Go ahead and celebrate Black Friday. But 'Brown Friday' is here − and it’s disgusting.

Betty Lin-Fisher, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read

Forget Black Friday. Let's talk about Brown Friday.

It's not exactly what you think, but it has to do with what you think. And now you probably can't stop thinking about it.

Brown Friday is so dubbed because it is the day of the year when calls to plumbers spike.

The biggest culprit for the plumbing emergencies is clogged kitchen sinks from extra Thanksgiving food scraps, but all pipes are connected in a house, said Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angi, formerly Angie's List.

National searches for "emergency plumbing" on Yelp the day after Thanksgiving last year surged 65% compared with the two weeks before Thanksgiving. Yelp has ranked the 20 most clogged cities in the U.S. based on that data.

Why is it called Brown Friday?

"Based on clogged sinks and overflowing toilets, Brown Friday is consistently one of the plumbing industry's most busy times of the year," Tara Lewis, Yelp's vice president of community expansion and trends, told USA TODAY.

Added Hicks: "It absolutely has to do with what you think it is. So whether you're having kitchen sink drain issues or toilet problems or garbage disposal problems, we overload our houses at Thanksgiving and sometimes it doesn't work out."

In Angi's first Brown Friday Survey, 40% of plumbing issues after Thanksgiving are caused by clogged kitchen sinks, often from food waste. And 26% of respondents reported experiencing plumbing issues after hosting a Thanksgiving meal.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said they take proactive steps to prevent plumbing issues during the holiday.

"People are just using everything more," Hicks told USA TODAY. "Maybe they'll use one bathroom in their house typically, and they're using two or three when the whole family shows up, or they've just got so much cooking going on that they are overdoing it in the kitchen and that can result in problems."

If you do have to call a plumber on Brown Friday or during the holiday weekend, be prepared to pay some premium rates, Hicks said.

Here's the 20 most-clogged cities in the U.S.

Yelp analyzed millions of data points on its service for plumbing-related searches during the Brown Friday time period to rank the top 20 most clogged-up cities. To come up with its rankings, Yelp looked at 2023 searches two weeks before the holiday, on Thanksgiving Day and two weeks after.

Los Angeles won the top spot, becoming the de facto clogged capital of the U.S. with a 73% increase in plumbing searches during the Brown Friday time frame, according to Yelp.

Searches rose sharply in Los Angeles particularly for services like “plumbing repair” (up 400%), “affordable plumbing” (up 300%), “drain cleaning services” (up 175%), and “emergency plumbing” (up 100%). Portland, Oregon, topped the list last year with a 23% increase. This year, they didn't make the top 20, Lewis said.

Rounding out the top five most clogged cities were: Miami (up 37%), Nashville (up 26%); Sacramento, California (up 24%); and Baltimore (up 23%).

The next most-clogged spots at numbers six through 10 are: Las Vegas (up 21%), Minneapolis (up 21%); Providence, Rhode Island (up 21%); San Francisco (up 19%); and San Diego (up 18%).

Next for spots 11 through 15 are: San Jose, California (up 17%); Charlotte, North Carolina (up 17%); Phoenix (up 16%); Riverside, California (up 16%); and Boston (up 16%).

Rounding out the spots,16 through 20, for most-clogged cities are: Pittsburgh (up 15%); Orlando, Florida (up 14%); Houston (up 12%); Philadelphia (up 12%); and St. Louis (up 11%).

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Tips to avoid a Brown Friday call to the plumber

Here are tips from Hicks and Yelp:

  • Limit what you put down your kitchen sink: There's a lot of grease associated with Thanksgiving meal preparation, said Hicks. Don't put that down the drain. Also, don't use the garbage disposal as your main way of getting rid of food after the holiday.

  • Encourage guests to use the bathrooms appropriately: Make sure you've got trash cans in the bathroom so people aren't putting things they shouldn't down your toilet, which could lead to bigger problems, Hicks said.

  • If you're having a plumbing emergency, take these steps: While you wait for the plumber to come, avoid using the backed-up drain and use a bucket to remove any standing water, Hicks said. Know where your main water shutoff is for the house and turn off the water to avoid further damage, she said.

  • Spread out water usage: Try to stagger tasks and allow time between dishwashing, laundry, and showering, to avoid overloading the plumbing system, according to Yelp.

  • Check the weather: If freezing temperatures are expected, you can prevent potential issues by allowing faucets to drip slightly to avoid freezing pipes that can burst, according to Yelp.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Plumbers love Black Friday. Here's why.

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