Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory Estimate: Total Housing Units in the United States (ETOTALUSQ176N) from Q2 2000 to Q1 2025 about inventories, housing, and USA.

The number of housing units in the United States has grown year-on-year and in 2024, there were approximately 147 million homes. That was an increase of about one percent from the previous year. Homeownership in the U.S. Most of the housing stock in the U.S. is owner-occupied, meaning that the person who owns the home uses it as a primary residence. Homeownership is an integral part of the American Dream, with about two in three Americans living in an owner-occupied home. For older generations, the homeownership rate is even higher, showing that buying a home is an important milestone in life. Housing transactions slowing down During the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. experienced a housing market boom and witnessed an increase in the number of homes sold. Since 2020, when the market peaked, new homes transactions have slowed down and so have the sales of existing homes. That has affected the development of home prices, with several states across the country experiencing a decline in house prices.

Total Housing Inventory in the United States increased to 1450 Thousands in April from 1330 Thousands in March of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Total Housing Inventory.

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory Estimate: Occupied Housing Units in the United States (EOCCUSQ176N) from Q2 2000 to Q1 2025 about inventories, housing, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory Estimate: Total Housing Units in the South Census Region (ETOTALSOQ176N) from Q2 2000 to Q1 2025 about South Census Region, inventories, housing, and USA.

The majority of the housing stock in the United States is single-family detached houses. Of the total 133.2 million housing units in 2023, about 85.3 million were detached homes and 8.2 million were attached single-family homes. In comparison, roughly 32.6 million units were in multifamily buildings.

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory Estimate: Total Housing Units in the West Census Region (ETOTALWEQ176N) from Q2 2000 to Q1 2025 about West Census Region, inventories, housing, and USA.

Annual Housing Unit Estimates for the United States, States, and Counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019 // Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division // Note: The estimates are based on the 2010 Census and reflect changes to the April 1, 2010 housing units due to the Count Question Resolution program and geographic program revisions // Each year, the Census Bureau's Population and Housing Unit Estimates Program utilizes current data on new residential construction, placements of manufactured housing, and housing unit loss to calculate change in the housing stock since the most recent decennial census, and produces a time series of housing unit estimates. The annual time series of estimates begins with the most recent decennial census data and extends to the vintage year. The vintage year (e.g., V2019) refers to the final year of the time series. The reference date for all estimates is July 1, unless otherwise specified. With each new issue of estimates, the entire estimates series is revised. Additional information, including historical and intercensal estimates, evaluation estimates, demographic analysis, research papers, and methodology is available on website: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest.html.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 39.3 percent of all occupied housing units had three bedrooms in 2020. The second most popular type of housing was two-bedroom homes, accounting for 25.7 percent of housing stock.

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory: Active Listing Count in the United States (ACTLISCOUUS) from Jul 2016 to May 2025 about active listing, listing, and USA.

In 2023, there were nearly 14 million more housing units than households in the United States. The distance between the number of housing units available and the number of households has increased significantly since 1965. However, those figures refer to all kinds of housing units, including apartments. When only considering the difference between single-family homes completed and new households formed, there has been a consistent shortage.

The number of vacant homes for rent in the United States increased for the third year in a row in 2024, after reaching a record low in 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2024, there were approximately 3.4 million unoccupied housing units for rent.

Following a period of stagnation over most of the 2010s, the number of owner occupied housing units in the United States started to grow in 2017. In 2023, there were over 86 million owner-occupied homes. Owner-occupied housing is where the person who owns a property – either outright or through a mortgage – also resides in the property. Excluded are therefore rental properties, employer-provided housing and social housing. Homeownership sentiment in the U.S. Though homeownership is still a cornerstone of the American dream, an increasing share of people see themselves as lifelong renters. Millennials have been notoriously late to enter the housing market, with one in four reporting that they would probably continue to always rent in the future, a 2022 survey found. In 2017, just five years before that, this share stood at about 13 percent. How many renter households are there? Renter households are roughly half as few as owner-occupied households in the U.S. In 2023, the number of renter occupied housing units amounted to almost 45 million. Climbing on the property ladder for renters is not always easy, as it requires prospective homebuyers to save up for a down payment and qualify for a mortgage. In many metros, the median household income is insufficient to qualify for the median-priced home.

The number of units added to the housing stock between 2010 and 2023 was lower than the number of households formed in the United States during that period. However, most of that shortage was formed between 2011 and 2016. After that, the number of new homes added surpasssed household formation in a couple of years, such as 2018 and 2022.

Graph and download economic data for Housing Inventory Estimate: Total Housing Units in the Midwest Census Region (ETOTALMWQ176N) from Q2 2000 to Q1 2025 about Midwest Census Region, inventories, housing, and USA.

The largest share of the housing stock in the United States as of 2021 was built between 1975 and 1979. There were 18.5 million homes built during this period, whereas the homes built between 2016 and 2019 were less than six million.

US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2013-2017 Estimates in the Keys the Valley Region for Population, Households, Tenure, Cost Burden, Poverty, and Age of Housing Stock.

