A public reference from Freethinkers Hahom
Eight sourced figures on household apparel spending and what happens to textiles at end of life. Every number is linked to its original public source.
Last updated September 29, 2026
A useful starting point
Clothing is personal, but the systems around it are measurable. This page brings together current U.S. household spending data and the most recent federal textile-material data in one place, with dates kept visible so figures are quoted in context.
Household spending
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports apparel and services as a category that includes clothing, footwear, and dry cleaning.
$2,001
In 2024, the average U.S. consumer unit spent $2,001 on apparel and services. BLS includes clothing, footwear, and dry cleaning in this category.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 20242.5%
Apparel and services represented 2.5% of the average consumer unit's total annual expenditures in 2024.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 2024−2.0%
Average spending in this category moved from $2,041 in 2023 to $2,001 in 2024, a 2.0% nominal decline.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 2024$247
The BLS series rose from $1,754 in 2021 to $2,001 in 2024, an increase of $247. The difference is calculated from the published annual figures.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 2024End of life
The Environmental Protection Agency's latest material-specific estimates cover the 2018 U.S. municipal solid waste stream. Reuse is not included in these generation estimates.
17.0m tons
EPA estimated 17.0 million tons of textiles entered U.S. municipal solid waste in 2018, equal to 5.8% of all municipal solid waste generated that year.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Textiles: Material-Specific Data, 201814.7%
EPA estimated that 2.5 million tons of textiles were recycled in 2018, a 14.7% recycling rate for all textiles measured in municipal solid waste.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Textiles: Material-Specific Data, 201811.3m tons
Landfills received an estimated 11.3 million tons of textiles in 2018, representing 7.7% of all municipal solid waste landfilled that year.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Textiles: Material-Specific Data, 201813%
EPA estimated a 13% recycling rate for clothing and footwear in 2018. Its separate clothing-and-footwear figures report 13.0 million tons generated and 9.1 million tons landfilled that year.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 materials-management dataMethodology & sources
This is a source-led reference, not a forecast. Household-spending figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Surveys for 2024. Textile-material figures come from the Environmental Protection Agency's 2018 dataset, which remains its latest material-specific release.
Figures describe the United States and should be cited with their date and source. Statistics have not been adjusted across datasets or used to make claims about an individual brand, product, or shopper.
Cite this page
Suggested citation: Freethinkers Hahom, “U.S. Apparel & Textile Statistics,” updated September 29, 2026, https://freethinkershahomwear.com/apparel-statistics.
Each statistic has its own linkable heading so a reader can go straight to the underlying number and source.
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