Home cooking is measured in several different ways: time spent preparing food, meals eaten at home, family meals prepared at home, food-safety practices, and cooking-related fires. The following U.S. statistics keep those measures separate and identify their populations, periods, and limitations.
Key Home Cooking Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2023, 61.2% of U.S. people age 15 and older did food preparation and cleanup on an average day.
- In 2023, food preparation and cleanup occupied 0.65 hours per day for the U.S. civilian population age 15 and older.
- In 2023, women spent 0.73 hours per day and men spent 0.43 hours per day on food preparation and cleanup in the United States.
- In 2017–18, 75% of average weekdays included food preparation for adults working from home, compared with 63% for adults working away from home in the United States.
- In 2017–18, adults working from home spent 41 minutes preparing food on an average weekday, compared with 30 minutes for those working away from home.
- In 2023, 76.3% of primary eating and drinking episodes occurred at the respondent’s own home or yard in the United States.
- In 2023, 6.9% of primary eating and drinking episodes occurred at a restaurant or bar among U.S. people age 15 and older.
- In 2007–08, families of working-age adults and children under 17 ate 5.8 family meals per week in the United States.
- In 2009–10, the same family group had 5.8 family meals prepared at home per week.
- In 2019, 62% of U.S. adults age 18 and older reported owning a food thermometer.
- In 2019, 85% of thermometer owners who cooked whole chickens reported using a thermometer.
- In 2019, 36% of thermometer owners who cooked burgers reported using a thermometer.
- 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, U.S. residential cooking fires produced an estimated $572.7 million in 2023-dollar loss.
- From 2014 to 2023, residential cooking fires decreased 11% in the United States.
- From 2014 to 2023, residential cooking-fire deaths decreased 49% in the United States.
Contents
- Home cooking participation and eating time
- Home cooking time by day, work location, and household role
- Where Americans eat and what the measures mean
- Family meal and home cooking trends
- Food-safety statistics and thermometer use
- Residential cooking fires, injuries, and losses
Home Cooking Participation and Eating-Time Statistics
The 2023 Eating and Health Module of the American Time Use Survey separates eating time from food preparation. Among U.S. people age 15 and older, primary eating and drinking averaged 66.2 minutes per day, while secondary eating averaged 16.4 minutes per day; together, the two measures totaled 82.5 minutes per day.
These are time-use measures, not counts of cooked meals. Primary eating excludes simultaneous secondary activities, while secondary eating describes eating while another activity was primary.
The Eating and Health Module (ATUS) – Summary Findings provides the 2023 estimates.
Grocery responsibility gives another view of household food activity, although it does not establish how often someone cooks. In 2023:
- 52.6% of U.S. people age 15 and older usually did a lot or all of their household grocery shopping, according to the ATUS measure.
- 32.3% usually did a little or some household grocery shopping.
- Among people who did at least some household grocery shopping, 19.5% bought groceries online at least once in the prior 30 days.
These grocery figures are self-reported household roles. The online-shopping percentage is conditional on doing at least some grocery shopping, so it is not the share of all U.S. adults.
Home Cooking Time by Day, Work Location, and Household Role
The 2023 American Time Use Survey recorded food preparation and cleanup as a primary activity. For the U.S. civilian population age 15 and older, the annual average was 0.65 hours per day, and 61.2% did the activity on an average day.
| Group or measure | 2023 result | Population and unit |
|---|---|---|
| All people | 0.65 hours | U.S. civilian population age 15+, per day |
| People participating | 61.2% | U.S. people age 15+, average day |
| Women | 0.73 hours | U.S. women age 15+, per day |
| Men | 0.43 hours | U.S. men age 15+, per day |
| Women participating | 61.4% | U.S. women age 15+, average day |
| Men participating | 60.8% | U.S. men age 15+, average day |
The sex-specific averages describe primary-activity time, and the source notes that its sex categories are reported as defined in the survey. Preparation and cleanup are broader than cooking alone.
See the American Time Use Survey News Release – 2023 Results.
An earlier USDA Economic Research Service comparison examined prime working-age adults in 2017–18. On an average weekday, adults working from home prepared food on 75% of days and spent 41 minutes preparing food, compared with 63% of days and 30 minutes for adults working away from home.
