The average American household consisted of 2.51 people in 2023.

Households in the U.S.

As shown in the statistic, the number of people per household has decreased over the past decades.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines a household as follows: “a household includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit as their usual place of residence. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements. (People not living in households are classified as living in group quarters.).”

The population of the United States has been growing steadily for decades. Since 1960, the number of households more than doubled from 53 million to over 131 million households in 2023.

Most of these households, about 34 percent, are two-person households. The distribution of U.S. households has changed over the years though. The percentage of single-person households has been on the rise since 1970 and made up the second largest proportion of households in the U.S. in 2022, at 28.88 percent.

In concordance with the rise of single-person households, the percentage of family households with own children living in the household has declined since 1970 from 56 percent to 40.26 percent in 2022.

The average American family in 2023 consisted of 3.15 persons. Families in the United States According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family. As of 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau counted about 84.33 million families in the United States. The average family consisted of 3.15 persons in 2021, down from 3.7 in the 1960s. This is reflected in the decrease of children in family households overall. In 1970, about 56 percent of all family households had children under the age of 18 living in the household. This percentage declined to about 40 percent in 2020. The average size of a family household varies greatly from state to state. The largest average families can be found in Utah, California, and Hawaii, while the smallest families can be found in Wisconsin, Vermont and Maine.

The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2023, there was an average of 1.94 children under 18 per family in the United States. This is a decrease from 2.33 children under 18 per family in 1960.

Familial structure in the United States

If there’s one thing the United States is known for, it’s diversity. Whether this is diversity in ethnicity, culture, or family structure, there is something for everyone in the U.S. Two-parent households in the U.S. are declining, and the number of families with no children are increasing. The number of families with children has stayed more or less constant since 2000.

Adoptions in the U.S.

Families in the U.S. don’t necessarily consist of parents and their own biological children. In 2021, around 35,940 children were adopted by married couples, and 13,307 children were adopted by single women.

In 2024, 34.59 percent of all households in the United States were two person households. In 1970, this figure was at 28.92 percent. Single households Single mother households are usually the most common households with children under 18 years old found in the United States. As of 2021, the District of Columbia and North Dakota had the highest share of single-person households in the United States. Household size in the United States has decreased over the past century, due to customs and traditions changing. Families are typically more nuclear, whereas in the past, multigenerational households were more common. Furthermore, fertility rates have also decreased, meaning that women do not have as many children as they used to. Average households in Utah Out of all states in the U.S., Utah was reported to have the largest average household size. This predominately Mormon state has about three million inhabitants. The Church of the Latter-Day Saints, or Mormonism, plays a large role in Utah, and can contribute to the high birth rate and household size in Utah. The Church of Latter-Day Saints promotes having many children and tight-knit families. Furthermore, Utah has a relatively young population, due to Mormons typically marrying and starting large families younger than those in other states.

In 2021, the average size of households in Utah was 2.99 people, the largest of any state. Hawaii, California, Idaho, and Texas rounded out the top five states for largest household size in that year. Nationwide, the average household size was 2.54 people.

This statistic shows the average number of people per household in Taiwan from 1990 to 2023. In 2023, the average size of a Taiwanese household was around 2.79 household members on average, a bit less than in the previous year.

How many households are in the U.S.?

In 2023, there were 131.43 million households in the United States. This is a significant increase from 1960, when there were 52.8 million households in the U.S.

What counts as a household?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a household is considered to be all persons living within one housing unit. This includes apartments, houses, or single rooms, and consists of both related and unrelated people living together. For example, two roommates who share a living space but are not related would be considered a household in the eyes of the Census. It should be noted that group living quarters, such as college dorms, are not counted as households in the Census.

Household changes

While the population of the United States has been increasing, the average size of households in the U.S. has decreased since 1960. In 1960, there was an average of 3.33 people per household, but in 2023, this figure had decreased to 2.51 people per household. Additionally, two person households make up the majority of American households, followed closely by single-person households.

The average number of people per household in Norway decreased over the past decade. As of 2023, there were 2.11 individuals per household. By comparison, the number reached 2.2 people per household in 2013.

This graph shows the average size of households in China from 1990 to 2023. That year, statistically about 2.8 people were living in an average Chinese household. Average household size in China A household is commonly defined as one person living alone or a group of people living together and sharing certain living accommodations. The average number of people living in one household in China dropped from 3.96 in 1990 to 2.87 in 2011. Since 2010, the figure was relatively stable and ranged between 2.87 and 3.17 people per household. The average Chinese household still counts as rather large in comparison to other industrial countries. In 2023, an average American household consisted of only 2.51 people. Comparable figures have already been reached in the bigger cities and coastal areas of China, but in the rural provinces the household size is still much larger. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the household size in China was diametrically correlated to its income. Birth rates and household sizes The receding size of Chinese households may be linked to the controversial one-child policy introduced in 1979. The main aim of the policy was to control population growth. While the fertility rate in China had been very high until the 1970s, it fell considerably in the following decades and resided at only 1.7 children per woman in 2018, nearly the same as in the United States or in the United Kingdom. A partial ease in the one-child policy was introduced in 2013, due to which couples where at least one parent was an only child were allowed to have a second child. In October 2015, the law was changed into a two-child policy becoming effective in January 2016.

