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Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)

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Table HC10.14 Average square footage of single-family homes, 20151

Release date: October 2017
Revised date: May 2018

Number of housing units (million) Average square footage
per housing unit
Average square footage
per household member
  Total
single-family2
Total3 Heated4 Cooled4 Total3 Heated Cooled
All homes 80.9 2,486 2,151 1,707 918 794 631
Census region and division              
Northeast 12.7 2,838 2,342 1,376 1,052 868 510
New England 3.5 2,917 2,392 1,003 1,124 922 386
Middle Atlantic 9.2 2,808 2,322 1,519 1,026 849 555
Midwest 19.4 2,752 2,433 1,987 1,034 914 747
East North Central 13.2 2,733 2,459 1,913 1,004 904 703
West North Central 6.3 2,791 2,377 2,144 1,102 939 847
South 31.0 2,326 2,000 1,866 872 749 699
South Atlantic 16.1 2,438 2,027 1,944 918 763 732
East South Central 5.2 2,161 1,821 1,602 826 696 612
West South Central 9.7 2,227 2,050 1,877 820 755 691
West 17.8 2,224 1,970 1,362 784 695 480
Mountain 6.0 2,449 2,303 1,654 893 840 603
Mountain North 3.1 2,667 2,484 1,599 927 863 556
Mountain South 2.9 2,220 2,113 1,713 854 813 659
Pacific 11.8 2,108 1,799 1,211 731 624 420
Census urban/rural classification5              
Urban 62.1 2,454 2,122 1,742 897 776 637
Urbanized area 53.7 2,475 2,140 1,767 899 777 642
Urban cluster 8.4 2,318 2,003 1,588 885 765 606
Rural 18.8 2,592 2,247 1,592 990 859 608
Metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area              
In metropolitan statistical area 66.7 2,518 2,175 1,762 915 791 641
In micropolitan statistical area 8.8 2,400 2,081 1,538 949 823 608
Not in metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area 5.3 2,225 1,959 1,299 901 793 526
Climate region6              
Very cold/Cold 29.8 2,770 2,453 1,677 1,034 916 626
Mixed-humid 22.4 2,595 2,143 1,918 952 786 703
Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 8.0 2,153 1,873 1,665 757 658 585
Hot-humid 15.6 2,079 1,835 1,764 792 699 672
Marine 5.1 2,119 1,824 858 747 643 303
Year of construction              
Before 1950 14.7 2,458 1,987 1,133 918 742 423
1950 to 1959 10.3 2,095 1,793 1,275 835 715 508
1960 to 1969 8.9 2,317 2,018 1,533 912 794 603
1970 to 1979 11.4 2,259 1,981 1,621 835 732 599
1980 to 1989 9.7 2,420 2,116 1,806 946 827 706
1990 to 1999 11.4 2,740 2,436 2,132 975 867 759
2000 to 2009 12.0 2,895 2,567 2,344 960 851 777
2010 to 2015 2.5 3,015 2,661 2,489 1,025 905 846
Number of stories              
One story 47.5 2,054 1,755 1,421 808 690 559
Two stories 29.5 3,131 2,732 2,149 1,057 922 725
Three or more stories 1.8 2,945 2,585 1,601 1,090 957 593
Split level 2.1 2,828 2,589 2,065 990 907 723
Not asked (apartments and mobile homes) N N N N N N N
Fuels used for any use (more than one may apply)              
Electricity 80.9 2,486 2,151 1,707 918 794 631
Natural gas 49.9 2,559 2,230 1,812 935 815 662
Propane7 9.2 2,788 2,385 1,718 1,115 954 687
Wood 11.0 2,727 2,366 1,633 966 838 578
Fuel oil/kerosene 5.1 2,894 2,325 1,143 1,062 853 420
Distributed solar generation              
Yes 1.5 2,858 2,448 1,966 954 817 656
No 79.4 2,479 2,145 1,703 917 794 630
Not asked (apartments) N N N N N N N
Main space heating fuel              
Natural gas 44.4 2,601 2,308 1,859 957 849 684
Electricity 23.3 2,207 1,964 1,658 821 730 617
Fuel oil/kerosene 4.1 2,877 2,298 1,137 1,052 840 416
Propane 4.0 2,821 2,460 1,835 1,090 950 709
Wood 2.9 2,393 2,057 860 930 799 334
Do not use heating equipment 2.0 1,740 Q 1,126 586 Q 379
Type of air-conditioning equipment used (more than one may apply)              
Use central air-conditioning equipment 57.8 2,592 2,278 2,248 961 844 833
Use individual air-conditioning units 18.1 2,332 1,938 989 831 691 352
Do not use air-conditioning equipment 9.3 2,219 1,837 0 819 678 0
Fuel used by main water heater              
Natural gas 41.4 2,556 2,237 1,825 933 816 666
Electricity 34.1 2,319 1,988 1,600 864 741 596
Propane 3.3 2,926 2,506 1,692 1,130 968 654
Fuel oil/kerosene 1.8 3,120 2,465 1,022 1,183 935 387
Some other fuel 0.2 3,264 3,234 2,327 1,158 1,147 826
Indoor light bulbs installed              
Fewer than 20 16.4 2,081 1,748 1,336 872 732 560
20 to 39 21.5 2,286 1,980 1,456 920 797 586
40 to 59 14.6 2,505 2,181 1,739 954 830 662
60 to 79 19.2 2,651 2,299 1,889 908 787 647
80 or more 9.3 3,293 2,907 2,520 945 834 723
Total number of rooms (excluding bathrooms)              
1 or 2 Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
3 1.4 1,379 1,092 688 604 479 301
4 5.6 1,401 1,191 847 656 557 397
5 12.1 1,782 1,475 1,079 723 599 438
6 18.5 2,097 1,801 1,382 790 678 521
7 15.3 2,525 2,161 1,682 948 811 631
8 12.1 2,857 2,494 1,990 1,006 878 700
9 or more 15.7 3,669 3,266 2,798 1,162 1,035 886
Number of bedrooms              
0 Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
1 1.6 1,195 1,004 616 761 639 392
2 13.5 1,717 1,452 1,035 811 685 489
3 40.9 2,325 1,995 1,541 895 768 594
4 19.6 3,112 2,739 2,290 988 869 727
5 or more 5.3 3,776 3,320 2,882 997 877 761
Have a basement              
Yes 35.2 3,062 2,522 1,861 1,108 913 673
Finished basement 20.6 3,131 2,698 2,108 1,106 953 745
Unfinished basement 14.6 2,964 2,274 1,514 1,110 852 567
No 45.7 2,042 1,865 1,589 766 700 596
Not asked (apartments and mobile homes) N N N N N N N
Adequacy of insulation              
Well insulated 27.5 2,672 2,334 1,928 989 864 714
Adequately insulated 40.2 2,471 2,145 1,724 919 798 641
Poorly insulated 12.4 2,167 1,818 1,223 772 648 436
No insulation 0.7 1,665 1,210 695 702 510 293
Type of glass in windows              
Single-pane glass 28.0 2,164 1,830 1,399 806 682 521
Double-pane glass 52.0 2,653 2,318 1,865 973 850 684
Triple-pane glass 0.9 2,800 2,464 2,198 1,167 1,027 916
Number of household members              
1 member 14.6 2,119 1,851 1,311 2,119 1,851 1,311
2 members 30.8 2,480 2,126 1,721 1,240 1,063 860
3 members 14.2 2,523 2,175 1,741 841 725 580
4 members 12.0 2,740 2,432 2,042 685 608 511
5 members 5.7 2,609 2,269 1,847 522 454 369
6 or more members 3.6 2,834 2,351 1,728 430 357 262
2015 annual household income              
Less than $20,000 9.4 1,905 1,579 947 813 674 404
$20,000 to $39,999 17.2 2,126 1,834 1,320 891 769 553
$40,000 to $59,999 13.4 2,221 1,885 1,516 874 742 597
$60,000 to $79,999 11.4 2,551 2,190 1,706 905 777 605
$80,000 to $99,999 8.0 2,532 2,233 1,838 899 792 652
$100,000 to $119,999 6.9 2,924 2,585 2,185 937 828 700
$120,000 to $139,999 4.7 2,976 2,586 2,237 953 828 716
$140,000 or more 9.8 3,381 2,994 2,684 1,075 952 853
Ownership of housing unit8              
Owned 66.2 2,627 2,280 1,834 999 867 697
Rented 14.7 1,850 1,568 1,138 604 512 371

