Ovens are a near-universal part of U.S. household cooking, but the available measures cover more than oven-only behavior. The following statistics distinguish ranges, separate wall ovens, broader cooking patterns, fuel, household context, and residential cooking fires by geography and measurement period.
Key Oven Statistics
The most useful oven statistics span ownership, use, configuration, fuel, and safety:
- In 2020, 89% of U.S. households had a range, defined as a cooktop attached to an oven.
- In 2020, 79% of U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal at home daily.
- In 2015, 108.0 million U.S. housing units had a stove with an oven and cooktop.
- In 2015, 10.2 million U.S. housing units did not have a stove with an oven and cooktop.
- In 2015, 105.8 million U.S. housing units had exactly one stove.
- In 2015, 2.2 million U.S. housing units had two or more stoves.
- In 2020, range ovens averaged 3 uses per week in U.S. range households.
- In 2020, range cooktops averaged 8 uses per week in U.S. range households.
- In 2015, 38.1 million U.S. housing units cooked hot meals twice daily.
- In 2015, 18.2 million U.S. housing units cooked hot meals three or more times daily.
- In 2015, 13.9 million U.S. housing units had a separate wall oven.
- In 2015, 104.4 million U.S. housing units lacked a separate wall oven.
- In 2015, 11.9 million U.S. housing units primarily used electricity for a separate wall oven.
- In 2020, 38% of U.S. households used natural gas for cooking.
- In 2020, 70% of California households used natural gas for cooking.
- In 2015, electricity was the most-used stove fuel in 66.4 million U.S. housing units.
- In 2020, 88% of Washington households prepared a hot meal at home daily.
- In 2023, 167,800 residential cooking fires were estimated in U.S. residential buildings.
- From 2014 to 2023, USFA reported an 11% decrease in residential cooking fires.
- From 2014 to 2023, USFA reported a 49% decrease in residential cooking-fire deaths.
Contents
- Key Oven Statistics
- Oven Ownership and Household Cooking Data
- Range-Oven Use and Cooking Frequency
- Separate Wall-Oven Adoption and Household Configuration
- Oven Fuel and Cooking-Energy Statistics
- Geographic and Household Cooking Trends
- Residential Cooking-Fire and Loss Statistics
Oven Ownership and Household Cooking Data
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey reported that 89% of U.S. households had a range. In this measure, a range is a combined appliance with a cooktop and oven, so it is not the same as ownership of a standalone oven.
The same EIA source found that 79% of U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal at home daily in 2020. That is a household cooking measure, not a direct count of oven use, because hot meals can be prepared with other appliances or methods. EIA, “In 2020, most U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal a day at home”
The 2015 EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey provides a housing-unit view of combined stoves:
| Combined stove and oven measure | U.S. housing units, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Stove with oven and cooktop | 108.0 million |
| No such stove | 10.2 million |
| Exactly one stove | 105.8 million |
| Two or more stoves | 2.2 million |
These are RECS survey estimates for housing units. A housing unit without the specified stove may still have another cooking appliance, and the categories describe combined oven-cooktop stoves rather than every possible oven configuration. EIA, “Table HC3.4 Appliances in U.S. homes by number of household members, 2015”
Range-Oven Use and Cooking Frequency
In 2020, range households reported an average of 3 range-oven uses per week, compared with 8 uses per week for range cooktops. The comparison describes self-reported use among U.S. range households and should not be read as a measure of all household cooking or of oven ownership alone.
The 2015 housing-unit data also show how often households prepared hot meals, which is related to cooking demand but is not an oven-use count:
| Hot-meal frequency | U.S. housing units, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Once daily | 36.1 million |
| Twice daily | 38.1 million |
| Three or more times daily | 18.2 million |
| A few times each week | 19.9 million |
The largest listed group cooked hot meals twice daily, while 19.9 million housing units reported cooking hot meals a few times each week. These figures describe meal preparation frequency rather than the number of baking, roasting, broiling, or reheating cycles. EIA, “In 2020, most U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal a day at home” EIA, “Table HC3.4 Appliances in U.S. homes by number of household members, 2015”
Separate Wall-Oven Adoption and Household Configuration
Separate wall ovens were much less common than combined range appliances in the 2015 EIA housing-unit data. A total of 13.9 million U.S. housing units had a separate wall oven, while 104.4 million lacked one; “lacked” refers specifically to a separate wall oven and does not mean the home lacked an oven entirely.
