74 million Americans prepping for disaster

Prepping is big business, with roughly a third (29%) of the adult population in the US dropping a collective $11 billion in the last 12 months on emergency preparedness, according to a Finder survey.

The most commonly bought survivalist items are literally the basics: food and water. About one in five (21%) Americans says they bought staples. After the run on toilet paper during the pandemic, it’s little surprise that this creature comfort is the second most commonly purchased item at 15%. Rounding out the top three most popular items with survivalists are medical supplies at 14%.

As for where people are “spending” the most, the average prepper put $1,057 into a savings account. The next most costly survivalist category was home renovations at $580, followed by a stash of cash at $468.

Men more likely to be preppers

More than a third of men (35%) say they spent money preparing for emergencies (or for when SHTF) in the last 12 months, compared to less than a quarter (23%) of women.

Men (13%) are more than twice as likely as women (6%) to say they have a stash of cash and three times as likely to have invested in home renovations (men at 12% vs. women at 4%).

Gen Z most likely to be preparing for disaster

Two-fifths (40%) of Gen Z say they spent money on doomsday supplies in the last 12 months, just beating out millennials at 39%.Food and water are the most commonly bought items for all generations. Survival kits are most popular with millennials (20%), while toilet paper if most popular with Gen Z (20%).

About a third of those in the West prepping

The West is home to the most preppers at 32%, narrowly beating out the South at 31%.Almost one in five (18%) people in the South are stockpiling toilet paper, while 17% in the West are buying medical supplies.

• Methodology

  Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index is a nationally representative survey polling more than 4,000 Americans about household finances since October 2022.

  Our prepper data is based on an online survey of 2,179 US adults commissioned by Finder and conducted by Qualtrics/SAP from January 9 to February 17, 2023, with representative quotas for gender and age. For the spending data, we used a TRIMMEAN function to remove outliers.

  We assume the 2,179 participants in our survey represent the US population of 259.2 million Americans who are at least 18 years old according to the July 2022 US Census Bureau population estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2% margin of error.

  Our survey asked people whether spent any money in the last 12 months preparing for emergencies — for example, purchasing first-aid kits, multitools, solar chargers or survival materials — because of recent political events or natural disasters, and if they had, how much they spent on those items.

  We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines, though we’ve combined baby boomers and the Silent Generation into a single group for sampling ease:

  • Gen Z — any adults born post-1997
  • Millennials — 1981–1996
  • Gen X — 1965–1980
  • Baby boomers — anyone born pre-1964

  We define geographical regions as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Previous surveys

• 2021 survey

  Until recently you may have heard the term “doomsday preppers” and pictured a squirrely, Kaczynski-esque, person preparing for the end of days. But in the wake of a global pandemic, a time where even the simplest of items like toilet paper were conspicuously absent from the shelves, having a house stocked with sundries and staples seems logical. Perhaps that’s why the number of people prepping for doomsday more than doubled from the beginning of 2020 to the beginning of 2021, according to the latest survey from Finder.

  In the last 12 months, roughly 45% of Americans — or about 115.6 million people — say they spent money preparing or spent money on survival materials. This is way up when compared to the previous year, which saw 20% of Americans (52 million people) spending money on survival materials.

  How many Americans are prepared for survival?

  In addition to the roughly 45% that bought survival supplies in the last year, with a further 27% of American adults (69 million) say they didn’t need to hit the stores because their homes already included survival items at the ready for an emergency.

  Adding up the numbers, that’s roughly 72% of American adults (184.6 million adults) who are prepping for the end times, a dramatic increase from only 55% of American adults at the start of 2020.

  • % of Americans prepping for disaster - visual
  • % of Americans prepping for disaster - data

  Response	% of Americans
  Yes, because of political events as well as recent natural disasters	5.30%
  Yes, because of recent natural disasters	5.36%
  Yes, due to political events	9.43%
  Yes, because of COVID	25.20%
  No, because I always keep survival items in case of emergency	27.07%
  No, because I don’t spend any money on emergency preparation	27.65%

  How much do our preppers spend?

