Research desk

U.S. women's apparel shopping statistics

A sourced reference for writers, retailers, and everyday shoppers who want a clearer picture of apparel spending, retail sales, and textile waste in the United States.

Last reviewed: November 14, 2026. Every figure below names its source and data year.

Faith, Family and Fun is a women's boutique, so we built this page around the broader apparel facts that help put a real shopping category in context. These figures do not measure faith-inspired or western apparel on their own. They are U.S. benchmarks from public agencies, presented with the dates and limits that matter when you quote them.

$2,010

Average annual spending on apparel and services

In 2025, the average U.S. consumer unit spent $2,010 on apparel and services, up 0.4% from 2024.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 2025

$655

Average household spend on women's apparel

U.S. households spent an average of $655 on women's apparel for ages 16 and over in 2023. This is the latest category detail published in this BLS feature.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Apparel data in fashion, 2025

$208

Average household spend on women's footwear

U.S. households spent an average of $208 on women's footwear in 2023.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Apparel data in fashion, 2025

$218.3B

Clothing and accessories store sales, January through September

U.S. clothing and clothing-accessories stores recorded $218.265 billion in unadjusted sales during the first nine months of 2026. The figure is not adjusted for price changes.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, September 2026

+5.3%

Year-over-year clothing and accessories store sales growth

The Census Bureau reported that unadjusted year-to-date sales for clothing and clothing-accessories stores were 5.3% higher than the same period in 2025.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, September 2026

17.03M

Tons of textiles generated in U.S. municipal waste

The EPA estimated 17.03 million tons of textiles entered the U.S. municipal solid-waste stream in 2018. This is the agency's latest published textiles series.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Textiles: Material-Specific Data, 2018 series

14.7%

Textile recycling rate

The EPA estimated that 2.51 million tons of textiles were recycled in 2018, equal to a 14.7% recycling rate. Its estimate for clothing and footwear specifically was 13%.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Textiles: Material-Specific Data, 2018 series

4.0M

U.S. retail salesperson jobs

Retail salespersons held about 4.0 million jobs in 2025. Clothing, accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers accounted for 17% of the industry's largest employer groups.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Retail Sales Workers, 2025 employment data

How to read these figures

Useful context, without overstating the numbers.

Spending surveys describe average consumer-unit or household spending, not every woman's personal shopping budget. Retail sales reflect dollars sold, and the Census figures shown here are not adjusted for price changes. Textile figures are the latest EPA series, but their data year is 2018, so they should be used as a historical benchmark rather than a current forecast.

For a reliable quotation, keep the data year attached to the number and link to the original source below.

Methodology and sources

How this reference is maintained

This page uses publicly available U.S. government data only. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes annual household spending and employment data. The Census Bureau releases monthly retail-sales estimates. The Environmental Protection Agency publishes the most recent national textiles waste series. We will review this page monthly, and update a figure sooner when its source publishes a newer release.

Cite this page

Faith, Family and Fun. “U.S. Women's Apparel Shopping Statistics.” Last reviewed November 14, 2026. https://faithfamilyandfunstore.website/apparel-shopping-statistics

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