1Housing characteristics data were collected between August 2015 and April 2016.
2Total single-family includes all single-family (detached and attached) primary occupied housing units in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Vacant housing units, seasonal units, second homes, military houses, and group quarters are excluded.
3Total square footage includes all basements, finished or conditioned (heated or cooled) areas of attics, and conditioned garage space that is attached to the home. Unconditioned and unfinished areas in attics and attached garages are excluded. The square footage for some housing units was calculated based on measurements taken by the interviewer. For households responding without the presence of an interviewer, square footage was imputed based on characteristics of the housing unit. See 2015 RECS Square Footage Methodology for full details about data collection and processing.
4When calculating average heated and cooled square footage all housing units are considered, including those that are not heated or cooled.
5Housing units are classified using criteria created by the U.S. Census Bureau based on 2010 Census data. Urbanized areas are densely settled groupings of blocks or tracts with 50,000 or more people, while urban clusters have at least 2,500 but less than 50,000 people. All other areas are rural.
6These climate regions were created by the Building America program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
7Households that use propane only for outdoor grilling are excluded from the RECS estimate of households using propane.         
8Rented includes households that occupy their primary housing units without paying rent.

Q = Data withheld because either the Relative Standard Error (RSE) was greater than 50% or fewer than 10 cases responded.
N = No cases responded.

Notes:  Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. See RECS Terminology for definition of terms used in these tables.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Statistics, Forms EIA-457A and EIA-457C of the 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey.