Cookware sits at the center of everyday meal preparation, but available statistics often measure the wider cooking environment rather than pots and pans alone. The figures below therefore distinguish household cooking activity, appliance use, residential cooking-fire outcomes and food-safety behavior, with geography, dates and survey limitations stated explicitly.
Key Cookware Statistics
The most useful high-level figures are:
- In 2020, 79% of U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal at home each day.
- In 2020, 89% of U.S. households had a range, defined as a cooktop attached to an oven.
- U.S. households with a range reported an average of 8 cooktop uses per week in 2020.
- U.S. households with a range reported an average of 3 oven uses per week in 2020.
- About 38% of U.S. households used natural gas for cooking in 2020.
- 16% of U.S. households used an Instant Pot at least weekly in 2020.
- 13% of U.S. households used a rice cooker in 2020.
- 74% of Hawaii households used a rice cooker in 2020.
- U.S. residential buildings recorded an estimated 167,800 cooking fires in 2023.
- U.S. residential cooking fires caused an estimated 125 deaths in 2023.
- U.S. residential cooking fires caused an estimated 2,500 injuries in 2023.
- Residential cooking-fire property loss reached an estimated $572.7 million in constant 2023 dollars in 2023.
- USFA reported an 11% decrease in residential building cooking fires from 2014 to 2023.
- USFA reported a 49% decrease in residential cooking-fire deaths from 2014 to 2023.
- USFA reported a 37% decrease in residential cooking-fire injuries from 2014 to 2023.
- USFA reported a 15% decrease in residential cooking-fire dollar loss from 2014 to 2023.
- In October-November 2019, 76% of surveyed U.S. adults reported washing their hands with soap after touching raw meat.
- In October-November 2019, 62% of surveyed U.S. adults reported owning a food thermometer.
Contents
- Household cooking frequency and cookware context
- Household cooking appliances and adoption data
- Residential cooking-fire trends
- Cooking-fire deaths and injuries
- Cooking-fire property loss
- Food-safety behavior during meal preparation
Household Cooking Frequency and Cookware Context
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) provides the clearest broad context for cookware use. It measured household cooking activity and appliances, not ownership of individual pots, pans or other cookware pieces.
In 2020, 79% of U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal at home each day. The dataset included 18,496 responding households, which is survey context rather than a consumer-behavior rate. EIA, “In 2020, most U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal a day at home”
Among U.S. households with a range, the cooktop was used an average of 8 times per week in 2020, while oven use averaged 3 times per week. EIA defines a range as a cooktop attached to an oven, so these measures describe appliance use rather than the number or type of cookware items used.
| 2020 U.S. household measure | Result | Definition or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Prepared at least one hot meal daily | 79% | All households; RECS survey estimate |
| Had a range | 89% | Range means cooktop attached to an oven |
| Cooktop use | 8 times per week | Average among households with a range |
| Oven use | 3 times per week | Average among households with a range |
The same EIA source reports that almost all U.S. households had at least one microwave in 2020. It also found that 38% of U.S. households used natural gas for cooking, excluding outdoor grilling fuel; the comparable state estimates were 70% in California and 69% in New Jersey.
Cookware and Household Cooking Appliance Adoption Data
Several RECS measures help show how cooking methods vary, while remaining distinct from cookware ownership or sales. In 2020, 75% of U.S. households used an electric coffee maker at least occasionally, and 56% used one daily; these are related kitchen-appliance measures rather than cookware statistics.
The survey asked about the Instant Pot for the first time in 2020. That year, 16% of U.S. households used an Instant Pot at least once a week, a weekly-use estimate rather than an ownership rate.
Rice-cooker use was 13% across U.S. households in 2020. State-level estimates were substantially different: 74% in Hawaii, 29% in Louisiana and 26% in California.
These figures measure use, not sales, purchase volume or the number of rice cookers owned.
| Appliance-use measure | 2020 result | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Instant Pot used at least weekly | 16% | U.S. households |
| Rice cooker used | 13% | U.S. households |
| Rice cooker used | 74% | Hawaii households |
| Rice cooker used | 29% | Louisiana households |
| Rice cooker used | 26% | California households |
EIA also reported that 70% of California households and 69% of New Jersey households used natural gas for cooking in 2020, compared with about 38% nationally. Fuel mix can shape the cooking setting, but it does not identify which cookware materials or forms households use.
