometimes is a tight squeeze. I find it interesting that most of us that store stuff in our garage, put it in garbage bags first. Maybe that should be telling us something!