  Forget booby traps and escape chutes. Saving money is the No. 1 way people prepare for emergencies, with 20% of Americans saying they’ve socked away some $962 into an emergency fund in the last 12 months. This was actually down compared to the average amount people were saving in the previous survey, putting an average of $1,940 into an emergency fund in the last 12 months, but this may have been impacted by people having either less disposable income or having to dip into those emergency funds in the wake of COVID-19.

  And in a sign of the times, 33.6% of preppers said they stockpiled toilet paper in the past year–no wonder there were toilet paper shortages!

  Other big-ticket ways we’re preparing for the worst:

  • Food and water— 41.6% of Americans spent an average of $258 on stockpiling their essential food and water supplies
  • Home renovations — 18.0% of Americans spent an average of $530 renovating or making additions to their home.
  • Means of evacuation— 11.6% of Americans spent an average of $317 preparing ways to escape, such as buying a car or boat.
  • Medical expenses— 27.4% of Americans spent an average of $119 toward insurance premiums, doctor visits, prescriptions, assistive devices and more.

  • Average amount Americans spent on prepping - visual
  • Average amount Americans spent on prepping - data

  Average spent

  Response	Average spent	% of Americans
  Put into savings	$962	20.0%
  Home renovations	$530	18.0%
  Insurance	$404	21.6%
  Car, boat or other means of evacuation	$317	11.6%
  Food and water	$258	41.6%
  Self-defense classes or weapons	$172	10.3%
  Survival course	$122	9.1%
  Medical supplies	$119	27.4%
  Survival kits	$97	23.3%
  Toilet paper	$57	33.6%
  Other	$291	6.3%

  How does preparing differ between men and women?

  Men are more likely to prep for doomsday than women, with 51% of men admitting to buying survival materials in the past 12 months. Compare that to the 40% of women who admit to the same.

  If we include those who’ve had their acts together by stockpiling ahead of time, the gap is a bit smaller, with more than 76% of men prepping for doomsday versus about 69% of women.

  • Men vs. women: Prepping for disaster - visual
  • Men vs. women: Prepping for disaster - data

  Response	Men	Women
  Has purchased survival materials due to political events and natural disasters	6.01%	4.68%
  Has purchased survival materials only because of natural disasters	6.88%	4.03%
  Has purchased survival materials only because of political events	14.27%	5.22%
  Has purchased survival materials only because of COVID	24.16%	26.12%
  Always has survival items on hand in case of emergency	24.91%	28.94%
  Doesn’t spend money on preparation	23.78%	31.01%

  Who’s spending more?

  While men may be preparing for more, women outspend men in some areas. Women put more money into food and water supplies, home renovations, insurance, means of evacuations and self-defense, while men outspend women on survival kits, savings, medical supplies and survival courses. Men slightly outspent women on buying toilet paper

  • Men vs. women: Average spent on prepping - visual
  • Men vs. women: Average spent on prepping - data

  Category	Male	Female	Everyone
  Food and water	$242.05	$276.21	$258.15
  Survival kits	$113.44	$73.08	$97.34
  Home renovations	$459.70	$661.57	$529.61
  Insurance	$379.78	$446.52	$404.06
  Put into savings	$1,001.54	$893.42	$961.94
  Medical supplies	$132.51	$101.04	$118.61
  Car, boat and other means of evacuation	$279.67	$409.34	$316.62
  Survival courses	$125.67	$109.66	$122.00
  Toilet paper	$56.83	$56.31	$56.57
  Self-defense classes or weapons	$145.46	$240.90	$171.88
  Other	$309.62	$225.29	$291.18

  Note: Average calculations are based on only the participants who reported spending in a category and excludes zeros. For more detail, please refer to the methodology.

  Generation prep

  Who would you picture being most prepared for a global doomsday? Not likely a millennial, and yet millennials make up the generation most equipped for doomsday, closely followed by Gen Z and Gen X.

