Cooking can be a fun experience or a chore, but how do Americans really feel about cooking? CivicScience has been polling Americans on whether they find joy in cooking since 2022, and the latest results are in: One-third (33%) of U.S. adults 18+ say they do find joy in cooking. while a plural (39%) ‘sometimes’ do. Conversely, 23% are firm that they do not find any joy in cooking, and 5% have no opinion either way.

Breaking down cooking sentiment by age reveals interesting generational divides. For example, Americans aged 30-44 are the most likely to get the most joy from cooking, by at least five percentage points over their counterparts (excluding ‘no opinion’). Gen Z adults are by far the most likely to get gratification from cooking at least ‘sometimes’ and the least likely to say they get none at all.  Additionally, men are slightly more likely than women (28% to 26%, respectively) to say yes they do get joy from cooking.

Demographics are just scratching the surface of CivicScience data. Let’s take a deeper dive into the lifestyle and behavior of those who say they get joy from cooking and how it compares with those who say they get none:

• Favorite Character from “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”: Those who say ‘yes, I do’ find joy in cooking outpace those who don’t in saying their favorite character from the original Star Wars movie is Luke Skywalker (25% to 13%, respectively, excluding ‘no opinion’). Meanwhile, those who report not getting any joy from cooking are much more likely to say Han Solo is their favorite (35% to 20%).

• Team Sports Most Enjoyed Watching: A majority of both those who find joy in cooking and those who don’t say they most like to watch football, although those who don’t find joy in cooking are 10 points more likely to enjoy watching football the most (61% to 51%, respectively). Cooking lovers over-index in their preference for watching baseball (22% to 16%) and basketball (8% to 6%). The two segments are equally as likely to enjoy watching hockey (13%).

• Preferred Ice Cream Holder: When asked whether they prefer their ice cream in a cup, cone, or milkshake (excluding ‘other’ and ‘no opinion), those who find joy in cooking are notably more likely to say they want their ice cream in a cup (43% to 31%) or a cone ( 37% to 31%). Americans who don’t get joy from cooking, on the other hand, are 20 points more likely to say their ice cream holder of choice is a milkshake (39% to 19%).

• Importance of Customer Loyalty Programs: Those who get joy from cooking are nearly 4X as likely as those who don’t to say customer loyalty programs are ‘very’ important when choosing where to shop / which brands to purchase (36% to 10%).  They are also 12 points more likely to report being ‘very’ loyal to their favorite brands.

• Biggest Challenge When Making Dinner: When it comes to the biggest challenge they face when preparing dinner, those who get joy from cooking are much more likely to say ‘finding something everyone will like’ (32% to 21%). They also outpace in citing ‘making something healthy’ (24% to 21%). Those who say they do not get joy out of cooking are more likely to say their biggest struggle with dinner is ‘making something quickly (30% to 21%).

  Where do you stand when it comes to cooking? Take this poll now and see how you compare with others who share your sentiment:

Cooking sentiment may be a simple measure, but it casts a wide net. The lifestyle patterns that emerge on either side of it paint a vivid picture of two distinct ways of moving through everyday American life.

Love taking polls? Sign up to participate in the Poll of the Day here.

This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.