Decluttering statistics span household surveys, self-reported organizing habits, cleanout experiences and official waste or reuse estimates. The measures below are not interchangeable: survey responses describe perceptions and behavior, while material-flow figures cover broader end-of-life categories.
Key Decluttering Statistics
These highlights cover the main household, transition, time and material-flow findings:
- In July 17–20, 2025, 91% of 1,155 U.S. adult citizens said an organized home was at least somewhat important to them.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 46% of 2,200 respondents in the United States, Canada and Australia said they were running out of space at home.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 35% of respondents in the United States, Canada and Australia intentionally decluttered at least weekly.
- In July 17–20, 2025, 61% of U.S. adults cited reducing clutter as a motivation for organizing.
- In July 17–20, 2025, 66% of U.S. adults said finding things easily motivates home organization.
- In July 17–20, 2025, 46% of U.S. adults identified insufficient storage space as an organization challenge.
- In April 2026, 82% of 31,488 IKEA respondents in 31 markets kept things purely for sentimental reasons even when rarely used or out of sight.
- In April 2026, 68% of households in IKEA’s 31-market survey had a drawer or box housing items without a home.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 21% of 2,200 three-country respondents named moving as the biggest prompt to clean out a home.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 20% of three-country respondents had never completed a whole-home cleanout.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 69% of three-country respondents had found something they forgot existed while cleaning out their home.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 55% of three-country respondents had helped clear out a relative’s home.
- In May 22–27, 2026, 27% of pooled respondents felt overwhelmed, 29% productive and 36% lighter across home-cleanout phases.
- In April 2026, people in India reported 80 minutes per day looking for misplaced items, compared with 15 minutes per day in the UK.
- In 2018, U.S. durable goods totaled 57.1 million short tons of municipal solid waste, or 19.5% of total MSW generation.
- In 2018, U.S. landfills received 37.4 million short tons of durable goods.
- In 2024, Ireland recorded 83,400 tonnes of second-hand products reused, including furniture and textiles.
Contents
- Key Decluttering Statistics
- Clutter and Home-Organization Pressure Statistics
- Decluttering Frequency, Motivations and Barriers
- What People Keep, Misplace and Store
- Decluttering During Moves, Inheritance and Cleanouts
- Time, Emotional and Everyday Decluttering Outcomes
- Reuse, Disposal and the Material Footprint
Clutter and Home-Organization Pressure Statistics
The surveys measure perceived organization and space pressure rather than a universal physical definition of clutter. YouGov surveyed 1,155 U.S. adult citizens from July 17–20, 2025 using a weighted opt-in panel, while the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? study was company-commissioned and online.
In the YouGov survey, 91% said an organized home was at least somewhat important. The same survey found 12% called their garage or shed very disorganized and 18% called it somewhat disorganized; 29% did not have a garage or shed.
Source: YouGov home-organization survey.
| Geography and period | Running out of space | Frustrated by lack of organized space several times a week |
|---|---|---|
| United States, Canada and Australia, May 22–27, 2026 | 46% | 48% |
| United States, May 22–27, 2026 | 45% | Not supplied |
| Canada, May 22–27, 2026 | 46% | Not supplied |
| Australia, May 22–27, 2026 | 55% | Not supplied |
These figures come from the State of Junk 2026 report. The samples were 1,200 in the United States, 800 in Canada including 100 in Quebec, and 200 in Australia, so the Australian estimate has a smaller base.
Decluttering Frequency, Motivations and Barriers
Decluttering and organizing overlap but are not identical: organizing is broader than discarding, and decluttering was self-defined in the three-country study.
| Geography and period | Intentionally decluttered at least weekly | Cleanout or organization prompt |
|---|---|---|
| United States, Canada and Australia, May 22–27, 2026 | 35% | Moving: 21% |
| United States, May 22–27, 2026 | 43% | Downsizing: 17%; moving: 16% |
| Canada, May 22–27, 2026 | 28% | Moving: 28% |
| Australia, May 22–27, 2026 | 18% | Moving: 25% |
The weekly figures and prompts are from the State of Junk 2026 report. In the YouGov survey, 46% of U.S. adults organized when things got out of hand, while 38% organized regularly and frequently.