  Some 58.3% of millennials say they bought items in the last 12 months in preparation for disaster. Not only that, a further 19.4% admit to already having those supplies on hand. Other generations full of disaster preppers include Gen Z (77.4%) and Gen X (76.6%). In comparison, only 66.2% of baby boomers and 59.6% of the silent generation were prepared for disaster

  • Generations: How many are prepping for disaster? - visual
  • Generations: How many are prepping for disaster? - data

  Generation	Has purchased survival materials only because of political events	Has purchased survival materials only because of natural disasters	Has purchased survival materials only because of COVID	Has purchased survival materials due to political events and natural disaster	Always has survival items on hand in case of emergency	Doesn’t spend money on preparation
  Gen Z	11.86%	6.78%	29.94%	6.78%	22.03%	22.60%
  Millennial	12.58%	8.39%	30.46%	6.84%	19.43%	22.30%
  Gen X	14.94%	5.54%	30.60%	5.30%	20.24%	23.37%
  Baby boomers	3.20%	3.57%	18.61%	4.51%	36.28%	33.83%
  Silent gen	3.55%	0.00%	11.35%	1.42%	43.26%	40.43%

  Which generation spends the most preparing for the worst?

  Of all the categories, putting money into savings was the number one choice for every generation, with baby boomers spending the most on average at $1,525.03. Between the generations, millennials spent the most on survival kits ($107.63), survival courses ($144.80), and toilet paper ($66.34). Gen X spent the most on medical supplies ($139.95), while baby boomers spent the most on home renovations ($727.82), savings ($1,525.03), and means of evacuation ($937.62). The silent gen spent the most on food and water ($326.50), insurance ($649.04), and self-defense classes or weapons ($301.35).

  • Generation: Average spend prepping for disaster - visual
  • Generation: Average spend prepping for disaster -data

  Categories	Gen Z	Millennial	Gen X	Baby boomers	Silent gen
  Food and water	$227.82	$227.86	$262.36	$227.25	$326.50
  Survival kits	$71.93	$107.63	$101.29	$88.56	$34.17
  Home renovations	$460.48	$511.21	$515.91	$727.82	$391.72
  Insurance	$301.79	$358.92	$457.69	$449.36	$649.04
  Put into savings	$613.84	$981.85	$765.76	$1,525.03	$1,139.13
  Medical supplies	$92.11	$130.93	$139.95	$84.31	$90.91
  Car, boat and other means of evacuation	$297.50	$298.38	$155.20	$937.62	$6.13
  Survival courses	$115.48	$144.80	$108.98	$66.43	$6.13
  Toilet paper	$51.10	$66.34	$57.80	$44.67	$48.31
  Self-defense classes or weapons	$137.50	$214.75	$145.45	$144.78	$301.35
  Other	$360.59	$276.16	$273.10	$341.88	$25.15

  Methodology

  Finder’s data is based on an online survey of 1,718 US adults born between 1928 and 2003 commissioned by Finder and conducted by Pureprofile in January 2021. Participants were paid volunteers.

  We assume the participants in our survey represent the US population of 254.7 million Americans who are at least 18 years old according to the July 2019 US Census Bureau estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2.36% margin of error.

  The survey asked people whether they’d spent money preparing for emergencies in the previous 12 months and how much they spent in 11 categories:

  • Food and water
  • Survival kits
  • Home renovations
  • Insurance
  • Investment into savings account
  • Medical supplies
  • Means of evacuation – car, boat, etc.
  • Survival courses
  • Toilet paper
  • Self-defense – classes or weaponry
  • Other

  We based average calculations of spending on participants who spent in that particular category and spent for doomsday preparation only — for example, to calculate the average amount spent on home renovation, we did not include the participants who selected that they did not spend on emergency/survival preparation in the past 12 months and those who responded “$0” for the amount spent on home renovation.

  To avoid skewing the data, we also excluded extreme outliers from our calculations.

