Americans Spend 3 Times Longer on Household Tasks Than They Realize

When you think about the amount of time you spend on household tasks per week, your initial reaction might be, “Only a couple of hours.” But as a homeowner, there’s an extensive maintenance checklist on your plate. As you start to add up all the little details—making the bed, mowing the lawn, organizing—you quickly realize how much time you’re actually spending. 

According to our recent survey of nearly 1,500 Americans, adults spend three times more on household tasks than they realize—and 42 hours per month total.

To get these numbers, we first asked people to quickly estimate how much time they spend on overall home maintenance each month. Then, we asked about more specific household tasks and added up how long they actually spent maintaining, cleaning, organizing, and shopping their home.

Key Takeaways

• Americans think they spend 14 hours per month on household tasks, but they really spend 42 hours per month on them.

• On average, Americans spend 17 hours each month during work hours doing home maintenance-related tasks, most often cleaning inside (six hours).

• Women report spending 49 hours per month on household tasks. Men spend 36 hours per month on household tasks.

The Average American Spends 42 Hours Maintaining Their Home Each Month

When asked for a simple overview, survey participants estimated that they spent 14 hours a month on home maintenance. But when we walked them through a list of time spent on different chores and maintenance tasks, that figure ballooned to 42 hours.

Among the chores listed, they spend the most time (11 hours) cleaning the inside of their home. This included tasks such as cleaning the bathroom, making the bed, wiping down counters, sweeping, and dusting. 

They spent the least amount of time shopping for outdoor decor and furniture (two hours) and organizing the outside of their home, such as cleaning the garage (two and a half hours).

Americans Spend 17 Hours per Month During Work Hours on Household Tasks

All chores aren’t completed on nights and weekends. Respondents admitted to spending an average of 17 hours per month during work hours on household tasks: That’s nearly half a week of work every month.

Women Spend 36% More Time Than Men on Household Tasks

Men and women underestimated the amount of time they spent on household tasks by a similar amount, 67% and 64%, respectively. 

However, women spend considerably more time on household tasks overall. They spend 49 hours per month compared to men’s 36 hours per month. They also spent twice as much time organizing inside the home than men: six hours a month as opposed to three hours.

Both women and men spent more time cleaning inside than doing anything else, with women devoting 15 hours a month to the task and men spending eight hours a month. 

Parents Spend 13 More Hours per Month on Household Tasks Than Nonparents

Parents, defined as adults with children living at home, stayed busier with household tasks than adults without kids. They spent 34% more time on household tasks (51 hours a month) than nonparents did (38 hours). 

Like other groups, parents also thought they spent a lot less time on chores than they did, estimating just 18 hours a month. The largest chunk of their time (15 hours) was spent cleaning the inside of their homes, with 11 hours devoted to interior maintenance and eight hours spent on exterior maintenance.

Owners Only Spend Six More Hours per Month on Household Tasks Than Renters

Homeowners spent slightly more time on household tasks than renters did: 44 hours a month compared with 38 hours.

While they spent a comparable amount of time in most categories, there were a few discrepancies. The largest was for exterior maintenance, such as yard work, gardening, and cleaning rain gutters. Owners spent seven hours compared to renters who spent four hours. Indoors, homeowners spent 10 hours a month on cleaning, while renters spent eight hours. 

Homeowners underestimate how much time they spend on household tasks by nearly three times, believing they spend 15 hours but actually spending 44.

Whether you’re talking to men or women, parents or nonparents, homeowners or renters, the results are the same: People think they’re spending a lot less time on household maintenance than they actually are.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you realize how much energy you’re putting into daily, weekly, and monthly chores. If you need help, you may want to explore local house cleaners or local handypeople who can lend a hand and help you stay on top of things.

Methodology

Between April 11 and April 12, 2022, we surveyed 1,467 Americans about how much time they spend on home maintenance. We averaged the data, removing the top 5% and bottom 5% of outliers. Of respondents, 48% were female, 50% were male, and 2% were non-binary; 67% were non-parents and 33% were parents; 60% were homeowners and 40% were renters.