According to Census 2000,

there were 115.9 million

housing units in the

United States. Most of

these housing units had

people living in them

(105.5 million or 

91.0 percent of all housing units). The remaining

10.4 million units 

(9.0 percent) were vacant

on Census Day. Between

1990 and 2000, the

United States housing

inventory increased by

13.6 million units or 13.3 percent. The South1

(17.5 percent) and the West (16.7 percent)

regions experienced higher rates of housing growth than the Midwest (10.1 percent) and the Northeast (6.6 percent).

This report, part of a series that analyzes

data from Census 2000, highlights housing in 2000 and changes in housing characteristics between 1990 and 2000 in

regions, states, metropolitan areas, counties, and large cities.

Housing tenure identifies a basic feature

of the housing inventory, whether a unit

is owner or renter occupied. It has been

collected since 1890. The Census 2000

question on tenure was identical to the

one used in 1990. For 1990, the

response categories were expanded to

allow the respondent to report whether

the unit was owned with a mortgage or

loan or owned free and clear (without a

mortgage). The distinction between units

owned with a mortgage and units owned

free and clear was added in 1990 to

improve the count of owner-occupied

units, as research after the 1980 census

indicated some respondents did not consider their units owned if they had a

mortgage. 

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued October 2001

C2KBR/01-13

Housing Characteristics: 2000

Census 2000 Brief

By

Jeanne Woodward 

and 

Bonnie Damon

Is this house, apartment, or mobile home —

Mark ONE box.

Owned by you or someone in this household with a

mortgage or loan?

Owned by you or someone in this household free and

clear (without a mortgage or loan)?

Rented for cash rent?

Occupied without payment of cash rent?

2.

x

Figure 1.

Reproduction of the Question on Housing 

Tenure from Census 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.

A housing unit is a house, an

apartment, a mobile home, a

group of rooms, or a single room

occupied, or intended for occupancy, as separate living quarters.

Separate living quarters are those

in which the occupant(s) live separately from any other people in

the building and which have direct

access from outside the building

or through a common hall.

1

The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Maine,

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Midwest

includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,

South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South includes

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia,

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina,

Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The West

includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah,

Washington, and Wyoming.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1.

General Housing Characteristics for the United States, Regions, and States, and for

Puerto Rico: 1990 and 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Area

Total housing

units in 1990

Housing units in 2000

Percent change, 1990 to 2000

All

housing

units

Vacant

units

Occupied units

Total

Percent

vacant Occupied

Percent

owneroccupied Total Owner Renter

United States ..... 102,263,678 115,904,641 9.0 105,480,101 66.2 13.3 1.0 14.7 18.3 8.3

Region

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . 20,810,637 22,180,440 8.5 20,285,622 62.4 6.6 –2.2 7.5 9.3 4.6

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,492,718 26,963,635 8.3 24,734,532 70.2 10.1 2.5 10.8 14.3 3.4

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,065,102 42,382,546 10.3 38,015,214 68.4 17.5 2.9 19.5 23.3 11.9

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,895,221 24,378,020 7.9 22,444,733 61.5 16.7 –1.4 18.5 23.5 11.4

State

Alabama. . . . . . . . . . . . 1,670,379 1,963,711 11.5 1,737,080 72.5 17.6 38.5 15.3 18.5 7.5

Alaska ............. 232,608 260,978 15.1 221,600 62.5 12.2 –9.9 17.3 30.7 0.2

Arizona. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,659,430 2,189,189 13.1 1,901,327 68.0 31.9 –0.9 38.9 47.2 24.0

Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000,667 1,173,043 11.1 1,042,696 69.4 17.2 19.1 17.0 16.7 17.7

California . . . . . . . . . . . 11,182,882 12,214,549 5.8 11,502,870 56.9 9.2 –11.2 10.8 13.4 7.6

Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . 1,477,349 1,808,037 8.3 1,658,238 67.3 22.4 –23.1 29.3 39.8 12.0

Connecticut . . . . . . . . . 1,320,850 1,385,975 6.1 1,301,670 66.8 4.9 –6.7 5.8 7.7 2.1

Delaware ........... 289,919 343,072 12.9 298,736 72.3 18.3 4.5 20.7 24.3 12.2

District of Columbia . . . 278,489 274,845 9.6 248,338 40.8 –1.3 –8.1 –0.5 4.2 –3.5