  We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines:

  • Gen Z — 1997–2003
  • Millennials — 1981–1996
  • Gen X — 1965–1980
  • Baby boomers — 1946–1964
  • Silent generation — 1928–1945

• 2019 survey

  Political unrest with North Korea and Iran, as well as hurricanes and other natural disasters, is leading many Americans to prepare for an apocalyptic doomsday through spending on survival items, home renovations, escape vehicles and more.

  In the last 12 months, roughly 20% of Americans — or about 52 million people — say they spent money preparing or spent money on survival materials, according to a recent Finder survey.

  How many Americans are prepared for survival?

  In addition to the roughly 20% that bought survival supplies in the last year, a further 35% of American adults (89 million) say they didn’t need to hit the stores because their homes already include survival items at the ready for an emergency.

  Adding up the numbers, that’s roughly 55% of American adults (141 million adults) who are prepping for the end times. Paranoid much?

  • Infographic
  • Data table

  Response	% of Americans
  Yes, because of political events as well as recent natural disasters	5.16%
  Yes, due to political events	5.36%
  Yes, because of recent natural disasters	10.01%
  No, because I always keep survival items in case of emergency	34.91%
  No, because I don’t spend any money on preparation	44.56%

  How much do our preppers spend?

  Forget booby traps and escape chutes. Saving money is the No. 1 way people prepare for emergencies, with nearly 13% of Americans saying they’ve socked away some $1,940 into an emergency fund in the last 12 months.

  Other big-ticket ways we’re preparing for the worst:

  • Home renovations — 7.43% of Americans spent an average of $1,701 renovating or making additions to their home.
  • Means of evacuation — 4.18% of Americans spent an average of $1,398 preparing ways to escape, such as buying a car or boat.
  • Medical expenses — 6.29% of Americans spent an average of $1,003 toward insurance premiums, doctor visits, prescriptions, assistive devices and more.

  • Infographic
  • Data table

  Average spent

  Response	Average spent	% of Americans
  Put into savings	$1,939.77	12.64%
  Home renovations	$1,700.97	7.43%
  Car, boat or other means of evacuation	$1,397.74	4.18%
  Medical expenses	$1,003.20	6.29%
  Donated it	$758.15	5.88%
  Insurance	$563.81	9.13%
  Self-defense classes or weapons	$223.08	3.35%
  Survival kits	$105.53	11.24%
  Survival courses	$77.82	1.96%
  Other	$115.42	0.62%

  How does preparing differ between men and women?

  Men are more likely to prep for doomsday than women, with 25% of men admitting to buying survival materials in the past 12 months. Compare that to the 18% of women who admit to the same.

  If we include those who’ve had their acts together by stockpiling ahead of time, the gap is about the same, with just more than 60% of men prepping for doomsday versus about 52% of women.

  Who’s spending more?

  While men may be preparing for more, women outspend men in almost all areas. Women put more money into savings, home renovations, means of evacuation, medical expenses, donations and insurance, while men outspend women on self-defense, survival kits and survival courses.

  Generation prep

  Who do you picture in a tinfoil hat getting ready for the end of days? Not likely a millennial, and yet millennials make up the generation most equipped for doomsday.

  Some 30% of millennials say they bought items in the last 12 months in preparation for disaster. Not only that, a further 35% admit to already having those supplies on hand. Other generations outweighed by disaster preppers include Gen X (53%) and Gen Z (52%).

  Which generation spends the most preparing for the worst?

  Baby boomers spent the most on home renovations, shelling out an average of $6,111 getting their homes ready for the end of days. Gen X donated the most ahead of disaster at an average of $1,612. And millennials squirreled away the most into savings at an average of $2,066.

  Methodology

  Our data is based on an online survey of 2,398 US adults born between 1928 to 2002 commissioned by Finder and conducted by Pureprofile in January 2020. Participants were paid volunteers.

