The obsession for dystopian content helps explain the massive surge in interest in prepping across the globe. In a recent Finder survey, roughly one third of the US adult population now identifies as preppers—spending some $11 billion annually to hedge against a breakdown of society. That figure is up from just six percent 15 years ago. While many might think prepping is a male behavior, nearly one-quarter of adult American women also prep in some form.

When it comes to age groups who are bracing for doomsday or disastrous events, Gen Z (people born between 1997 and 2012) are the folks most likely to prep—fully 40 percent of them identify as such. Regionally, the west and south contain the highest percentages of preppers in America.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports a 50 percent increase from just 2017 to 2020 in people capable of up to 31 days of self-reliance. While preppers tend to live outside big cities, the number near urban areas is far larger than previously thought and growing according to new FEMA estimates.

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