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Dec 25, 2023

8 Best Vacuums at Walmart in 2023, Tested by Experts

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process. Keep your home spick and span

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Keep your home spick and span with these top-tested options.

No matter how clean you keep your house, it may feel like you're constantly reaching for the vacuum to pick up a stray mess, clean up after your pets or get rid of that never-ending dust. The right vacuum for your home (and floor type) is simply an essential cleaning tool in any house and can help you keep your place in tip-top shape while cutting down on extra cleaning time. From stick vacuums to canister vacuums, each type has its own special features and benefits to consider.

The experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab have been testing vacuums for decades so we know exactly what to look for from top-performing models. We run tests on dozens of vacuums each year to evaluate their ease of use and performance both in our Lab and at home with our consumer testers. We consider factors like how easy it is to turn on and maneuver each vacuum, how comfortable it is to hold, how good of a job it does at picking up various types of debris and pet hair as well as how easy it is to maintain each model. Our experts even serve as members of the ASTM International F11 Vacuum Cleaner Committee. Our top picks are made up of some of our favorite vacuums across all types from handheld vacuums to robot vacuums, and come from brands we test and trust.

Head to the end of this guide to learn more about how we test vacuums, what to consider when picking out the right vacuum for you at Walmart and why you can trust the experts at Good Housekeeping.

The Shark Ninja is our best vacuum pick among all the vacuums on the market. We particularly like that this bagless vacuum features a two-brush-roll system, which makes it possible to pick up all kinds of dirt, debris and pet hair from different surfaces including deep inside your carpets and on your hardwood floors. The self-cleaning brush roll means you don't have to worry about manually pulling clogged pet hair from the brush after every use, and the Oder Neutralizer Tech helps keep any smells securely inside the vacuum, according to the brand.

We also like the ability to turn this model into a portable canister cleaner for versatility, making it easier to clean all of those hard-to-reach places like furniture, shelving and stair treads. A few other benefits include the HEPA filter that traps dust and allergens, powerful suction and LED headlights that illuminate dirt and hair so you never miss a spot.

Get a deep clean at an affordable price with this powerful pick. While we haven't tested this exact model, we've tested a variety of other Bissell models. We particularly appreciate this vacuum for its 6-foot hose that's great for cleaning hard-to-reach places and crevices in stairs, its foot-pedal on/off button and its large easy-to-empty dust cup. It is also an Amazon favorite (and one of our favorite vacuums on Amazon) with close to 16,000 five-star reviews.

It features an automatic power cord rewind, special pet tools to help lift and remove pet hair from a variety of surfaces and five height options for different floor types from carpet to hard floors. Online reviewers particularly like that all of the attachments are easily stored directly on the vacuum so you don't have to worry about finding storage or losing them. Reviewers also found it to feature powerful suction that easily picks up pet hair.

A good vacuum for hardwood floors should be gentle on finishes but tough on dirt. In our testing, we found that this BLACK+DECKER model did a great job of picking up almost 99% of the debris in our Lab analysis, with only a few bits remaining stuck in the wheels after use. We also appreciated that it ran for up to 34 minutes on a single charge, so you can get every room in the house in one go. The dust compactor means you don't have to empty it out too frequently.

As a combo vacuum, it features a removable canister and hose so you can clean tough-to-reach corners. It also performed very well on bare floors, so it's worth a second look if you don't have many carpets to contend with. This vacuum automatically adjusts its suction when it detects carpets to provide a powerful clean to all the surfaces in your home. It also features a LED light that illuminates your floor so you can spot all the dust you may normally overlook.

This one simple product both vacuums and mops, making it a one-stop shop for all your floor cleaning needs. Great for a variety of different surfaces, this vacuum mop nailed all of our tests and comes with an affordable price tag to boot. Not only did it do a great job in our stain removal and wet pickup tests, but it also achieved scored the highest for its clear user guide and had almost perfect scores for our dry debris pickup and cereal and milk pickup test.

We found that this model was able to hold its own against other more expensive vacuum mops, and we like how easy it was to clean even though it did require a few runs of the self-clean cycle. It also features two separate tanks for clean and dirty water to avoid any cross-contamination. It's cordless and rechargeable (running about 25 minutes in our tests) and comes with easy-to-store cleaning solution capsules that do just as good a job of cleaning as liquid cleaners.

If you want something a little more lightweight and portable, this handheld vacuum cleaner can reach into all of those nooks and crannies in your home that you haven't cleaned in years. With a 4-foot hose, you'll be able to reach more out-of-the-way spots in your house from behind the TV stand to underneath the couch. While testing, we found that this vacuum was able to run for 23 minutes on one charge at standard power, and we liked that it was able to pick up all the debris and pet hair in our tests without ever having to be turned up to max power (although we did find some pet hair stuck to the brush tool).

At 3 pounds, it's not the lightest handheld vacuum we've tested, but thanks to its boxy shape and long hose, you can easily set the base down beside you and just hold the hose. This vac earned perfect scores from our at-home testers in six of the seven ease-of-use evaluations, meaning our testers found it comfortable and easy to use. Thanks to its portability, we found it particularly nice for cleaning your car or getting rid of small messes quickly.

Suck up all of that pesky pet hair with this powerful vacuum by Bissell. Not only is it our overall favorite vacuum for pet hair that we've tested, but it's also one of the best Bissell vacuums we've ever tested. With a variety of tools to help you get into every corner of your home and a filter that uses Febreze technology to help eliminate odors and keep your vacuumed pet hair from smelling stale, this option is great for pet owners of all kinds.

