Where Do We Live - Housing Trends: But Small Must Do

Trends are towards bigger houses, but most of the population continues to live in the housing built over many decades of the past. The graphic displays the 1997 housing stock (built at any time) by percent of total units. Some 9% of the units were reported without square footage; they are omitted.

Using a household size of 2.64 persons, the average in 1997, around 20 million people lived in units 600 square feet or less, 56 million in 600 to 999 square feet, and 80 million in 1,000 to 1,599 square foot units. These three groups, around 157 million people, were about 59% of the population.³

The two most spacious groupings — 2,400 to 2,999 square feet and 3,000 square feet and over — represent populations of 13.9 and 10.8 million, together comprising 9% of the population.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy. Energy Information Administration. Office of Energy Markets and End Use. "A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 1997." (November 1999). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1999. New construction data are from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001. Table 938, p. 597.