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities with reliable and timely social, economic, housing, and demographic data every year. Because the ACS is based on a sample, rather than all housing units and people, ACS estimates have a degree of uncertainty associated with them, called sampling error. In general, the larger the sample, the smaller the level of sampling error. Data associated with a small town will have a greater degree of error than data associated with an entire county. To help users understand the impact of sampling error on data reliability, the Census Bureau provides a “margin of error” for each published ACS estimate. The margin of error, combined with the ACS estimate, give users a range of values within which the actual “real-world” value is likely to fall.

Single-year and multiyear estimates from the ACS are all “period” estimates derived from a sample collected over a period of time, as opposed to “point-in-time” estimates such as those from past decennial censuses. For example, the 2000 Census “long form” sampled the resident U.S. population as of April 1, 2000. The estimates here were derived from a sample collected over time from 2013-2017.

Data Dictionary - Population, Households, Tenure, Cost Burden, Poverty, Age of Housing Stock

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Population: Total Population (B01003)

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Households: Total number of households (B25003)

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OwnHH: Total number of owner-occupied households (B25003)

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RentHH: Total number of renter-occupied households (B25003)

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TotalU: Total number of housing units (B25001)

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VacantU: Total number of vacant units (B25004)

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SeasRecOcU: Total number of Seasonal/Recreational/Occasionally Occupied Units (B25004)

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ForSale: Total number of units currently for sale (B25004)

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ForRent: Total number of units currently for rent (B25004)

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MedianHI: Median Household Income (B25119)

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OwnHH3049: Total number of owner-occupied households spending 30-49% of their income on housing costs. (B25095)

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POwnHH3049: Percentage of owner-occupied households spending 30-49% of their income on housing costs. (B25095)

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OwnHH50: Total number of severely cost-burdened owner-occupied households – those spending 50% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25095)

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POwnHH50: Percentage of severely cost-burdened owner-occupied households – those spending 50% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25095)

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OwnHH_CB: Total number of owner-occupied, cost-burdened households - those who spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25095)

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POwnHH_CB: Percentage of owner-occupied, cost-burdened households - those who spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25095)

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RenHH3049: Total number of renter-occupied households spending 30-49% of their income on housing costs. (B25070)

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PRenHH3049: Percentage of renter-occupied households spending 30-49% of their income on housing costs. (B25070)

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RenHH50: Total number of severely cost-burdened renter-occupied households – those spending 50% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25070)

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PRenHH50: Percentage of severely cost-burdened renter-occupied households – those spending 50% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25070)

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RenHH_CB: Total number of renter-occupied, cost-burdened households - those who spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25070)

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PRenHH_CB: Percentage of renter-occupied, cost-burdened households - those who spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs. (B25070)

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Poverty: Population below poverty level. (B17001)

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PPoverty: Percentage of population below poverty level. Note poverty status (above or below) is not determined for the entire population. (B17001)

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MYearBuilt: Median structure year of construction. (B25035)

Despite the pandemic's broader economic disruptions, low interest rates in 2020 initially fueled a housing market boom driven by work-from-home orders and a shift toward residential construction. This surge was a lifeline for builders amid economic turbulence. However, the tide turned in 2022 and 2023 as the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes curbed housing investments, dampening consumer enthusiasm and slowing residential construction activity. Low housing stock and rate cuts late in 2024 led to growth in single-family housing starts, boosting revenue. Single-family home development climbed in more affordable and less densely populated areas in 2024, but new multifamily developments have plummeted. Industry revenue has been climbing at a CAGR of 0.8% over the past five years to total an estimated $233.5 billion in 2025, including an estimated increase of 0.2% in 2025 alone. The initial boom in 2020 and 2021 led to one of the most significant expansions in home-building in recent memory, yet interest rate hikes soon tempered this growth. As smaller-scale developers struggled with escalating construction costs and regulatory hurdles, larger, financially robust companies like DR Horton, Lennar and PulteGroup managed to thrive and expand their operations. These larger companies maximized their market share, leveraging their resources to navigate the challenging economic climate and maintain momentum despite the pressures of rising material costs and labor shortages. These rising material costs and labor shortages have driven up purchase and wage costs, contributing to profit declines over the past five years. Expected interest rate cuts will boost housing developers. Developers will benefit from these favorable conditions, especially those who strategically invest in less densely populated areas to meet the growing appetite for affordable housing. Rate cuts will also provide relief to smaller housing developers more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations. Sustainability also looms on the horizon, with tax incentives and energy-efficient building standards encouraging developers to explore eco-friendly construction. Still, rising material costs and labor shortages will continue to stifle profit growth and increase housing prices. Larger companies will continue to gain market share, strategically developing homes near areas with strong job growth near new large manufacturing facilities. Industry revenue is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 1.4% to total an estimated $250.6 billion through the end of 2030.

Table contains count and percentage of housing units in the county that were built before 1980. Data are presented at county, city, zip code and census tract level. Data are presented for zip codes (ZCTAs) fully within the county. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, Table B25034; data accessed on July 20, 2022 from https://api.census.gov. The 2020 Decennial geographies are used for data summarization.METADATA:notes (String): Lists table title, notes, sourcesgeolevel (String): Level of geographyGEOID (Numeric): Geography IDNAME (String): Name of geographyHU_total (Numeric): Total housing unitsHU_before1980 (Numeric): Number of housing units built before 1980pct_before1980 (Numeric): Percent of housing units built before 1980

In 2021, close to ten percent of the 152.8 million homes in the United States were from the first decade of the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2009, approximately 14.6 million homes were constructed.