Residential Cooking-Fire Statistics and Trends
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) reports national estimates for residential building cooking fires. These figures come from fire-department reporting and the agency’s National Estimates Methodology, so they describe estimated incidents rather than a cookware-specific failure rate.
| Year | Estimated residential cooking fires | Unit and geography |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 189,800 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2015 | 193,400 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2016 | 183,300 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2017 | 191,800 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2018 | 192,700 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2019 | 178,100 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2020 | 192,600 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2021 | 170,000 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2022 | 178,600 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
| 2023 | 167,800 | Estimated fires, U.S. residential buildings |
The annual series fluctuated rather than moving downward every year. USFA’s summary reports an 11% decrease in estimated residential building cooking fires from 2014 to 2023, while noting that national estimates can reflect reporting or methodology changes. USFA, “Residential building cooking fire trends (2014-2023)”
Cooking-Fire Deaths and Injuries Linked to Home Cooking
USFA estimated 250 deaths from residential cooking fires in 2014 and 125 in 2023. Across the same period, the agency reported a 49% decrease in residential cooking-fire deaths; these are national estimates, not a risk rate attributable to a particular pan, pot or cookware material.
| Year | Estimated deaths | Estimated injuries |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 250 | 4,125 |
| 2015 | 165 | 3,775 |
| 2016 | 170 | Not supplied |
| 2017 | 170 | Not supplied |
| 2018 | 170 | Not supplied |
| 2019 | 150 | 3,550 |
| 2020 | 140 | 3,175 |
| 2021 | 135 | 3,000 |
| 2022 | 100 | 2,350 |
| 2023 | 125 | 2,500 |
The supplied annual injury estimates show 4,125 injuries in 2014, 3,775 in 2015, 3,550 in 2019, 3,175 in 2020, 3,000 in 2021, 2,350 in 2022 and 2,500 in 2023. USFA summarized the 2014-2023 change as a 37% decrease in residential cooking-fire injuries.
The difference between the yearly estimates and the trend summaries matters: annual values are estimates for specific years, while the percentage statements are USFA’s period-level summaries. Neither series should be presented as observed cookware-specific outcomes.
Residential Cooking-Fire Property-Loss Statistics
USFA expresses the comparable dollar-loss series in constant 2023 dollars. That adjustment makes different years easier to compare, but the figures represent residential fire property loss, not cookware prices, cookware-market revenue or the replacement cost of pots and pans.
| Year | Estimated property loss | Dollar basis |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $703.2 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
| 2015 | $636.1 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
| 2019 | $519.5 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
| 2020 | $548.0 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
| 2021 | $555.7 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
| 2022 | $544.0 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
| 2023 | $572.7 million | Constant 2023 U.S. dollars |
The estimated loss was $703.2 million in 2014 and $572.7 million in 2023, both expressed in constant 2023 dollars. USFA reported a 15% decrease in residential cooking-fire dollar loss over 2014-2023; the series still varied across intervening years.
Food-Safety Behavior During Meal Preparation
The FDA’s Food Safety and Nutrition Survey (FSANS) measured weighted responses from adults aged 18 and older in the 50 states and District of Columbia, collected in October-November 2019. These are self-reported perceptions and behaviors, not observed illness incidence or experimental outcomes. FDA, “FDA’s Food Safety and Nutrition Survey – 2019 Survey”
In that survey, 15% of adults said it was very common for food poisoning to result from food prepared at home, compared with 29% who said the same about restaurant-prepared food. These answers describe perceived frequency, not confirmed cases.
Adults’ views about contamination varied by food type:
- 93% considered raw chicken likely or highly likely to have germs.
- 66% considered raw beef likely or highly likely to have germs.
- 9% considered raw vegetables likely or highly likely to have germs.
- 6% considered raw fruit likely or highly likely to have germs.
Reported preparation behaviors also varied. Among surveyed adults, 68% said they washed their hands with soap before preparing food, 76% said they did so after touching raw meat, and 39% said they did so after cracking raw eggs.
Because these responses are self-reported, recall and social-desirability bias may affect the estimates.
Finally, 62% of surveyed adults reported owning a food thermometer in 2019. Among thermometer owners who cooked the food, 85% reported using a thermometer for whole chickens; this is a conditional subgroup estimate and does not imply thermometer use with every meal or cookware task.