We particularly like that this vacuum comes with a brush roll that can be turned off with the click of a button, so you don't have to worry about scratches on your sealed hardwood floors. We also like the design of the mess-free dust cup which can be emptied hands-free. It features a unique hair-spooling system and an in-canister tangle-free brush roll inside to help avoid clogs. Two suction options for low- and high-pile carpets also help make cleaning as easy as possible, although some of our testers have found this vacuum to be heavier than they'd like.

For a hands-off approach, the iRobot Roomba S9+ does a great in-between cleaning job for those that want their floors to be sparkling between their usual vacuuming sessions. While we don't necessarily recommend a robot vacuum as your sole source of floor cleaning, this nifty contraption means you won't have to clean nearly as often. While testing, we found this machine to be our favorite robot vacuum for a variety of reasons, including its amazing voice command capabilities that recognize when you ask it to clean around specific things in your house like the couch or coffee table. We were also impressed that its self-cleaning roller brushes didn't clog up with pet hair nearly as much as others with did in our tests.

Of our test messes, this robot vacuum picked up 99% of dry oats, baking soda, nuts, sand and screws in our hardwood floor tests, but it did rank a little bit lower when cleaning carpet. We also found that it cleaned more thoroughly near the charging base than any other robot vacuum we tested, and the self-emptying automatic dirt disposal makes cleaning up after it as little work as possible. This model was particularly noisy, so it might not be a great pick if you have a skittish pet or plan to run it while sleeping.

In the market for something a little more lightweight and portable? The Dyson V15 is a great option. If storage space is limited, this slim design won't take up too much room in the broom closet. At just 6.8 pounds, it's lightweight and still packs a punch, making it perfect for those who want the convenience of cordless cleaning and don't want to lug around a full-size vacuum. We were particularly impressed by its suction power and illuminating laser light that helps you see dirt on dark surfaces that you may have missed the first time around.

It earned a spot in our Cleaning and Organizing Awards due to its ability to get into every corner and crevice of your home and its plethora of useful attachments like the Stubborn Dirt brush and Laser Slim Fluffy Cleaner Head. In our testing, we appreciated how easy it was to use this vacuum, especially with the addition of the clear display that showed the battery life and the particle pickup. It shows both the size of the particles you're picking up and the percentage of particles of each size. Plus, our at-home testers gave it a whopping 4.95 out of 5 stars and said they would all continue using it in their own homes.

The experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab test every type of vacuum cleaner on the market. From robot vacuums to vacuums for hardwood floors, we follow ASTM International industry standard test methods to run Lab tests to help find the best products on the market. Each vacuum we consider is put through the same thorough testing process that includes the following steps:

✔️ Vacuum type: One of the first things to consider is what type of vacuum you want. While corded upright vacuums are great for endless vacuuming since you don't need to rely on battery life, they have a limited distance they can travel from the outlet. They clean particularly well on hard flooring and medium- to high-pile carpets and are able to stand up on their own but will take up more space than their stick vacuum counterparts. Stick vacuums are better for small spaces and hard flooring or low-pile carpets. Since they're smaller, they're easier to store but also won't be able to hold as much dust and debris in their dustbins at one time. Hand vacuums make it possible to clean up all those tight spaces like shelving, car interiors and tight staircases but you can't vacuum a whole room with one. Canister vacuums are easier to carry up and down stairs than uprights and work best on hard flooring and low-pile carpet unless they come with a power nozzle attachment for cleaning deep-pile carpets which expands their versatility.

✔️ Your flooring: Those with both carpet and hard flooring will want vacuums that can easily transition between them. Likewise, if you have high-pile carpets, you'll want a machine that won't have trouble getting deep into the fibers to remove all the dirt and debris.

✔️ Attachments: Pet owners will find it beneficial to have a motorized pet attachment to ensure that you can pick up every single stray hair from your furry friend. Those with heavy furniture or detailed interior design set-ups will appreciate a crevice tool that can help vacuum dust from behind your couch and in tight spaces like shelving. If you have more delicate items and areas, dusting brushes and upholstery attachments will do the trick.

In her role as Executive Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home and Cleaning Lab, Carolyn Forté has tested all types of major home appliances, including vacuum cleaners. She's tested and reviewed hundreds of vacuum cleaners over the past 40 years and is a member of the ASTM Committee on vacuum cleaners. In her role as Good Housekeeping's Home Care & Cleaning Lab Reviews Analyst, Jodhaira Rodriguez has been testing and reviewing vacuum cleaners since 2021.

To create this guide, GH Institute analyst Jamie Spain worked with Carolyn and Jodhaira to compile research and vet picks for the best vacuum cleaners.

Jamie (she/her) is a parenting and pets reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she spends her time testing, researching and writing about pet and family products. Prior to starting at GH in 2021, she worked at BuzzFeed and People, covering a combination of product reviews and lifestyle content. She's a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and psychology and a master’s degree in journalism.

Carolyn Forté brings more than 40 years of experience as a consumer products expert to her role as executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Care and Cleaning Lab. Using deep analytical testing and writing expertise in appliances, cleaning, textiles and organizational products, she produces cleaning and home care advice for GH, has authored numerous books and bookazines for the brand and partners with the American Cleaning Institute to co-produce the Discover Cleaning Summits. She holds a bachelor's degree in family and consumer sciences from Queens College, City University of New York.

Jodhaira (she/her) is a product reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Home Care & Cleaning Lab, where she tests and writes about home appliances, cleaning products and cleaning tips. Prior to joining GH in 2021, she graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor’s degree in forensic science and spent two years as an analyst in an environmental lab in Queens.

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