Dryer fire statistics: the newest data, 2020 to 2025
In US fire department records for 2020 to 2024, clothes dryers were the equipment involved in 4.6% of residential structure fires where the equipment was identified, and failure to clean was the leading factor, in 31.2% of dryer fires with a known factor. That is our analysis of the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) records FEMA publishes, and it lines up with NFPA's latest national estimate: 13,820 home dryer fires a year in 2014 to 2018, with failure to clean the top factor at 32%.
The short version
- Dryers: 4.3% to 5.0% of residential structure fires with the equipment identified, every year from 2020 to 2025.
- Failure to clean: 31.2% of dryer fires with a known factor, the leading cause.
- Lint was the first thing to ignite in 24.5% of dryer fires where the item was recorded.
- 82.4% started in the laundry area.
- Most common in January to March; least common in September.
Dryer fires by year, 2020 to 2025
| Year | Dryer share of fires with equipment identified | Failure to clean (of known factors) | Lint ignited first (of known) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.7% | 31.6% | 26.2% |
| 2021 | 4.5% | 30.4% | 23.8% |
| 2022 | 4.3% | 32.1% | 24.2% |
| 2023 | 4.8% | 31.1% | 23.4% |
| 2024 | 4.6% | 30.6% | 25% |
| 2025 (partial) | 4.9% | 30.6% | 26.2% |
The share has held between 4.3% and 5.0% for six years, and the failure-to-clean share between 30.4% and 32.1%. Nothing in the newest records suggests the problem is going away. The 2025 figures come from a smaller set of records: FEMA's release notes for the 2025 data say fire departments began moving to NFIRS's replacement, NERIS, during 2025, and that NFIRS was decommissioned in February 2026.
What causes dryer fires
| Factor contributing to ignition | NFIRS records, 2020 to 2024 | NFPA estimate, 2014 to 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to clean | 31.2% | 32% |
| Mechanical failure or malfunction | 22.3% | 27% |
| Electrical failure or malfunction | 9.7% | 16% |
| Heat source too close to combustibles | 4.9% | 6% |
| Equipment overloaded | 3.8% | 3% |
Two different methods, six years apart, give the same answer: failure to clean is the leading factor in about a third of dryer fires. NFPA says it "appears to be mainly lint build-up." The USFA's older 2008 to 2010 data put it at 34 percent.
What ignites first
| Item first ignited | NFIRS records, 2020 to 2024 | NFPA estimate, 2014 to 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Dust, fiber, lint | 24.5% | 27% |
| Clothing not on a person | 20.8% | 25% (clothing) |
| Appliance housing or casing | 12.7% | 12% |
| Other soft goods or wearing apparel | 10.4% | 11% |
| Linen other than bedding | 6.8% | 5% |
Where dryer fires start
82.4% of dryer fires with a recorded area of origin started in the laundry area. The next most common were garages and carports (2.3%), crawl spaces and other substructure areas (1.9%), kitchens (1.4%) and closets (0.9%). Wherever the dryer sits, the code limits on vent length apply.
Houses and apartments
66.5% of the dryer fire records came from one- and two-family homes and 22.8% from multifamily buildings. In a multifamily building, the vent may run through shared walls or up to the roof; see apartment, condo and commercial dryer vent cleaning.
When dryer fires happen
Dryer fires cluster in the colder months: January (9.8%), February (9.3%) and March (10.1%) are the three highest, and September (6.9%) is the lowest. The USFA found the same pattern in 2008 to 2010, with a January peak. An early-fall cleaning clears the vent before the busiest stretch; see how often dryer vents should be cleaned.
Dryer fires by state
The dryer share varies more than twofold between states, from 8.7% in Minnesota to 2.5% in Idaho. Part of that gap can come from how thoroughly each state's departments record the equipment involved, so read state figures as a comparison, not a ranking of risk.
