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Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)

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Table HC9.6 Household demographics of U.S. homes by climate region, 20151

Release date: February 2017
Revised date: May 2018

Number of housing units (million)
Climate region3
  Total U.S.2 Very cold/
cold
Mixed-humid Mixed-dry/
Hot-dry
Hot-humid Marine
All homes 118.2 42.5 33.5 12.7 22.8 6.7
Number of household members            
1 member 28.7 10.9 7.9 2.8 5.9 1.1
2 members 42.7 15.4 12.1 4.4 8.4 2.5
3 members 19.4 7.2 5.7 2.0 3.4 1.2
4 members 15.5 5.1 4.5 1.8 3.0 1.1
5 members 7.2 2.3 2.1 0.9 1.5 0.4
6 or more members 4.6 1.7 1.3 0.7 0.7 0.3
Children under 18 in household            
Yes 37.7 13.1 10.8 4.4 7.1 2.4
No 80.5 29.4 22.7 8.4 15.7 4.3
2015 annual household income            
Less than $20,000 22.9 8.0 6.9 2.6 4.5 0.9
$20,000 to $39,999 27.3 10.2 7.4 2.6 5.9 1.2
$40,000 to $59,999 18.4 6.4 5.5 1.8 3.8 0.9
$60,000 to $79,999 15.2 6.1 4.0 1.5 2.7 0.9
$80,000 to $99,999 9.7 3.8 2.4 0.9 1.9 0.6
$100,000 to $119,999 8.1 2.9 2.0 1.2 1.4 0.6
$120,000 to $139,999 5.4 1.9 1.7 0.5 0.8 0.4
$140,000 or more 11.2 3.1 3.7 1.6 1.8 1.1
Ownership of housing unit4            
Owned 74.5 28.1 21.5 6.3 14.3 4.4
Rented 43.7 14.4 12.0 6.4 8.6 2.3
Payment method for energy bills            
All paid by household 105.8 37.6 29.1 11.4 21.4 6.2
Some paid by household, some included in rent or condo fee 6.1 2.6 2.2 0.7 0.4 Q
All included in rent or condo fee 5.5 2.0 1.9 0.6 0.8 0.2
Some other method 0.9 0.3 Q Q Q Q
Age of householder5            
Younger than 25 years 6.0 2.2 2.2 0.7 0.8 Q
25 to 34 years 18.0 6.6 5.0 2.2 3.2 0.9
35 to 44 years 18.5 6.3 5.2 2.5 3.4 1.3
45 to 54 years 21.7 7.3 6.7 2.3 4.1 1.2
55 to 64 years 24.4 9.3 6.6 2.1 4.9 1.4
65 to 74 years 17.5 6.2 4.8 1.8 3.7 1.0
75 years or older 12.1 4.6 3.0 1.2 2.6 0.7
Ethnicity of householder5            
Hispanic or Latino 15.0 3.7 2.3 3.6 4.4 1.0
Not Hispanic or Latino 103.2 38.8 31.2 9.2 18.4 5.7
Race of householder5, 6            
White 95.4 37.0 25.2 10.3 17.8 5.1
Hispanic or Latino 13.8 3.4 2.1 3.3 4.0 0.9
Not Hispanic or Latino 81.6 33.6 23.2 6.9 13.7 4.2
Black or African American 13.6 3.3 5.5 0.9 3.6 0.3
Hispanic or Latino 0.5 Q Q Q Q Q
Not Hispanic or Latino 13.1 3.2 5.4 0.8 3.5 0.3
Asian 4.9 1.0 1.6 1.0 0.6 0.7
American Indian or Alaska Native 1.3 0.6 Q Q Q Q
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.4 Q Q Q Q Q
More than one race 2.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.5 0.3
Typical number of weekdays someone is at home            
0 days a week 19.5 7.0 5.4 2.0 4.0 1.0
1 day a week 9.0 3.0 2.5 1.2 1.8 0.6
2 days a week 12.0 4.3 3.1 1.4 2.6 0.6
3 days a week 6.9 2.4 2.2 0.8 1.1 0.3
4 days a week 5.3 1.7 1.3 0.4 1.3 0.6
5 days a week 65.5 24.0 19.0 6.8 12.0 3.6

1Housing characteristics data were collected between August 2015 and April 2016.
2Total U.S. includes all 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.
3These 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).
4Rented includes households that occupy their primary housing units without paying rent.
5A householder is a person in whose name the home is owned or rented. These characteristics refer to the householder that completed the RECS questionnaire.
6Householders were permitted to select more than one racial category to describe themselves. These householders are only included as More than one race.

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.