Among housing units with separate wall ovens, the configuration was distributed as follows:
- 9.9 million U.S. housing units had one separate wall oven in 2015.
- 4.0 million U.S. housing units had two or more separate wall ovens in 2015.
- 11.9 million U.S. housing units primarily used electricity for a separate wall oven in 2015.
- 1.8 million U.S. housing units primarily used natural gas for a separate wall oven in 2015.
The separate wall-oven fuel figures identify the most-used fuel for that appliance category. They should not be substituted for total household cooking fuel, combined-stove fuel, or the fuel used by every oven in a multiple-appliance home. EIA, “Table HC3.4 Appliances in U.S. homes by number of household members, 2015”
Oven Fuel and Cooking-Energy Statistics
Fuel statistics vary according to what is being measured. In 2020, 38% of U.S. households used natural gas for cooking broadly, while the 2015 stove measure counts the most-used fuel for a combined stove.
| Fuel measure | Population and period | Reported amount |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas for cooking | U.S. households, 2020 | 38% |
| Electricity as most-used stove fuel | U.S. housing units, 2015 | 66.4 million |
| Natural gas as most-used stove fuel | U.S. housing units, 2015 | 35.2 million |
| Propane as most-used stove fuel | U.S. housing units, 2015 | 5.5 million |
State-level natural-gas cooking shares were higher than the national household figure in the supplied 2020 observations: 70% in California and 69% in New Jersey. These are cooking-wide household measures, not oven-only fuel shares. EIA, “In 2020, most U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal a day at home” EIA, “Table HC3.4 Appliances in U.S. homes by number of household members, 2015”
The U.S. Department of Energy also publishes a commercial benchmark for gas convection ovens. It assumes 12 operating hours per day, 365 operating days per year, and 85 pounds of food cooked per day in a federal-facility benchmark; these are commercial assumptions, not measured residential use or household cost. DOE, “Purchasing Energy-Efficient Commercial Ovens”
Geographic and Household Cooking Trends
The 2020 EIA household-cooking observations show variation across states. Washington households had an 88% rate for preparing at least one hot meal at home daily, compared with 86% in Maine and 79% for the U.S. household measure.
| Geography | Households preparing at least one hot meal at home daily | Period |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 79% | 2020 |
| Washington | 88% | 2020 |
| Maine | 86% | 2020 |
The measure does not identify whether an oven was used, and the state observations should be interpreted as household cooking participation rather than direct oven-adoption rates. EIA, “In 2020, most U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal a day at home”
Household size provides additional context for interpreting appliance counts and meal preparation. In 2015, one-person households represented 28.7 million U.S. housing units, two-person households represented 42.7 million, and households with five or more members represented 11.8 million.
These figures are household-size context, not evidence that a particular household size causes higher oven use. They help define the population behind the EIA housing-unit tables. EIA, “Table HC3.4 Appliances in U.S. homes by number of household members, 2015”
Residential Cooking-Fire and Loss Statistics
The U.S. Fire Administration’s Residential Building Cooking Fire Trends report covers cooking fires broadly, not fires specifically caused by ovens. It estimated 167,800 residential cooking fires in 2023, following 178,600 in 2022 and 170,000 in 2021.
| Year | Estimated residential cooking fires | Geography and setting |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 189,800 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2015 | 193,400 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2016 | 183,300 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2017 | 191,800 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2018 | 192,700 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2019 | 178,100 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2020 | 192,600 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2021 | 170,000 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2022 | 178,600 | U.S. residential buildings |
| 2023 | 167,800 | U.S. residential buildings |
USFA reports an 11% decrease in residential cooking fires from 2014 to 2023. Because the series is for cooking fires generally, it should not be used to estimate oven-specific incident rates. USFA, “Residential Building Cooking Fire Trends (2014-2023)”
The same USFA series reports changes in outcomes between 2014 and 2023:
- Cooking-fire deaths were estimated at 250 in 2014 and 125 in 2023; USFA reports a 49% decrease.
- Cooking-fire injuries were estimated at 4,125 in 2014 and 2,500 in 2023; USFA reports a 37% decrease.
- Cooking-fire dollar loss was estimated at $703.2 million in 2014 and $572.7 million in 2023, both in constant 2023 dollars; USFA reports a 15% decrease.
These outcomes are estimates for residential building cooking fires and include cooking-related incidents beyond ovens. The dollar-loss figures are expressed in constant 2023 dollars, which makes the reported comparison a real-dollar comparison within the USFA series. USFA, “Residential Building Cooking Fire Trends (2014-2023)”