Cribsheet: Housing

Sarah Sundberg

Proportion of homes with children under 18: 35%
Children under 18 in occupied housing units who live in rental units: 33.5%
Children under 18 in occupied housing units who live in owner-occupied units: 66.5%

Average family size: 3.14 people
Size of average American home: 2,330 square feet
Median square feet per person: 752
Number of households where there are more people than rooms: 6.1 million (5.8%)


Median monthly housing cost nationwide in 2005: $753
Median gross monthly rent in NYC in 2005: $920
Median gross monthly rent in Iowa in 2005: $559


Number of Americans living in urban areas: 222,358,309
Number of Americans living in rural areas: 59,063,597
Number of Americans living on farms: 2,987,531

Types of housing units in the US:
Single unit structures: 67%
Multi unit structures: 26%
Mobile homes: 7%

Estimated number of homeless people in the US: 3.5 million
Proportion of the homeless population who are under 18: 39%
Proportion of homeless children who are less than 5 years old: 5%

Proportion of people who rated their house a ten on a scale of one to ten: 28%
Proportion of people who rated their house eight or above on the same scale: 71%