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.
Sandy says
Two years ago we moved to Mexico from Arizona. Before we moved we sold house, furniture, a car, golf cart, and various miscellaneous item we didn’t want or didn’t need. Was it hard to “let go” of “stuff” no not really. It’s just stuff. When we settled into our adopted country we gave away 10 huge garbage bags of clothes and shoes to people who had little. We love the freedom we have having less. Could never understand people whose homes are filled with junk, garage or basement filled with junk and never using the things they store. It is just “stuff” and material possessions that don’t mean anything. We are free to move and travel and stress free.
Jill says
I am thankful that we don’t have a garage, or a basement, or even much of an attic (our house is 100 years old). It has kept the clutter in “tripping over” range, so that when I finally woke up to minimalism, all the clutter was all right there, staring me in the face. And I couldn’t hide it away in the garage “for now”. Our staging area for donations in by the front door, so that there is no excuse for not taking it out to the car. My house is small, but it will be plenty big enough for the things that I love and use, when I am through.
Lori in Prescott says
What an interesting read all the comments are! Living in Arizona, most homes do not have a basement for storage. Living in an HOA, no outbuildings are allowed in our yard. Our yards are small. Our views are grand. This sets us up for a minimalist mindset. Less is more. More time. More space. More appreciation for better quality in goods we own, just less of them. I gained back my garage after another of my yearly garage sales and it gives me great satisfaction every time I drive in and out. Seeing my life with new eyes (being conscious) always results in getting rid of more THAT SOMEONE ELSE CAN USE. I ask myself in regards to holiday stuff: “How can it be a treasure if it’s hiding in a bin?” Ebay is a pain. Garage sales are work. Donating is easy. Every one is at there own pace in trying to simplify their life so they can enjoy their life more. No judgments! Just inspiration!
Caroline Starr Rose says
I have to confess we can only fit one car in the garage — but we’re storing a whole church on the other side! ;)
Seanmom says
You had me until you cited “The Story of Stuff.” That is a largely-unsourced propaganda piece currently being used to push a socialist agenda in the public schools. As an informational resource, it is a joke. Now I have to wonder if I can trust any of the statistical information in this piece, if you are willing to use such a biased source.
joshua becker says
Thanks for the comment Seanmom. I believe you will find the Story of Stuff document to be annotated and sourced.
Len says
I live in a small apartment. I went from a big home to a small apartment. It was hard but you quickly realize the things you really do not need. It feels a lot better to actually have less stuff that is useless.
Karen says
My husband and I have gradually downsized as the recession taught us how weighed down we were by all our stuff. We’ve gone from 1800 square feet to just over 900. Life has gotten easier and we spend far less time looking for things and wasting time cleaning. Our townhome comes with a one car garage that contains a small car a bicycle and an accumulation of things in containers that we don’t use but we (he) can’t seem to part with. Our home contains the essentials but still too many clothes, although we’ve definitely gotten better. One of our proudest accomplishments is our “furniture for the rest of of lives” – good quality, multipurpose and timeless designs that will never beg to be replaced. If there is one thing I would love to be rid of though it would be the TV.
SanLouisKid says
In the book, Material World: A Global Family Portrait, by Peter Menzel, they sent photographers around the world to find “average” families in several countries and they asked them to bring all their possessions out of the house and line it up for a photo. In some cases it took 15 minutes to setup. In others, like the United States, they didn’t even get it all out to the curb for the photo. It was just striking to see a photographic representation of personal property displayed this way.
Len says
Neat, I would like to see a link to that.
Brenda says
It is a lovely coffee table book. I’m sure your local library can find you a copy to borrow.
Pete Sisco says
Thanks for compiling this list! Brilliant.
I was a repeat offender. Ha! But for over 9 years my wife and I have lived from one 40-lb suitcase each and traveled the world. Minimalism is a form of freedom many people will never know. It’s glorious.
Thanks again.
Ithunn says
And it can be worse than that!
I’m sure I own more than 30 outfits – all neatly fitting in my made-to-measure walk-in wardrobe.
I do give away lots of stuff (a trunkful, recently), but I acquire (receive as gifts, accept drop-offs, find, rarely buy) more than I can get rid of.
Surely, the trick is to change one’s mindset. I know many people who don’t accept stuff that I gladly would. I have not gotten there, yet.
Judy says
I do the same…but it can be helpful too…it’s part of reduce-reuse-recycle. It saves you tons of money also when you don’t have to buy new things. Eventually, it gets donated. My sister gives me her hand-me-downs…and I am most appreciative.