Kitchen statistics show how households cook, which appliances they use, how much energy kitchen activities consume, and where safety risks appear. The figures below focus mainly on U.S. households and adults, with periods and definitions stated because cooking behavior, energy end uses, fires and foodborne illness are measured differently.
Key Kitchen Statistics
These highlights span household behavior, appliances, energy, food safety, fires and foodborne illness:
- 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 combining a cooktop and oven.
- In 2020, ranges’ cooktops were used an average of 8 times per week among U.S. households with a range.
- In 2020, 38% of U.S. households used natural gas for cooking.
- In 2020, 56% of U.S. households used an electric coffee maker daily.
- In 2020, 16% of U.S. households used an Instant Pot at least once a week.
- In 2020, 23.3 billion kWh were used for U.S. household cooking end uses defined as ranges, separate cooktops and separate ovens.
- In 2020, 12.7 billion kWh were used by U.S. household microwaves.
- In 2020, 9.6 billion kWh were used by U.S. household dishwashers.
- In 2019, 62% of U.S. adults reported owning a food thermometer.
- In 2019, 85% of relevant U.S. thermometer owners reported using one when cooking whole chickens.
- In 2019, 76% of U.S. adults reported washing their hands with soap after touching raw meat.
- In 2019, 39% of U.S. adults reported washing their hands with soap after cracking raw eggs.
- In 2023, 167,800 residential cooking fires were estimated in the United States.
- In 2023, residential cooking fires caused an estimated 125 deaths in the United States.
- In 2023, residential cooking fires caused an estimated $572.7 million in dollar loss.
- Each year, CDC estimates 48 million people in the United States get sick from foodborne diseases.
Contents
- Key Kitchen Statistics
- How Often U.S. Households Cook at Home
- Kitchen Appliance Ownership and Use
- Kitchen Energy Use and Electricity Data
- Kitchen Food-Safety and Thermometer Statistics
- Residential Cooking-Fire Trends and Losses
- Foodborne Illness Statistics and Kitchen Scope
How Often U.S. Households Cook at Home
The 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey measured whether households prepared at least one hot meal at home each day. It is a self-reported household measure of daily hot-meal preparation, not a count of every cooking occasion.
- 79% of U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal at home each day in 2020.
- Washington recorded 88% in 2020, while Maine recorded 86%.
- Alabama recorded 69%, and Louisiana recorded 68%, in the same 2020 state estimates.
These state figures are estimates from the same survey, so they describe reported household behavior rather than observed kitchen activity. The EIA source is In 2020, most U.S. households prepared at least one hot meal a day at home.
| Geography | Households preparing at least one hot meal daily | Period |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 79% | 2020 |
| Washington | 88% | 2020 |
| Maine | 86% | 2020 |
| Alabama | 69% | 2020 |
| Louisiana | 68% | 2020 |
Kitchen Appliance Ownership and Use Statistics
Kitchen equipment measures often distinguish ownership from use. In 2020, the EIA reported that 89% of U.S. households had a range combining a cooktop and oven, while use frequencies were reported for households with the relevant appliance.
| Appliance or fuel measure | Result | Population and period |
|---|---|---|
| Range combining cooktop and oven | 89% | U.S. households, 2020 |
| Range cooktop use | 8 times per week | U.S. households with a range, 2020 |
| Range oven use | 3 times per week | U.S. households with a range, 2020 |
| Natural gas for cooking | 38% | U.S. households, 2020 |
| Electric coffee maker, occasional or more | 75% | U.S. households, 2020 |
| Electric coffee maker, daily | 56% | U.S. households, 2020 |
| Instant Pot, at least weekly | 16% | U.S. households, 2020 |
| Rice cooker use | 13% | U.S. households, 2020 |
Natural-gas cooking varied substantially across the named state estimates: 70% of California households and 69% of New Jersey households used natural gas for cooking in 2020. The measure excludes outdoor grilling.
Rice-cooker use also varied by state: 74% in Hawaii, 29% in Louisiana and 26% in California in 2020. These are self-reported use estimates, not appliance-ownership rates, and the Instant Pot result came from the first RECS question on that appliance; all appliance findings are reported by the EIA source linked above.
