Man Alive Reference Desk
U.S. Apparel Shopping Statistics
Eight current, citable facts about apparel spending, clothing-store sales, and online retail in the United States.
Last updated August 21, 2026. Each figure below links to its original public source.
What this covers
The useful numbers, without the made-up market sizing.
Graphic T-shirts are part of a wider apparel market, but there is no single official government series for graphic tees alone. This page sticks to the most relevant public benchmarks: how much Americans spend on apparel, how clothing stores are performing, and how much retail now happens online.
$340.2B
U.S. retail e-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2026.
The Census Bureau's seasonally adjusted estimate covers all retail e-commerce, not apparel alone.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, Q2 2026 ↗+5.3%
Year-over-year increase in U.S. retail e-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2026.
The comparison uses seasonally adjusted sales from the second quarter of 2025.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, Q2 2026 ↗$2.0T
U.S. total retail sales in the second quarter of 2026.
The Census Bureau reported $1.99 trillion in seasonally adjusted retail sales for the quarter.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, Q2 2026 ↗$179.2B
Sales at U.S. clothing and clothing accessories stores from January through July 2026.
This is the Census Bureau's unadjusted year-to-date estimate for the store category.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade, July 2026 ↗+5.2%
Year-over-year increase in clothing and clothing accessories store sales through July 2026.
The comparison is against the same January-to-July period in 2025.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade, July 2026 ↗$2,001
Average annual spending on apparel and services per U.S. consumer unit in 2024.
A consumer unit is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' household-like spending unit, not an individual shopper.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 2024 ↗Methodology and sources
How to use these figures.
These are official U.S. retail and consumer-spending figures, selected because they are public, dated, and easy to verify. They describe broad apparel and retail activity, not Man Alive Apparel sales, the entire graphic-tee market, or an estimate of any one shopper's behavior.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales, Second Quarter 2026 ↗
Released August 21, 2026. Used for online sales, online share, e-commerce growth, and total retail sales.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade, July 2026 ↗
Released August 14, 2026. Used for year-to-date clothing and clothing accessories store sales and growth.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures, 2024 ↗
Released September 9, 2025. Used for average consumer-unit apparel and services spending.
Cite this page
A stable reference for apparel and retail context.
Suggested citation: Man Alive Apparel. “U.S. Apparel Shopping Statistics.” Updated August 21, 2026. /apparel-shopping-statistics
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