What is the number of American households owning firearms in the year 2025?
In the United States, the ownership of firearms varies significantly from state to state, with some regions exhibiting rates far above the national average and others falling significantly below. According to recent self-reported survey data, the top states in household firearm ownership are Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming.
Montana leads the pack with an estimated 66.3% of its residents owning firearms, followed closely by Wyoming, which has the highest rate of gun ownership measured as about 66 firearms per 100 residents. On the other hand, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Massachusetts have the lowest rates of household firearm ownership, with only about 14.7% of the population owning firearms.
Comparing these distributions to the national average of about 51% of U.S. households possessing at least one firearm, it is clear that the top states have firearm ownership rates significantly above the national average, while the bottom states fall well below. This distribution reflects a wide disparity across states, with gun ownership roughly 4 times higher in top states like Montana and Wyoming compared to bottom states like Massachusetts and New Jersey.
The average American gun owner reportedly owns between two and five firearms, and American civilians own nearly half of the world’s civilian firearms, emphasising the substantial overall firearms presence in U.S. households.
These figures, based on self-reported survey data, NICS, and NSSF reports, represent trends up to 2025. The data suggests that in 2024, the percentage of American households owning guns was estimated to be between 42% and 52%. The number of U.S. households with at least one firearm is estimated to be 66.5 million, representing approximately 51% of all households.
It is worth noting that the state-level gun ownership is likely undercounted due to reporting restrictions. Moreover, most gun-owning American households (37%) have between two and four firearms, with 66% of U.S. households with guns having more than two firearms and estimated to hold 89% of the entire nation's gun stock.
In contrast, Hawaii has the fewest households with guns among states, while Texas has the largest number of households owning guns. The percentage of American households owning guns decreased from 47% in 1990 to 45% in 2022, but it increased by approximately 55% after COVID.
In conclusion, the data on household gun ownership may reflect lower rates than reality suggests, as there is no official tracking or monitoring of firearm ownership in the United States. Nevertheless, the figures indicate a wide disparity in gun ownership across states, with Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming leading the way in household firearm ownership.
Firearm ownership in the home-and-garden sphere reveals striking variations across states, with Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming demonstrating significantly higher lifestyle trends of gun ownership compared to states like Hawaii, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Interestingly, these contrasting patterns align with the national average, where the top states exhibit rates roughly four times higher than the bottom states in gun ownership.