| State | Dryer share | Fire records with equipment identified |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 8.7% | 2,144 |
| Illinois | 8.3% | 6,571 |
| Mississippi | 8.2% | 999 |
| Georgia | 7.8% | 4,352 |
| Nevada | 7.1% | 996 |
| Virginia | 7.1% | 3,445 |
| Kentucky | 6.5% | 1,914 |
| Maryland | 6.4% | 2,064 |
| Michigan | 6.2% | 7,397 |
| California | 5.9% | 9,825 |
| Arkansas | 5.8% | 3,055 |
| Alaska | 5.7% | 926 |
| West Virginia | 5.5% | 1,215 |
| Louisiana | 5.1% | 3,414 |
| Ohio | 5.1% | 13,499 |
| South Carolina | 5.1% | 6,870 |
| Alabama | 5% | 2,868 |
| Connecticut | 4.9% | 1,587 |
| Delaware | 4.9% | 1,132 |
| Iowa | 4.9% | 1,439 |
| Indiana | 4.7% | 2,727 |
| New York | 4.7% | 2,730 |
| Tennessee | 4.7% | 6,769 |
| Wisconsin | 4.5% | 2,663 |
| Arizona | 4.4% | 1,165 |
| Oregon | 4.2% | 2,983 |
| Florida | 4.1% | 10,473 |
| Texas | 4.1% | 12,337 |
| North Carolina | 3.9% | 10,081 |
| Washington | 3.9% | 4,815 |
| New Jersey | 3.8% | 3,497 |
| North Dakota | 3.7% | 1,067 |
| Kansas | 3.6% | 2,118 |
| Massachusetts | 3.6% | 7,673 |
| Missouri | 3.4% | 2,851 |
| Oklahoma | 3.1% | 2,675 |
| Rhode Island | 2.9% | 1,434 |
| Colorado | 2.7% | 3,084 |
| Maine | 2.7% | 1,570 |
| Pennsylvania | 2.7% | 25,839 |
| Idaho | 2.5% | 1,372 |
NFPA's national estimate
For the number of dryer fires nationwide, use NFPA's estimate. NFPA derives it from NFIRS and its own annual survey of fire departments and allocates unknown data proportionally, which a count of raw records cannot do.
| Report | Years | Fires a year | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFPA, Home Dryer Fires (June 2020) | 2014 to 2018 | 13,820 | 7 | 344 | $233 million |
| NFPA, Home Fires Involving Clothes Dryers and Washing Machines (2017) | 2010 to 2014 | 15,970 | 13 | 440 | $238 million |
| USFA, Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings (August 2012) | 2008 to 2010 | 2,900 | 5 | 100 | $35 million |
The 2,900 and 13,820 figures measure different things with different methods. NFPA's 2020 estimate covers "home" fires, including 1,280 confined fires, and allocates fires with unknown or missing data proportionally. The USFA report covers "residential buildings" in 2008 to 2010 and rounds fires to the nearest 100, and it warns that estimates made with different methodologies or data definitions may not be directly comparable. Electric dryers were involved in 78 percent of home dryer fires in NFPA's estimate and gas dryers in 22 percent, which NFPA calls "generally consistent with usage."
What the data says to do
- Clean the lint screen before or after every load (NFPA).
- Clean lint out of the vent pipe once a year, or sooner if clothes take longer than normal to dry (NFPA). Our guide: how to clean a dryer vent.
- Replace plastic or foil venting with rigid, non-ribbed metal duct (USFA).
- Have the interior of the dryer and the venting system serviced and cleaned periodically by qualified service personnel (USFA). See what a professional dryer vent cleaning should cover.
- Do not run the dryer when you leave home or go to bed (NFPA).
- Watch for the warning signs: signs of a clogged dryer vent.
How we analyzed the fire records
We downloaded the NFIRS Public Data Release fire files for 2020 to 2025 from FEMA's OpenFEMA site on September 25, 2026, and counted, for each year, residential structure fires (property use 400 to 499; incident types 111, 113 to 118 and 120 to 123; one record per incident) and those where the equipment involved in ignition was code 811, clothes dryer. Every code was checked against each year's own code lookup table.
- Shares, not counts. NFIRS is a voluntary system, and FEMA states that using raw NFIRS data as a count of fires and associated deaths, injuries and dollar loss is not a proper use of the data. Every figure here is a share.
- Dryer share is taken over fires where the equipment was identified (not blank, undetermined or none): 191,771 records in 2020 to 2024, of which 8,803 involved a clothes dryer.
- Cause and first-ignited shares are taken over dryer fires where the item was recorded, leaving out undetermined, and, for causes, "none," the same way NFPA does.
- Downloads: by year, by month, by state, 2020 to 2024 summary. Free to reuse with a link to this page.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Sources
- FEMA, OpenFEMA, "National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Annual Data", fire files 2020 to 2025, downloaded September 25, 2026: fema.gov
- FEMA and USFA, "About NFIRS & Release Notes 2025", included in the 2025 NFIRS Public Data Release (same download page)
- Vent & Flue analysis of those files: dryer-fires-by-year.csv and the linked files above
- NFPA, "Home Dryer Fires", Marty Ahrens, June 2020, NFPA Index No. 3029: content.nfpa.org
- NFPA, "Home Fires Involving Clothes Dryers and Washing Machines", Richard Campbell, March 2017 (full report): content.nfpa.org
- U.S. Fire Administration, "Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings (2008 to 2010)", Topical Fire Report Series, Volume 13, Issue 7, August 2012: usfa.fema.gov
- NFPA, "Clothes dryer safety" tip sheet: nfpa.org