In 2023, the number of people per household across different regions in China varied between around 2.3 in Heilongjiang province and 3.5 in Tibet. The national average was 2.8 people per household in 2023. The relation between household sizes, birth rates, and income In general, data on average household sizes as well as household income are often derived from the same national household survey. Therefore, average household sizes can be used to calculate per capita income from household income and vice versa. In many regions of China, a larger average household size correlates with lower income. At the same time, a strong positive correlation between household size and birth rate exists, which is in itself not surprising. Different household sizes across China In China, the largest average household sizes were recorded in the western part of the country, where birth rates are high. Lower medium figures prevailed in the prosperous coastal regions, while the lowest figures were recorded in the large municipalities and in Northeast China. The northeastern provinces, which are still dominated by their heavy industries, suffer from bad economic perspectives and population decline, which results in their smaller household sizes.

As of 2022, there were 2.15 individuals on average per household in Sweden. The highest share was registered in 2016 and 2017 at 2.2. individuals per household. The most common type of household was singles living without children.

This statistic shows the median household income in the United States from 1990 to 2023 in 2023 U.S. dollars. The median household income was 80,610 U.S. dollars in 2023, an increase from the previous year. Household incomeThe median household income depicts the income of households, including the income of the householder and all other individuals aged 15 years or over living in the household. Income includes wages and salaries, unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support payments received, regular rental receipts, as well as any personal business, investment, or other kinds of income received routinely. The median household income in the United States varies from state to state. In 2020, the median household income was 86,725 U.S. dollars in Massachusetts, while the median household income in Mississippi was approximately 44,966 U.S. dollars at that time. Household income is also used to determine the poverty line in the United States. In 2021, about 11.6 percent of the U.S. population was living in poverty. The child poverty rate, which represents people under the age of 18 living in poverty, has been growing steadily over the first decade since the turn of the century, from 16.2 percent of the children living below the poverty line in year 2000 to 22 percent in 2010. In 2021, it had lowered to 15.3 percent. The state with the widest gap between the rich and the poor was New York, with a Gini coefficient score of 0.51 in 2019. The Gini coefficient is calculated by looking at average income rates. A score of zero would reflect perfect income equality and a score of one indicates a society where one person would have all the money and all other people have nothing.

As of January 2024, there were around 1.84 people per private household on average in Tokyo Prefecture. The average number of family members in households in the prefecture steadily decreased in the last decade.

The average household size in the Netherlands between 2009 and 2023 has barely changed, from 2.23 people per household in 2009 to 2.12 people per household in 2023. A historical overview is provided here in this statistic, which shows the development of the average household size in the Netherlands since 1950. It shows that from the 1950s onwards, the average household size continuously decreased, from approximately 3.9 people in 1950 to 2.13 people today. As a downward trend is visible in the last 67 years, a further decrease in the average household size can be expected too in the future. This is confirmed by this recent forecast, which shows a particular increase in the number of one-person households is likely to take place.

In France, the average number of people per household has been steadily declining for over five decades. Indeed, there was an average of 3.1 people per household in 1962, compared to nearly one person less in 2019 (2.18).
More information on French demographics can be found here.

The average number of members per private household in Japan amounted to 2.23 people as of 2023. The number of household members indicated a downward trend in recent decades, mainly due to an increase in nuclear families and one-person households.

This statistic shows the average number of people per family in Canada from 2000 to 2021. The average Canadian household in 2021 consisted of 2.9 people, compared to 3.0 people in 2000.

In 2022, the average number of people per household in the city of Bnei Brak in Israel was 4.37. This city topped the list of people per household among large cities in Israel (200,000 or more people). In comparison, the national average number of people per household was 3.19, which put Bnei Brak, a city with a predominantly Orthodox Jewish population. The city of Tel Aviv-Yafo ends the list with an average of 2.21 persons per household.

In 2022, the average number of people per household in the United Kingdom was 2.36 compared with 2.37 in 2020. In the mid-1990s the average household size was slightly larger at 2.42, before falling to a low of 2.36 in 2002, which with the exception of 2004, is where the average stayed until 2013 when it began to rise slightly.

Through the time period displayed, there has been an overall decrease in the average number of people per household in Monterrey starting in the year 2000 with 4.3 inhabitants until the last report conducted in 2020 reported an average of 3.5 inhabitant.