The same comparison found that adults working from home spent 49 minutes eating at home on an average weekday, versus 27 minutes for those working away from home. Eating at home is not identical to eating food prepared from scratch, and the comparison is observational rather than evidence that work location caused the difference.
The data are reported in People spent more time preparing food and eating at home when working from home, 2017-18.
Where Americans Eat: Home Cooking and Meal-Location Data
Meal location helps describe how often eating happens in a home setting, but it cannot prove where the food was prepared. Takeout eaten at home, for example, remains a home-location eating episode in this measure.
For primary eating and drinking episodes among U.S. people age 15 and older in 2023, the distribution was:
| Location | Share of primary episodes |
|---|---|
| Respondent’s own home or yard | 76.3% |
| Workplace | 10.1% |
| Restaurant or bar | 6.9% |
| Someone else’s home | 3.2% |
| School | 0.9% |
Secondary eating episodes show a different pattern because eating occurs while another activity is primary. In 2023, 58.2% occurred at the respondent’s own home or yard, 16.3% at a workplace, and 6.9% in the respondent’s own vehicle.
The accompanying activity also matters for interpreting secondary eating. 22.8% of secondary eating episodes accompanied watching television or movies, while 20.4% accompanied work at the main job.
These are location and activity measures, not direct measures of home cooking. The source is the Eating and Health Module (ATUS) – Summary Findings.
Family Meal and Home Cooking Trends Over Time
NHANES-based USDA analysis defines a family meal as one eaten with a majority of household members. The population here is narrower than the general adult population: multiperson households containing working-age adults and children under 17.
| Period | Family meals per week | Home-prepared family meals per week |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | 5.8 | 5.4 |
| 2009–10 | 6.3 | 5.8 |
For the same family group, family meals increased from 5.8 per week in 2007–08 to 6.3 in 2009–10. Home-prepared family meals increased from 5.4 to 5.8 per week over those periods.
Among working-age adults in multiperson households, including households without children, home-prepared family meals rose from 5.3 per week in 2007–08 to 5.7 in 2009–10. The More family meals prepared at home following the 2007-09 recession describes this as a pre/post-recession comparison; it is descriptive, and the family-meal definition remains “a meal eaten with a majority of household members.”
Home Cooking Food-Safety Statistics and Thermometer Use
The FDA’s 2019 Food Safety and Nutrition Survey measured self-reported thermometer ownership and use among U.S. adults age 18 and older. 62% reported owning a food thermometer, but ownership is not the same as using one.
Among thermometer owners who cooked the listed food, reported use varied by item:
- 85% used a thermometer for whole chickens.
- 79% used a thermometer for beef, lamb, or pork roasts.
- 40% used a thermometer for chicken parts.
- 36% used a thermometer for burgers.
- 23% used a thermometer for egg dishes.
- 20% used a thermometer for frozen meals.
Each percentage is conditional: the denominator excludes adults who did not own a thermometer and those who did not cook the listed food. The figures are self-reported, and the source is the 2019 Food Safety and Nutrition Survey Report.
Residential Cooking Fire Statistics, Injuries, and Property Losses
Residential cooking-fire statistics describe fire incidents and their consequences, not the number of people who cook at home. The U.S. Fire Administration presents national estimates based on reported incidents and notes that collection strategies and definitions can change, affecting comparability.
| Year | Estimated residential cooking fires |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 189,800 |
| 2015 | 193,400 |
| 2016 | 183,300 |
| 2017 | 191,800 |
| 2018 | 192,700 |
| 2019 | 178,100 |
| 2020 | 192,600 |
| 2021 | 170,000 |
| 2022 | 178,600 |
| 2023 | 167,800 |
In 2023, residential building cooking fires caused estimated 125 deaths, 2,500 injuries, and $572.7 million in loss measured in 2023 dollars. The constant-dollar figure adjusts loss to 2023 values rather than reporting nominal dollars from an earlier year.
Across 2014–2023, the USFA reported an 11% decrease in residential cooking fires, a 49% decrease in cooking-fire deaths, a 37% decrease in injuries, and a 15% decrease in dollar loss after inflation adjustment. These are reported trends in national estimates, and they should not be interpreted as a direct measure of individual kitchen risk.
The source is Residential Building Cooking Fire Trends (2014-2023).