Kitchen Energy Use and Electricity Data
EIA’s 2020 residential end-use table separates cooking, microwaves and dishwashers. Its cooking category covers ranges, separate cooktops and separate ovens, while excluding microwaves, small kitchen appliances and outdoor cooking.
| Kitchen end use | U.S. household use in 2020 | Definition or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking | 23.3 billion kWh | Ranges, separate cooktops and ovens |
| Microwaves | 12.7 billion kWh | RECS end-use estimate |
| Dishwashers | 9.6 billion kWh | Standby power for unused dishwashers excluded |
The same table reports 79.6 trillion Btu for cooking, 43.2 trillion Btu for microwaves and 32.8 trillion Btu for dishwashers as U.S. household site energy in 2020. These are end-use estimates, and rounding may prevent totals from summing exactly.
Housing type and tenure also appear in the EIA subgroup estimates:
- Homes in buildings with five or more apartments used 3.3 billion kWh for cooking in 2020.
- Mobile homes used 1.1 billion kWh for cooking in 2020.
- Owner-occupied homes used 16.5 billion kWh for cooking in 2020.
- Rented homes used 6.8 billion kWh for cooking in 2020.
The EIA table lists 351.8 billion kWh for all listed end uses, which is not total residential electricity consumption across every possible end use. See Table CE5.1b Detailed household site electricity end-use consumption, part 2—totals, 2020.
Kitchen Food-Safety and Thermometer Statistics
The FDA’s 2019 Food Safety and Nutrition Survey was a weighted self-report survey of 4,398 adults aged 18 and older in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, conducted in October-November 2019. Thermometer-use percentages below use owners who cooked the specified food as the denominator.
- 62% of U.S. adults reported owning a food thermometer.
- Among thermometer owners who cooked whole chickens, 85% reported using a thermometer.
- Among owners who cooked beef, lamb or pork roasts, 79% reported using a thermometer.
- Among owners who cooked chicken parts, 40% reported using a thermometer.
- Among owners who cooked burgers, 36% reported using a thermometer.
- Among owners who cooked egg dishes, 23% reported using a thermometer.
- Among owners who cooked frozen meals, 20% reported using a thermometer.
Handwashing reports were also food-specific. In 2019, 76% reported washing with soap after touching raw meat, 68% before preparing food, and 39% after cracking raw eggs.
Perception measures should not be confused with measured contamination: 93% thought raw chicken was likely or highly likely to have germs, compared with 66% for raw beef. Separately, 15% thought food poisoning from food prepared at home was very common; this is a perception of frequency, not an incidence estimate.
The source is the FDA’s 2019 Food Safety and Nutrition Survey Report.
Residential Cooking-Fire Trends and Losses
USFA residential cooking-fire figures are national estimates derived from fire-department reporting through NFIRS. The agency notes that methods and definitions can change, so these figures should be read as estimates rather than a complete count of every event.
| 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 cooking fires caused an estimated 125 deaths, 2,500 injuries and $572.7 million in dollar loss in the United States. The loss figure is reported in 2023 dollars and is not a measure of the cost of operating or outfitting a household kitchen.
Across 2014-2023, USFA reports an 11% decrease in residential cooking fires, a 49% decrease in cooking-fire deaths, a 37% decrease in injuries, and a 15% decrease in inflation-adjusted dollar loss. These are trends in national estimates, not causal evaluations of particular kitchen-safety interventions; see Residential Building Cooking Fire Trends (2014-2023).
Foodborne Illness Statistics and Kitchen Scope
CDC foodborne-illness figures describe the total U.S. burden across transmission settings. They should not be presented as infections caused by home kitchens, and they are burden estimates based on 2011 estimates rather than current-year surveillance counts.
- CDC estimates 48 million people get sick from foodborne diseases each year in the United States.
- CDC estimates 128,000 people are hospitalized from foodborne diseases each year.
- CDC estimates 3,000 people die from foodborne diseases each year.
- Unspecified agents account for an estimated 38.4 million foodborne illness episodes per year.
CDC communicates the 48-million estimate as roughly 1 in 6 Americans each year, which is a rounded presentation of the same burden estimate rather than an independent kitchen statistic. The estimate does not identify a kitchen, food or pathogen source, and the source is the archived CDC page Estimates of Foodborne Illness in the United States.