Contents
- Household freezer ownership statistics: U.S. and England baselines
- Household freezer ownership statistics by state
- Household freezer ownership statistics by housing type and tenure
- Household freezer ownership statistics by household size and income
- Household freezer ownership statistics by freezer configuration and climate
- household freezer ownership: Related freezer ownership statistics in England
- Sources
Household freezer ownership statistics: U.S. and England baselines
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2024 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) estimated that 48.64 million primary occupied U.S. housing units used a separate freezer. The accompanying share was 37%. “Separate freezer” is the key scope: these figures describe a freezer apart from a refrigerator-freezer combination, and the count is in millions of housing units, not individual people or freezers. The EIA tables cover primary occupied housing units in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They exclude vacant and seasonal units, second homes, military housing, and group quarters. The appliance estimates are preliminary, with a release date of March 2026.
England’s 2011 English Housing Survey Energy Follow-Up Survey (EFUS) provides an older, differently defined point of comparison. It estimated that 46.1% of households had a separate freezer. The reported sample size for that estimate was 1,203, and the estimate represented 10,095 thousand households; its 95% confidence interval was 44% to 48.2%. For any type of freezer, including one combined with a fridge but excluding “ice boxes,” the estimated share was 93.4%. That result had a sample size of 2,457, represented 20,449 thousand households, and had a 95% confidence interval of 92.4% to 94.4%. Both England estimates use all households in the EFUS Interview Survey as their base (n=2,616).
These baselines should be read as separate measures from different places, years, and surveys. England’s 2011 figure for a freezer of any type includes fridge-freezers, while the U.S. 2024 figure here counts separate freezers. The England results are historical, and the U.S. estimates are preliminary. Sources: EIA, 2024 state appliance highlights; England EFUS Report 9, Table 7.
Household freezer ownership statistics by state
The 2024 EIA state table reports the number and percentage of primary occupied housing units using a separate freezer. Among the selected states below, North Dakota and South Dakota had the highest listed percentages, at 66% and 68%. Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, and Montana also had percentages above the national 37% baseline. California, Florida, and New York were below it. These are state-level shares, not rankings of total freezer counts: a state with a lower share can still have a large count because the number of housing units differs.
| State | Housing units using a separate freezer (million) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 0.16 | 60% |
| Idaho | 0.44 | 59% |
| North Dakota | 0.23 | 66% |
| South Dakota | 0.26 | 68% |
| California | 3.19 | 23% |
| Florida | 2.25 | 25% |
| New York | 2.14 | 27% |
| Ohio | 2.14 | 43% |
| Iowa | 0.73 | 54% |
| Minnesota | 1.33 | 56% |
| Montana | 0.31 | 65% |
The geographic contrasts in this selection are descriptive. The table does not establish why the shares differ, and the state estimates are preliminary. Both the count and percentage refer to primary occupied housing units, with the count shown in millions. Source: EIA, 2024 state appliance highlights.
Household freezer ownership statistics by housing type and tenure
Housing form gives another view of the 2024 separate-freezer count. Single-family detached homes accounted for 38.54 million units using a separate freezer. The corresponding count was 2.23 million for single-family attached homes. Among apartments, 1.74 million units in buildings with 2–4 units used one, compared with 3.39 million apartments in buildings with 5 or more units. Mobile homes contributed 2.74 million units. These are counts within housing categories, rather than category-specific ownership rates.
| Housing type | Units using a separate freezer (million) |
|---|---|
| Single-family detached | 38.54 |
| Single-family attached | 2.23 |
| Apartment, 2–4 unit building | 1.74 |
| Apartment, 5 or more unit building | 3.39 |
| Mobile home | 2.74 |
Tenure data group single-family and mobile homes together, and report apartments separately. Among single-family and mobile homes, 40.24 million owner-occupied units and 8.41 million rented units used a separate freezer. Among apartments, the respective counts were 0.67 million owner-occupied units and 4.46 million rented units. Because these tables give counts, the values alone do not show the proportion of owners or renters in each group who had a freezer.
| Housing group | Tenure | Units using a separate freezer (million) |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family and mobile homes | Owner-occupied | 40.24 |
| Single-family and mobile homes | Rented | 8.41 |
| Apartments | Owner-occupied | 0.67 |
| Apartments | Rented | 4.46 |
The housing-type and tenure tables use different category groupings. The detached, attached, apartment-building-size, and mobile-home figures should therefore be read as housing-type counts; the owner and renter figures follow the separate grouped categories shown above. Sources: EIA, Table HC3.1: Appliances by housing unit type; EIA, Table HC3.2: Appliances by owner or renter status.
Household freezer ownership statistics by household size and income
The 2024 RECS counted 11.50 million one-person households and 17.08 million two-person households using a separate freezer. The counts were 7.70 million for three-person households, 6.51 million for four-person households, and 5.86 million for households with five or more people. The source reports housing units in millions. This series describes the number of freezer-using units in each household-size category; it does not give the share within each category.