The YouGov results identified several overlapping motivations and barriers: 66% said finding things easily motivates organization, 61% cited reducing clutter, 46% identified insufficient storage space as a challenge, 41% cited too many belongings, and 37% cited difficulty letting go. Source: YouGov home-organization survey.
What People Keep, Misplace and Store
IKEA surveyed 31,488 people across 31 markets in April 2026. The results are self-reported retention and storage behavior, not measured household inventories.
- 82% kept things purely for sentimental reasons even when rarely used or out of sight; 26% kept memorabilia from past relationships.
- 68% of households had a drawer or box housing items without a home, and 53% of respondents claimed that catch-all space as their own.
- 54% of baby-boomer men kept cables for gadgets they no longer owned.
- 10% said they use an oven for storage, including 21% of South Korean respondents.
- 11% of Gen Z respondents spent more than 30 minutes per day searching for a charger.
Source for the IKEA findings: IKEA Store & Organize Report 2026. In the U.S. YouGov survey, 74% said they use storage bins or containers to organize; that measures a tool, not a decluttering outcome: YouGov home-organization survey.
Decluttering During Moves, Inheritance and Cleanouts
Moving was the biggest prompt for 21% of pooled respondents, while the U.S. results separated downsizing at 17% from moving at 16%. Canada recorded 28% naming moving, and Australia recorded 25%.
The State of Junk 2026 report found that 23% said their last complete home cleanout was over three years ago and 20% had never done one; these are recall-based results using a respondent-defined cleanout.
- 69% had found something they forgot existed while cleaning out their home.
- 55% had helped clear out a relative’s home.
- 48% would rather inherit nothing than deal with relatives’ belongings; this is a hypothetical preference, not an inheritance record.
Time, Emotional and Everyday Decluttering Outcomes
The cleanout survey measured self-reported phases rather than clinical outcomes. Across the three-country sample, 27% felt overwhelmed, 29% productive and 36% lighter; in Canada, the corresponding figures were 31%, 34% and 43%.
IKEA respondents in India reported 80 minutes per day looking for misplaced items, versus 15 minutes per day in the UK. These are self-reported averages, not time-use diary results: IKEA Store & Organize Report 2026.
- 10% had cancelled plans with friends because their home was too messy.
- 15% saw mess as a form of creativity, including 31% in China and 4% in Japan.
In the YouGov survey, 66% said they feel better when things are organized, including 75% of U.S. women and 57% of U.S. men who said that feeling better motivates them. These are perceived associations and motivations, not evidence of a causal effect: YouGov home-organization survey.
Reuse, Disposal and the Material Footprint
Decluttering surveys do not track every removed item. EPA durable-goods figures are modeled U.S. municipal solid waste estimates for 2018, broader than decluttering events; furniture is measured at end of life after primary use and secondary reuse.
| U.S. measure | 2018 estimate |
|---|---|
| Durable-goods MSW generation | 57.1 million U.S. short tons; 19.5% of total MSW generation |
| Durable goods recycled | 10.6 million U.S. short tons; 18.5% category recycling rate |
| Durable goods sent to landfills | 37.4 million U.S. short tons; 25.6% of total MSW landfilling |
| Furniture and furnishings generation | 12.1 million U.S. short tons, versus 2.2 million in 1960 |
For furniture and furnishings in 2018, 80.1% of MSW was landfilled and 19.5% was combusted for energy recovery. Small-appliance waste totaled 2.16 million U.S. short tons, including 120,000 tons recycled and 1.64 million landfilled; EPA estimated 5.6% recycled and 75.9% landfilled.
Carpet and rug generation was 3.4 million U.S. short tons in 2018, including 310,000 tons recycled, 17.8% combusted for energy recovery and 73% landfilled. These modeled EPA figures, partly based on industry data, are available in Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data.
Ireland’s household reuse data measure a different pathway. In 2024, 83,400 tonnes of second-hand products were reused, including 38,300 tonnes of furniture and 4,660 tonnes of textiles; the coverage excludes commercial, business-to-business and construction-project reuse: Reuse Statistics for Ireland.
Ireland’s household reuse rate was 15.5 kilograms per person in 2024 against a 20-kilogram per-person annual target for 2030. The 2021 rate was 15.9 kilograms per person after furniture was revised from 14,915 to 41,890 tonnes because omitted furniture data was added; the 2024 result remains subject to validation.