When it comes to residential snow removal, most Americans take a do-it-yourself approach.
A YouGov poll found that most Americans (59%) who have a driveway and experience snow where they live choose to remove it themselves. Two-thirds of men (67%) choose to clear snow from the driveway by hand, compared to half (50%) of women in the same circumstance. Women (23%) are twice as likely as men (10%) to have someone else shovel for free, such as a partner or neighbor.
One in 10 Americans (10%) pay someone to remove snow from the driveway, while one in eight (12%) just wait for the snow to melt.
Most Americans living in the Midwest (58%) and Northeast (57%) — who are more likely than their counterparts in the South and West to experience blizzards and significant winter storms — choose to shovel their own way out. Among those in the West (12%) and South (19%) who have dealt with driveway snow, they are much more likely than those in the Midwest (8%) and Northeast (8%) to just wait for it to melt on its own.
See the toplines from this YouGov poll and sign up to be a part of the YouGov panel
Methodology: 22,391 US adults were asked, “When you need to remove snow from your personal driveway, what is your approach?” Response options: “Remove it yourself,” “Have someone else (e.g. a partner or neighbor) remove it for free,” “Pay for someone else to remove it,” “Wait for it to melt,” “Don’t know,” and “N/A - I either don't have a driveway or get snow where I live.” In the above chart, the sample was rebased to only show those who have a driveway and get snow where they live. The poll was conducted between February 5 - 8, 2021. The responding sample is weighted to be representative of the US population.
Image: Getty
