It’s supposed to be the best week of the year: the bags are packed, the dog is at the kennel, and you’ve finally got a stretch of days to do absolutely nothing. But for an awful lot of homeowners, the moment the front door clicks shut, a quiet dread starts creeping in. According to new research, one in five homeowners say they simply can’t fully relax on vacation because they’re too busy worrying about their home. And it’s not just a little nagging thought that fades once you hit the highway. The anxiety starts almost immediately. In fact, 39 percent of people admit the worry begins before they’ve even left the driveway. By thirty minutes into the trip, nearly two in three—65 percent—are asking themselves the same familiar questions: Did I lock the door? Did I close the garage? Did I leave the stove on? It’s the kind of mental loop that follows you for days. The research found that homeowners check in on their house about four times a day, either mentally or through an app, while they’re away. But here’s the strange part: checking in doesn’t always bring relief. Somehow, seeing that everything is fine gives you a minute of peace, and then the worry somehow finds its way back. It’s exhausting, and it turns what should be a carefree getaway into a restless, half-present experience.
What’s really behind this nagging fear that refuses to let go? It isn’t just about the mail piling up or the plants needing water. The survey, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of SimpliSafe, found that the biggest home-safety worry for 28 percent of people is the physical safety of their family and pets. That makes sense: your home isn’t just a building, it’s where the people you love sleep, eat, and live. A quarter of respondents say break-ins or burglary are the top concern on their minds, and it isn’t a hypothetical fear for many. Almost one in five homeowners—18 percent—say they’ve experienced an attempted or successful break-in within the past year. That’s a startling number, and it explains why so many of us can’t shake the feeling that something might be wrong. More than half of those who worry about unlocked doors or appliances left on—59 percent—say the uncertainty has actually driven them to turn the car around and drive all the way back home just to check. It sounds a little over-the-top, but it’s incredibly human. When the unknown sits there gnawing at you, the only way to silence it is to go see for yourself. Deep down, we know the house is probably fine, but the mind doesn’t always listen to logic when it comes to the place we call home.
So how are people coping with all this anxiety? Most are turning to technology, hoping a little digital reassurance can quiet the noise. The survey found that 63 percent of homeowners have some type of security system installed, and of those, 73 percent monitor it themselves. They’re not just installing the system and forgetting about it—they’re actively checking cameras, sensors, and alerts throughout the day. Among those with a home monitoring system, 59 percent have a video doorbell, and it’s become the most relied-upon piece of the setup for 32 percent of people. There’s something very comforting about being able to see exactly what’s happening at your front door from a beach chair thousands of miles away. But here’s where confidence and reality start to diverge. Half of all homeowners believe a doorbell camera alone provides enough protection against a break-in. That belief, however, may be misplaced. Nearly half—48 percent—of those who experienced a security incident while away only found out about it after they returned home. The camera may have captured what happened, but it didn’t stop it from happening in the first place. As Rebecca Zavin, chief product and technology officer at SimpliSafe, puts it: “Video doorbells have changed how people keep an eye on their homes, but visibility isn’t the same as protection. When real trouble arises, whether it’s package theft or an intruder, most traditional video doorbells simply record the event and notify the homeowner, who may miss the alert or be unable to respond. A more proactive approach is to choose a video doorbell backed by professional monitoring, enabling trained agents to intervene through the camera in real time and request police dispatch if necessary.”
The thing is, people already sense this limitation, even if they use the cameras religiously. Thirty-five percent of those with a doorbell camera admit that their device only passively records a situation rather than actively responding to one. It’s basically a witness that takes notes but doesn’t call for help. And for those who are trying to be their own security team, the cracks are easy to spot. Nearly four in ten—38 percent—of those with a self-monitored security system have missed an alert simply because they weren’t available to see it. You can’t watch your phone every second of the day; you have a job, a family, a life. Another 39 percent have missed an alert because it got swallowed up by the endless stream of other notifications. A package delivery alert looks a lot like a security alert when they all pile up together, and before you know it, the important one is lost in the noise. This is the fundamental problem with self-monitoring: it puts all the pressure on you. You become the dispatcher, the responder, and the worrier all at once. It’s no wonder homeowners are exhausted. They’re doing the work of a security company, but they’re doing it in between meetings and dinner and sleep, and no human being can be on call like that around the clock without missing something.
That’s likely why the survey found such a strong desire for a real human voice on the other end of the line. When asked who they want involved if a genuine threat is identified, 52 percent of homeowners said they’d want a human agent to step in. Only 36 percent would trust AI to act on its own. That doesn’t mean people are anti-technology—far from it. They see the value in smart detection and fast alerts, but they want a person who can use judgment in a crisis. For a great many homeowners, peace of mind isn’t just about getting a notification; it’s about knowing someone is watching the notification and can do something meaningful with it. Forty-six percent say a system monitored by trained professionals gives them the most peace of mind, compared to 37 percent who feel best about self-monitoring and just 17 percent who put their full trust in AI. Zavin sees this in the data and hears it from customers daily: “AI can be incredibly valuable in security because it can detect and surface activity quickly. But when a potential threat becomes a real emergency, human judgment is irreplaceable. The data from this survey reinforces what we hear from customers every day: people are open to AI playing an important role in identifying potential threats, but when something is actually happening at their home, they want a trained professional involved in making the call.” It’s a subtle but important shift. People don’t want less technology; they want technology that amplifies human care, not replaces it.
At the end of the day, home security isn’t really about motion sensors or camera resolution. It’s about the feeling you carry in your chest when you’re miles away and a storm rolls through, or when you see an unfamiliar car on your street on the camera feed. It’s about wanting to protect the space where your children learned to walk and where your dog curls up on the couch. The survey paints a picture of a nation of homeowners who care deeply—maybe too deeply—about what they’ve left behind. It also shows that clever devices alone don’t cure that anxiety. What helps is having a system that doesn’t put the burden entirely on your shoulders, one that offers a real person to call when things feel wrong. The study, commissioned by SimpliSafe and conducted online by Talker Research between August 17 and August 24, 2026, surveyed 2,000 U.S. homeowners aged 18 to 75 who have internet access. It reminds us that behind every statistic is a person standing in a hotel room, refreshing their camera feed one more time before trying to enjoy dinner. Maybe the real vacation isn’t just about getting away from work—it’s about getting away from worry. And the best security system, whether that’s a human agent, a smart camera, or some combination of both, is the one that finally lets us close our eyes, take a deep breath, and trust that home is safe until we’re ready to walk back through the door.
