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.

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.

Key information about United States Household Expenditure per Capita

• United States Annual Household Expenditure per Capita reached 30,912.000 USD in Dec 2023, compared with the last update number of 30,402.917 USD in Dec 2022.
• US Annual Household Expenditure per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 1984 to Dec 2023, with an averaged value of 16,842.400 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 30,912.000 USD in Dec 2023 and a record low of 8,451.923 USD in Dec 1984.
• In the latest reports, Retail Sales of US grew 0.967 % YoY in May 2023.

CEIC calculates Annual Household Expenditure per Capita from annual Average Household Expenditure and annual Average Household Size. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides Average Household Expenditure in USD and Average Household Size.

Key information about Estonia Household Income per Capita

• Estonia Annual Household Income per Capita reached 15,255.424 USD in Dec 2024, compared with the previous value of 14,235.697 USD in Dec 2023.
• Estonia Annual Household Income per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 2008 to Dec 2024, with an averaged value of 8,228.921 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 15,255.424 USD in Dec 2024 and a record low of 6,049.405 USD in Dec 2010.
• In the latest reports, Retail Sales of Estonia grew 7.551 % YoY in Sep 2025.

CEIC calculates Annual Household Income per Capita from Monthly Average Household Income per Capita multiplied by 12 and converts it into USD. Statistics Estonia provides Average Household Income per Capita in EUR. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. Household Income covers Household Disposable Income only.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table DP03; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; https://data.census.gov/cedsci/; (28 February 2025).

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Household Consumption Expenditures for Services for California (CAPCEPCHCE) from 1997 to 2024 about PCE, expenditures, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, CA, households, personal, services, and USA.

Licensed under: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Private households and persons per household

This statistic displays an estimation of the average per capita household water use in the United States in 2014 with a breakdown by select city. As of this time, single-family households used approximately ** gallons of water per capita per day.

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Household Consumption Expenditures for Services for United States (USPCEPCHCE) from 1997 to 2024 about PCE, expenditures, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, households, personal, services, and USA.

Key information about Greece Household Expenditure per Capita

• Greece Annual Household Expenditure per Capita reached 9,326.112 USD in Dec 2024, compared with the last update number of 9,037.918 USD in Dec 2023.
• Greece Annual Household Expenditure per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 2008 to Dec 2024, with an averaged value of 7,162.209 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 13,927.807 USD in Dec 2008 and a record low of 7,142.916 USD in Dec 2020.
• In the latest reports, Retail Sales of Greece dropped 0.703 % YoY in Sep 2025.

CEIC calculates Annual Household Expenditure per Capita from annual Monthly Average Household Expenditure multiplied by 12 and annual Average Household Size and converts it into USD. Hellenic Statistical Authority provides Average Household Expenditure in EUR and Average Household Size. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions.

Living Conditions Survey (LCS): Households by number of adults in the household and average annual net income per household, per person and per consumption unit (2003). National.

In 2024, the average annual per capita disposable income of households in China amounted to approximately 41,300 yuan. Annual per capita income in Chinese saw a significant rise over the last decades and is still rising at a high pace. During the last ten years, per capita disposable income roughly doubled in China. Income distribution in China As an emerging economy, China faces a large number of development challenges, one of the most pressing issues being income inequality. The income gap between rural and urban areas has been stirring social unrest in China and poses a serious threat to the dogma of a “harmonious society” proclaimed by the communist party. In contrast to the disposable income of urban households, which reached around 54,200 yuan in 2024, that of rural households only amounted to around 23,100 yuan. Coinciding with the urban-rural income gap, income disparities between coastal and western regions in China have become apparent. As of 2023, households in Shanghai and Beijing displayed the highest average annual income of around 84,800 and 81,900 yuan respectively, followed by Zhejiang province with 63,800 yuan. Gansu, a province located in the West of China, had the lowest average annual per capita household income in China with merely 25,000 yuan. Income inequality in China The Gini coefficient is the most commonly used measure of income inequality. For China, the official Gini coefficient also indicates the astonishing inequality of income distribution in the country. Although the Gini coefficient has dropped from its high in 2008 at 49.1 points, it still ranged at a score of 46.5 points in 2023. The United Nations have set an index value of 40 as a warning level for serious inequality in a society.

Actual value and historical data chart for United States Household Final Consumption Expenditure Per Capita Growth Annual Percent

This dataset contains two tables on the percent of household overcrowding (> 1.0 persons per room) and severe overcrowding (> 1.5 persons per room) for California, its regions, counties, and cities/towns. Data is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) and U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS). The table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project (HCI) of the Office of Health Equity: Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project of the Office of Health Equity. Residential crowding has been linked to an increased risk of infection from communicable diseases, a higher prevalence of respiratory ailments, and greater vulnerability to homelessness among the poor. Residential crowding reflects demographic and socioeconomic conditions. Older-adult immigrant and recent immigrant communities, families with low income and renter-occupied households are more likely to experience household crowding. A form of residential overcrowding known as "doubling up"—co-residence with family members or friends for economic reasons—is the most commonly reported prior living situation for families and individuals before the onset of homelessness. More information about the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the About/Attachments section.The household crowding table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project (HCI) of the Office of Health Equity. The goal of HCI is to enhance public health by providing data, a standardized set of statistical measures, and tools that a broad array of sectors can use for planning healthy communities and evaluating the impact of plans, projects, policy, and environmental changes on community health. The creation of healthy social, economic, and physical environments that promote healthy behaviors and healthy outcomes requires coordination and collaboration across multiple sectors, including transportation, housing, education, agriculture and others. Statistical metrics, or indicators, are needed to help local, regional, and state public health and partner agencies assess community environments and plan for healthy communities that optimize public health. More information on HCI can be found here: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OHE/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Accessible%202%20CDPH_Healthy_Community_Indicators1pager5-16-12.pdf
The format of the household overcrowding tables is based on the standardized data format for all HCI indicators. As a result, this data table contains certain variables used in the HCI project (e.g., indicator ID, and indicator definition). Some of these variables may contain the same value for all observations.

Average disposable income and median income by education level of income earners

Dataset from Singapore Department of Statistics. For more information, visit https://data.gov.sg/datasets/d_73400fd94d6dff133d14030b94547513/view

TAH07 - Private households and persons per household. Published by Central Statistics Office. Available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0).Private households and persons per household...

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Household Consumption Expenditures for Services for Oklahoma (OKPCEPCHCE) from 1997 to 2024 about OK, PCE, expenditures, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, households, personal, services, and USA.

Key information about Switzerland Household Income per Capita

• Switzerland Annual Household Income per Capita reached 66,870.967 USD in Dec 2023, compared with the previous value of 60,075.602 USD in Dec 2022.
• Switzerland Annual Household Income per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 2006 to Dec 2023, with an averaged value of 59,482.927 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 66,870.967 USD in Dec 2023 and a record low of 36,733.069 USD in Dec 2006.
• In the latest reports, Retail Sales of Switzerland grew 2.620 % YoY in Oct 2025.

CEIC calculates Annual Household Income per Capita from annual Average Household Income and Average Household Size and converts it into USD. Swiss Federal Statistical Office provides Average Household Income in local currency and Average Household Size. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions.