Home emergency plan statistics show a clear difference between having basic supplies and having a documented evacuation plan. In a CDC report covering 14 states during 2006–2010, 94.8% of households reported a working battery-operated flashlight, while only 21.1% reported a written evacuation plan. The same report measured three-day supplies of food, prescription medication, and water, giving households a useful baseline for reviewing their own preparedness.
Contents
- Key household readiness figures
- Food, medication, and water supplies
- Communication and evacuation equipment
- Differences by sex
- Differences by race and ethnicity
- Differences by age
- Education and employment figures
Key household readiness figures
The CDC’s Household Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies, 14 States, 2006–2010 reported whether households had selected supplies or plans. These are historical survey results for the stated period and geography; they are not a current national estimate.
The broadest household measures were:
- 82.9% had a three-day supply of food.
- 89.7% had a three-day supply of prescription medication.
- 53.6% had a three-day supply of water.
- 94.8% had a working battery-operated flashlight.
- 77.7% had a working battery-operated radio.
- 21.1% had a written evacuation plan.
The source labels all six measures as findings from the CDC report. Together, they describe several distinct parts of a home emergency plan: sustenance, medication continuity, water, lighting, information access, and evacuation preparation. The figures should be read as separate reported percentages, not as a count of households that satisfied every condition.
The comparison below places the measures side by side.
| Preparedness measure | Households reporting it |
|---|---|
| Working battery-operated flashlight | 94.8% |
| Three-day prescription medication supply | 89.7% |
| Three-day food supply | 82.9% |
| Working battery-operated radio | 77.7% |
| Three-day water supply | 53.6% |
| Written evacuation plan | 21.1% |
The contrast between equipment and planning is notable in the historical results. A flashlight was reported by 94.8% of households, but a written evacuation plan by 21.1%. The dataset does not explain why the measures differed, and it does not establish that one measure causes another.
Food, medication, and water supplies
Food and medication were more commonly reported than water in the overall household results. The CDC report recorded a three-day food supply in 82.9% of households and a three-day prescription medication supply in 89.7%. A three-day water supply was reported by 53.6%.
These measures cover different practical needs. Food is a general household reserve, medication is tied to prescription continuity, and water is a separate storage requirement. Because the source reports each percentage independently, the figures cannot show how many households had all three supplies at the same time.
The subgroup figures also vary substantially. By sex, 84.2% of men and 81.8% of women reported a three-day food supply. For prescription medication, the corresponding figures were 90.2% for men and 89.2% for women. Water was reported by 57.2% of men and 50.3% of women.
By age, the reported share with a three-day food supply ranged from 77.8% among adults aged 25–34 to 87.9% among adults aged 55 and older. Medication figures ranged from 79.8% among adults aged 18–24 to 95.8% among adults aged 55 and older. Water figures ranged from 48.4% among adults aged 25–34 to 60.2% among adults aged 55 and older.
Communication and evacuation equipment
The two equipment measures in the CDC report were a working battery-operated flashlight and a working battery-operated radio. Flashlights were reported by 94.8% of households, compared with 77.7% reporting a radio.
Both items support a response during a power outage or other emergency, but the source treats them as separate household characteristics. The flashlight percentage is not a measure of battery availability, brightness, location, or whether every household member could access it. Likewise, the radio percentage does not describe reception, batteries, emergency alerts, or whether the device was tested recently.
The written evacuation-plan figure was 21.1%, much lower than either equipment figure. This result concerns whether a written plan was reported, not whether household members had discussed an evacuation, knew local routes, or had practiced leaving. It also does not measure the quality or completeness of any written plan.
For a household reviewing its own readiness, the historical measures point to separate checks: confirm food, medication, and water reserves; confirm that lighting and information equipment work; and document an evacuation plan. The CDC figures support the distinction between owning an item and recording a procedure, but they do not provide a checklist for a particular household.
Differences by sex
The CDC report included separate reported percentages for men and women. For a three-day food supply, the figures were 84.2% for men and 81.8% for women. For a three-day prescription medication supply, they were 90.2% and 89.2%, respectively. For a three-day water supply, they were 57.2% and 50.3%.
| Measure | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Three-day food supply | 84.2% | 81.8% |
| Three-day prescription medication supply | 90.2% | 89.2% |
| Three-day water supply | 57.2% | 50.3% |
These are reported subgroup percentages from the same CDC source and 2006–2010 measurement period. The dataset provides no margin of error, sample size, or explanation for the subgroup differences, so they should not be treated as evidence that sex determines household preparedness.
Differences by race and ethnicity
The reported food-supply percentages were 84.8% for White respondents, 77.9% for Black respondents, and 75.0% for Hispanic respondents. For prescription medication, the figures were 92.8%, 82.6%, and 69.0%, respectively. Water-supply figures were 52.1% for White respondents, 58.2% for Black respondents, and 55.0% for Hispanic respondents.
The pattern differs by item. White respondents had the highest reported food and medication percentages among the three listed groups, while Black respondents had the highest reported water percentage. The source figures do not identify the economic, geographic, household, or other factors behind these differences.
All three sets of percentages describe respondents in the CDC report’s 14-state survey during 2006–2010. They should not be generalized to every household today or interpreted as a ranking of preparedness overall, because the measures cover only selected supplies and do not include a complete emergency-plan score.
Differences by age
Age-specific results show that the oldest listed group reported the highest percentages for each of the three supply measures. Adults aged 55 and older reported 87.9% for a three-day food supply, 95.8% for a three-day medication supply, and 60.2% for a three-day water supply.
The youngest listed group, adults aged 18–24, reported 79.7% for food, 79.8% for medication, and 53.1% for water. Adults aged 25–34 reported 77.8% for food, 83.7% for medication, and 48.4% for water. Adults aged 35–44 reported 80.8%, 87.7%, and 48.6%, while adults aged 45–54 reported 83.5%, 90.5%, and 52.9% for the same three measures.
| Age group | Food | Medication | Water |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18–24 | 79.7% | 79.8% | 53.1% |
| 25–34 | 77.8% | 83.7% | 48.4% |
| 35–44 | 80.8% | 87.7% | 48.6% |
| 45–54 | 83.5% | 90.5% | 52.9% |
| 55+ | 87.9% | 95.8% | 60.2% |
The age results are descriptive. They do not establish that age caused the reported differences, and they do not measure written evacuation plans or equipment ownership for each age group in the supplied figures.
Education and employment figures
The supplied CDC-labeled figures also include education and employment subgroups. Adults with less than a high school diploma were reported at 26.7% for a three-day food supply, 67.8% for medication, and 88.3% for water. Adults with a high school diploma were reported at 24.8%, 78.6%, and 94.5%, respectively. Adults with more than a high school diploma were reported at 18.6%, 78.8%, and 95.8%.
The food percentages in these education categories are notably lower than the overall household food figure of 82.9%, while the water percentages are higher than the overall water figure of 53.6%. The supplied material does not explain the difference in denominators, subgroup construction, or reporting, so these figures should be presented as reported subgroup results rather than reconciled through unsupported calculations.
For employment status, currently employed adults were reported at 19.5% for a three-day food supply, 79.0% for medication, and 95.3% for water. Unemployed adults were reported at 22.0% for food and 72.5% for medication. No unemployed-adult water percentage was supplied.
These employment and education values are historical, descriptive figures from the CDC-labeled 14-state report for 2006–2010. They do not provide a current national benchmark, a causal explanation, or enough information to calculate how many households had a complete home emergency plan. They are best used as prompts to check each preparedness component separately, especially water storage and written evacuation planning.