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Table HC10.6 Total square footage of single-family homes, 20151

Release date: October 2017
Revised date: May 2018

Number of housing units (million) Total square footage (billion square feet)
  Total
single-family2		 Total3 Heated Cooled
All homes 80.9 201.1 174.0 138.1
Census region and division        
Northeast 12.7 36.0 29.7 17.4
New England 3.5 10.2 8.4 3.5
Middle Atlantic 9.2 25.8 21.3 13.9
Midwest 19.4 53.5 47.3 38.6
East North Central 13.2 36.0 32.4 25.2
West North Central 6.3 17.5 14.9 13.4
South 31.0 72.0 61.9 57.8
South Atlantic 16.1 39.3 32.7 31.3
East South Central 5.2 11.2 9.5 8.3
West South Central 9.7 21.5 19.8 18.1
West 17.8 39.6 35.1 24.2
Mountain 6.0 14.8 13.9 10.0
Mountain North 3.1 8.3 7.7 5.0
Mountain South 2.9 6.5 6.2 5.0
Pacific 11.8 24.8 21.1 14.2
Census urban/rural classification4        
Urban 62.1 152.3 131.7 108.1
Urbanized area 53.7 132.9 114.9 94.8
Urban cluster 8.4 19.4 16.8 13.3
Rural 18.8 48.8 42.3 30.0
Metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area        
In metropolitan statistical area 66.7 168.0 145.2 117.6
In micropolitan statistical area 8.8 21.1 18.3 13.5
Not in metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area 5.3 11.9 10.5 6.9
Climate region5        
Very cold/Cold 29.8 82.4 73.0 49.9
Mixed-humid 22.4 58.2 48.1 43.0
Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 8.0 17.2 14.9 13.3
Hot-humid 15.6 32.4 28.6 27.5
Marine 5.1 10.9 9.3 4.4
Year of construction        
Before 1950 14.7 36.1 29.2 16.6
1950 to 1959 10.3 21.6 18.5 13.1
1960 to 1969 8.9 20.6 17.9 13.6
1970 to 1979 11.4 25.7 22.5 18.4
1980 to 1989 9.7 23.5 20.5 17.5
1990 to 1999 11.4 31.3 27.8 24.4
2000 to 2009 12.0 34.8 30.8 28.2
2010 to 2015 2.5 7.6 6.7 6.3
Number of stories        
One story 47.5 97.6 83.4 67.6
Two stories 29.5 92.3 80.6 63.4
Three or more stories 1.8 5.2 4.5 2.8
Split level 2.1 5.9 5.4 4.3
Not asked (apartments and mobile homes) N N N N
Fuels used for any use (more than one may apply)        
Electricity 80.9 201.1 174.0 138.1
Natural gas 49.9 127.6 111.2 90.4
Propane6 9.2 25.7 22.0 15.8
Wood 11.0 30.0 26.0 18.0
Fuel oil/kerosene 5.1 14.7 11.8 5.8
Distributed solar generation        
Yes 1.5 4.2 3.6 2.9
No 79.4 196.9 170.4 135.2
Not asked (apartments) N N N N
Main space heating fuel        
Natural gas 44.4 115.5 102.4 82.5
Electricity 23.3 51.3 45.7 38.6
Fuel oil/kerosene 4.1 11.9 9.5 4.7
Propane 4.0 11.3 9.9 7.4
Wood 2.9 7.0 6.0 2.5
Do not use heating equipment 2.0 3.5 Q 2.3
Type of air-conditioning equipment used (more than one may apply)        
Use central air-conditioning equipment 57.8 149.8 131.6 129.9
Use individual air-conditioning units 18.1 42.1 35.0 17.9
Do not use air-conditioning equipment 9.3 20.7 17.1 0.0
Fuel used by main water heater        
Natural gas 41.4 105.8 92.6 75.5
Electricity 34.1 79.1 67.8 54.6
Propane 3.3 9.7 8.3 5.6
Fuel oil/kerosene 1.8 5.8 4.6 1.9
Some other fuel 0.2 0.7 0.7 0.5
Indoor light bulbs installed        
Fewer than 20 16.4 34.1 28.6 21.9
20 to 39 21.5 49.1 42.5 31.3
40 to 59 14.6 36.5 31.8 25.4
60 to 79 19.2 50.9 44.1 36.2
80 or more 9.3 30.5 26.9 23.4
Total number of rooms (excluding bathrooms)        
1 or 2 Q Q Q Q
3 1.4 1.9 1.5 1.0
4 5.6 7.9 6.7 4.8
5 12.1 21.6 17.9 13.1
6 18.5 38.7 33.2 25.5
7 15.3 38.7 33.1 25.8
8 12.1 34.5 30.2 24.1
9 or more 15.7 57.5 51.2 43.9
Number of bedrooms        
0 Q Q Q Q
1 1.6 1.9 1.6 1.0
2 13.5 23.1 19.6 13.9
3 40.9 95.2 81.6 63.1
4 19.6 60.9 53.6 44.8
5 or more 5.3 19.9 17.5 15.2
Have a basement        
Yes 35.2 107.8 88.8 65.5
Finished basement 20.6 64.5 55.6 43.4
Unfinished basement 14.6 43.3 33.2 22.1
No 45.7 93.3 85.2 72.6
Not asked (apartments and mobile homes) N N N N
Adequacy of insulation        
Well insulated 27.5 73.6 64.3 53.1
Adequately insulated 40.2 99.4 86.3 69.4
Poorly insulated 12.4 26.8 22.5 15.1
No insulation 0.7 1.2 0.9 0.5
Type of glass in windows        
Single-pane glass 28.0 60.5 51.2 39.1
Double-pane glass 52.0 137.9 120.5 96.9
Triple-pane glass 0.9 2.6 2.3 2.1
Number of household members        
1 member 14.6 30.9 27.0 19.1
2 members 30.8 76.3 65.4 52.9
3 members 14.2 35.9 31.0 24.8
4 members 12.0 32.9 29.2 24.5
5 members 5.7 14.8 12.9 10.5
6 or more members 3.6 10.2 8.5 6.2
2015 annual household income        
Less than $20,000 9.4 18.0 14.9 8.9
$20,000 to $39,999 17.2 36.6 31.5 22.7
$40,000 to $59,999 13.4 29.9 25.3 20.4
$60,000 to $79,999 11.4 29.0 24.9 19.4
$80,000 to $99,999 8.0 20.3 17.9 14.7
$100,000 to $119,999 6.9 20.0 17.7 15.0
$120,000 to $139,999 4.7 14.1 12.3 10.6
$140,000 or more 9.8 33.2 29.4 26.4
Ownership of housing unit7        
Owned 66.2 173.9 151.0 121.4
Rented 14.7 27.1 23.0 16.7

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.
4Housing 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.
5These 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).
6Households that use propane only for outdoor grilling are excluded from the RECS estimate of households using propane.         
7Rented 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.