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Handmade and craft statistics for 2026.

A practical collection of recent U.S. data on art making, textile crafts, custom sewing, and handmade shopping.

Last updated: October 30, 2026

At a glance

Handmade work lives where creativity, skill, and personal meaning meet. The statistics below bring together publicly available data from federal agencies and a major handmade marketplace. Each figure links to its original source and states the reporting year, so it is easy to check and cite.

52%

of U.S. adults reported creating or performing art in the prior 12 months.

The National Endowment for the Arts measured this in its nationally representative 2022 arts-participation survey.

Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 2022 ↗

12%

of U.S. adults said they had woven, crocheted, quilted, needlepointed, knitted, or sewn in the prior 12 months.

Textile making is one of the specific creative activities tracked in the same national survey.

Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 2022 ↗

of U.S. adults reported making woodwork, metalwork, or leatherwork in the prior 12 months.

That is a useful measure of participation across hands-on material crafts beyond fabric work.

Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 2022 ↗

3,602

employer establishments were classified as U.S. sewing, needlework, and piece-goods stores.

The count covers businesses selling new fabrics, yarns, sewing supplies, patterns, and related needlework accessories. It does not represent online-only sellers.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023 ↗

16,290

people were employed as U.S. tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers.

The latest national wage release put the annual mean wage for this occupation at $44,050.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 ↗

30%

of Etsy marketplace gross merchandise sales came from custom or made-to-order merchandise.

Etsy reported the share in its 2024 annual report, a useful signal of the role personalization plays on a major handmade marketplace.

Source: Etsy, Inc., 2024 Annual Report, 2024 ↗

What these figures show

Making by hand is both personal and widespread.

Textile crafts, custom sewing, and made-to-order shopping all have a place in the broader creative economy. National participation data shows that hands-on making remains part of everyday life for millions of adults, while retail, employment, and marketplace figures show the businesses and skilled work that support it.

Methodology and sources

This page uses the newest relevant public figure available from each named source as of October 30, 2026. The numbers describe different parts of handmade and craft activity, so they should not be added together or treated as one market-size estimate.

National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022: nationally representative U.S. adult participation data.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns: employer establishment count for sewing, needlework, and piece-goods stores.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024 occupational wage release: employment and annual mean wage for tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers.
Etsy, Inc., 2024 Annual Report: marketplace information about custom and made-to-order merchandise.

Cite this page

Creative Things By Gen LLC. “Handmade and Craft Statistics: U.S. Facts to Know in 2026.” Updated October 30, 2026. https://creativethingsbygenllc.com/handmade-craft-statistics

When citing a specific number, please link directly to that statistic’s anchor and to the original source listed with it.

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