The table also reports multiple separate freezers in some household-size groups. It counted 1.31 million one-person households and 2.72 million two-person households using two or more separate freezers. For households with five or more people, the corresponding count was 1.22 million. These are subsets of the broader “uses a separate freezer” measure, not additional household categories to add to the totals.
| Household size | Using a separate freezer (million) | Using two or more separate freezers (million) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 11.50 | 1.31 |
| 2 persons | 17.08 | 2.72 |
| 3 persons | 7.70 | — |
| 4 persons | 6.51 | — |
| 5 or more persons | 5.86 | 1.22 |
Income categories provide counts rather than rates as well. In 2024, 1.86 million U.S. households with annual income below $10,000 used a separate freezer. The $30,000 to $59,999 annual-income category had 11.14 million housing units using one. A separate-freezer count for multiple units appears for the $60,000 to $99,999 category: 1.88 million households used two or more separate freezers. These selected observations do not form a complete income distribution, so they should not be used to infer a trend across income levels.
Sources: EIA, Table HC3.4: Appliances by number of household persons; EIA, Table HC3.5: Appliances by annual household income.
Household freezer ownership statistics by freezer configuration and climate
The 2024 EIA table describes the size of the most-used separate freezer in U.S. homes. The largest count in the listed size categories was 18.59 million homes using a medium freezer, defined as 17.6 to 22.5 cubic feet. Small freezers, less than 17.6 cubic feet, were reported for 14.73 million homes. The large category, 22.6 to 29.5 cubic feet, covered 9.15 million homes. The table also counted 5.34 million homes with a half-size or compact most-used freezer, and 0.84 million with a very large freezer of more than 29.5 cubic feet.
| Most-used separate freezer size | Housing units (million) |
|---|---|
| Half-size or compact | 5.34 |
| Small: less than 17.6 cubic feet | 14.73 |
| Medium: 17.6 to 22.5 cubic feet | 18.59 |
| Large: 22.6 to 29.5 cubic feet | 9.15 |
| Very large: more than 29.5 cubic feet | 0.84 |
Configuration counts distinguish freezer type and defrost method. The most-used separate freezer was upright in 23.63 million homes and chest-style in 25.01 million homes. For defrost type, 25.03 million homes had a separate freezer with manual defrost, while 23.61 million had one with automatic defrost. Each observation refers to the most-used separate freezer measure in the relevant table section; these figures describe housing units, not a count of appliances sold.
Climate-region counts show 17.85 million homes using a separate freezer in the combined Very cold/Cold region and 15.95 million in the Mixed-humid region. They are counts of primary occupied housing units in those regions. Without the corresponding regional housing-unit totals or rates, these numbers cannot establish which climate region had a higher prevalence. The region labels follow the EIA table’s categories.
Sources: EIA, Table HC3.1: Appliances by housing unit type, freezer size/type/defrost; EIA, Table HC3.6: Appliances by climate region.
household freezer ownership: Related freezer ownership statistics in England
The 2011 England EFUS also reported freezer availability by household characteristics. Its measure is a freezer of any type, including a fridge-freezer, so it is broader than the separate-freezer measure used in the U.S. sections. Owner-occupied households had a reported rate of 96%; privately rented households had a rate of 86%. These historical percentages describe the survey’s English interview households and should not be read as current estimates.
Household size and children were associated with different reported rates in the survey. Single-person households had an 88% rate, while two-person households had a 94% rate. Households with at least one child had a 96% rate, compared with 92% for households with no children. These are category-level results for freezer availability of any type; the figures do not identify separate freezers alone.
The age of the household reference person (HRP) also appears in the results: households where the HRP was aged 16–34 had an 89% rate, while those with an HRP aged 65–74 had a 96% rate. By income quintile, the lowest quintile had an 89% rate, and the fourth quintile had a 96% rate. The EFUS table reported these values alongside sample sizes and 95% confidence intervals; the comparison here preserves its printed percentage estimates without extending them beyond the 2011 England survey.
Taken together, the England figures add context about household type and tenure while retaining a distinct definition. They measure access to a freezer of any type, whereas the U.S. counts above focus on separate freezers. Source: England EFUS Report 9, Table 8.
Sources
- Table HC3.1 Appliances in U.S. homes, by housing unit type, 2024
- Highlights for appliances in U.S. homes by state, 2024
- Table HC3.2 Appliances in U.S. homes, by owner or renter status, 2024
- Table HC3.4 Appliances in U.S. homes, by number of household persons, 2024
- Table HC3.5 Appliances in U.S. homes, by annual household income, 2024
- Table HC3.6 Appliances in U.S. homes, by climate region, 2024
- Report 9: Domestic appliances, cooking & cooling equipment