  We assume the 2,398 participants in our survey represent the US population of 254.7 million Americans who are at least 18 years old according to the July 2019 US Census Bureau estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2% margin of error.

  The survey asked people whether they’d spent money preparing for emergencies in the previous 12 months and how much they spent in 11 categories:

  • Survival kits
  • Home renovations
  • Insurance
  • Put into savings
  • Donated it
  • Medical expenses
  • Means of evacuation (e.g., car, boat)
  • Survival courses
  • Self-defense (classes or weaponry)
  • Didn’t spend any money
  • Other (please specify)

  We based average calculations of spending on participants who spent in that particular category and spent for doomsday preparation only — for example, to calculate the mean amount spent on home renovation, we did not include the 74.90% of participants who selected that they do not spend on emergency/survival preparation and the 11.86% who responded “$0” for amount spent on home renovation.

  To avoid skewing the data, we also excluded extreme outliers from our calculations.

  We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines:

  • Gen Z — 1997–2002
  • Millennials — 1981–1996
  • Gen X — 1965–1980
  • Baby Boomers — 1946–1964
  • The Silent Generation — 1928–1945

• 2017 survey

  More than 68 million American doomsday preppers are estimated to have purchased survival gear in light of recent political events or natural disasters.

  Political unrest with North Korea, as well as hurricanes and other natural disasters, are a concern for many Americans gone out to purchase survival gear in preparation for doomsday.

  We recently commissioned a survey of 2,000 Americans, conducted by global research provider Pureprofile, and found that an estimated 68 million–plus Americans — more than 1 in 4 — have purchased survival gear on the back of recent political events or natural circumstances beyond our control.

  How many Americans are prepared for survival?

  More than 160 million American adults (65.45%) are estimated to have either recently purchased survival gear or, interestingly, are already in possession of survival gear because they always keep them on hand. The remaining 85 million (34.55%) are not preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Of those who report prepping, 36.35% spent up to $400 on survival kits in the past 12 months.

  • Visual
  • Data

  Breakdown of preparation	%
  Always has survival items on hand in case of an emergency	37.60%
  Doesn't spend money on preparation	34.55%
  Has purchased survival materials only because of recent natural disasters	16.35%
  Has purchased survival materials due to political events and natural disasters	6.35%
  Has purchased survival materials only because of political events	5.15%

  How much do our preppers spend?

  Our survey found that an estimate of more than 1 in 4 American adults spent up to $2,000 on home renovations to prepare for withstanding emergencies.

  Other areas in which our preppers spent money to keep emergencies at bay include:

  • Insurance — 39.40% spent up to $2,000
  • Donations — 32.55% donated up to $400
  • Medical expenses — 37.65% spent up to $5,000

  Perhaps as a result of the colossal amount Americans are spending on emergencies, we estimate that nearly half of American adults have squirreled up to $5,000 into savings to prepare for an emergency.

  What is the gender breakdown of our preppers?

  Let’s take a look at the demographics of those estimated 68 million American preppers who’ve recently purchased survival gear.

  Of those surveyed, 26.96% of women have recently purchased survival gear for either political or natural disaster reasons compared with 28.77% of men. But many people haven’t purchased survival gear because they always have it on hand — including 39.51% of the women and 35.61% of the men.

  Women are slightly less likely than men to wing it in the event of a disaster, with 33.53% of women reporting they’ve resisted dropping money on preparation, compared with 35.61% of men. To prepare for a potential doomsday, an estimated 38.24% of women and 34.39% of men spent up to $400 on survival kits in the past 12 months.

  	Female	Male
  Always has survival items on hand in case of an emergency	39.51%	35.61%
  Doesn’t spend money on preparation	33.53%	35.61%
  Has purchased survival materials due to recent political events and natural disasters	5.59%	7.14%
  Has purchased survival materials solely because of recent natural disasters	16.96%	15.71%
  Has purchased survival materials solely because of political events	4.41%	5.92%

  Source: finder.com

  When it comes to preparing for emergencies, men appear to be slightly more proactive than women, with an estimated 45.39% of women and 47.55% of men putting up to $5,000 into savings in the past 12 months. On the flip side, women seem to be the more generous gender, with 35.59% donating up to $400, compared with only 29.39% of males who’ve done the same.

  Generation

  Millennials lead the way in preparing for the worst, with 38.49% recently purchasing survival gear either because of political or natural disaster headlines. This is followed by Gen Xers at 31.40% and baby boomers at 17.31%.

  From looking at those stats, it might appear as if baby boomers are the least prepared for a doomsday disaster. But perhaps the reason they haven’t recently purchased any survival gear is that a lot of them have long been preparing for it: Baby boomers lead the way (41.28%) in terms of those who haven’t recently purchased survival gear because they already have it on hand. They’re followed by Gen Xers at 37.07% and millennials at 32.79%.

  Even so, when it comes to prepping overall, baby boomers might not be as prepared as other generations, with 41.41% saying they don’t spend any money on prepping. Meanwhile, 31.53% of Gen Xers and 28.72% of millennials would be unprepared in the face of a disaster scenario.

  In the past 12 months, millennials (48.07%) are more than twice as likely than baby boomers (23.57%) to have spent up to $400 on survival kits. Gen Xers come in at 41.42%.

  	Baby boomer	Gen X	Millennial
  Always has survival items on hand in case of an emergency	41.28%	37.07%	32.79%
  Doesn’t spend money on preparation	41.41%	31.53%	28.72%
  Has purchased survival materials due to political events and recent natural disasters	4.13%	8.18%	6.92%
  Has purchased survival materials solely because of recent natural disasters	11.45%	17.28%	22.40%
  Has purchased survival materials solely because of political events	1.73%	5.94%	9.16%

  Source: finder.com

  How is each generation spending on emergencies?

  Compared with other generations, a smaller proportion of baby boomers appears to spend money on emergencies — whether in preparation for survival or as a reaction to headlines. Hands down, millennials lead the way in spending on home renovations, insurance, savings, donations and medical expenses.

  	Baby boomer	Gen X	Millennial
  Up to $2,000 on home renovations	18.24%	30.21%	32.38%
  Up to $2,000 on insurance	33.82%	40.63%	46.03%
  Up to $5,000 put into savings	38.75%	48.02%	55.80%
  Donated up to $400	26.90%	32.59%	41.14%
  Up to $5,000 on medical expenses	32.76%	39.45%	42.36%

  Source: finder.com

  Household income

  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the likelihood of someone spending money on survival gear appears to increase with household income. Of those with a household income of up to $25,000 a year, an estimated 2 in 5 (40.43%) won’t spend any money on survival gear. In comparison, only 1 in 4 (24.59%) people with a household income of $100,000 to $150,000 didn’t spend any money on survival gear.

  What is the emergency money going toward?

  We break down the proportion of each household income group that spent money on survival kits, home renovations, insurance, savings, donations or medical expenses.

  Household income	Survival kits	Home renovations	Insurance	Savings	Donations	Medical expenses
  $0 to $25,000	34.26%	20.00%	32.77%	37.23%	25.11%	33.19%
  $25,001 to $50,000	40.76%	28.32%	42.66%	48.88%	37.31%	38.17%
  $50,001 to $75,000	41.98%	36.08%	47.17%	58.49%	42.69%	43.63%
  $75,001 to $100,000	45.38%	37.82%	50.84%	66.81%	47.06%	44.54%
  $100,001 to $150,000	42.08%	39.34%	47.54%	61.75%	50.82%	39.89%

  Source: finder.com

  • We calculated figures and percentages based on a survey of 2,000 American adults commissioned by finder.com and conducted by global research provider Pureprofile in October 2017.

For all media inquiries, please contact:

Richard Laycock, Insights editor and senior content marketing manager

E: uspr@finder.com

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Written by

Richard Laycock

Lead Editor & Insights Editor

Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based lead editor & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU). See full bio