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,100,262 7,302,947 13.2 6,337,929 70.1 19.7 – 23.4 28.7 12.7

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,638,418 3,281,737 8.4 3,006,369 67.5 24.4 1.3 27.0 32.0 17.8

Hawaii ............. 389,810 460,542 12.4 403,240 56.5 18.1 70.8 13.2 18.7 6.7

Idaho .............. 413,327 527,824 11.0 469,645 72.4 27.7 10.6 30.2 34.5 20.1

Illinois. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,506,275 4,885,615 6.0 4,591,779 67.3 8.4 –3.4 9.3 14.4 –

Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,246,046 2,532,319 7.7 2,336,306 71.4 12.7 8.5 13.1 15.0 8.6

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,143,669 1,232,511 6.8 1,149,276 72.3 7.8 4.9 8.0 11.5 –0.3

Kansas. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,044,112 1,131,200 8.2 1,037,891 69.2 8.3 –6.1 9.9 12.0 5.4

Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . 1,506,845 1,750,927 9.2 1,590,647 70.8 16.2 26.1 15.3 17.2 11.0

Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . 1,716,241 1,847,181 10.3 1,656,053 67.9 7.6 –11.9 10.5 13.9 3.8

Maine .............. 587,045 651,901 20.5 518,200 71.6 11.0 9.8 11.4 13.1 7.2

Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . 1,891,917 2,145,283 7.7 1,980,859 67.7 13.4 15.0 13.3 18.0 4.5

Massachusetts . . . . . . . 2,472,711 2,621,989 6.8 2,443,580 61.7 6.0 –20.9 8.7 13.3 2.2

Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . 3,847,926 4,234,279 10.6 3,785,661 73.8 10.0 4.7 10.7 15.1 0.1

Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . 1,848,445 2,065,946 8.3 1,895,127 74.6 11.8 –14.8 15.0 19.4 3.9

Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . 1,010,423 1,161,953 9.9 1,046,434 72.3 15.0 16.6 14.8 16.2 11.4

Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,199,129 2,442,017 10.1 2,194,594 70.3 11.0 4.0 11.9 14.3 6.5

Montana............ 361,155 412,633 13.1 358,667 69.1 14.3 –1.9 17.1 20.3 10.7

Nebraska ........... 660,621 722,668 7.8 666,184 67.4 9.4 –3.0 10.6 12.2 7.4

Nevada ............ 518,858 827,457 9.2 751,165 60.9 59.5 45.1 61.1 79.0 39.4

New Hampshire ...... 503,904 547,024 13.2 474,606 69.7 8.6 –21.9 15.4 18.0 10.0

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . 3,075,310 3,310,275 7.4 3,064,645 65.6 7.6 –12.5 9.7 10.9 7.3

New Mexico ......... 632,058 780,579 13.1 677,971 70.0 23.5 14.8 24.9 29.6 15.2

New York . . . . . . . . . . . 7,226,891 7,679,307 8.1 7,056,860 53.0 6.3 5.9 6.3 7.9 4.5

North Carolina . . . . . . . 2,818,193 3,523,944 11.1 3,132,013 69.4 25.0 30.1 24.4 26.9 19.2

North Dakota ........ 276,340 289,677 11.2 257,152 66.6 4.8 –8.3 6.8 8.5 3.5

Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,371,945 4,783,051 7.1 4,445,773 69.1 9.4 18.6 8.8 11.4 3.3

Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . . . 1,406,499 1,514,400 11.4 1,342,293 68.4 7.7 –14.1 11.3 11.8 10.2

Oregon. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,193,567 1,452,709 8.2 1,333,723 64.3 21.7 31.8 20.9 23.1 17.0

Pennsylvania . . . . . . . . 4,938,140 5,249,750 9.0 4,777,003 71.3 6.3 6.9 6.3 7.2 3.9

Rhode Island ........ 414,572 439,837 7.1 408,424 60.0 6.1 –14.2 8.1 9.1 6.6

South Carolina . . . . . . . 1,424,155 1,753,670 12.5 1,533,854 72.2 23.1 32.3 21.9 26.1 12.4

South Dakota ........ 292,436 323,208 10.2 290,245 68.2 10.5 –1.3 12.0 15.6 5.0

Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . 2,026,067 2,439,443 8.5 2,232,905 69.9 20.4 19.8 20.5 23.8 13.3

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,008,999 8,157,575 9.4 7,393,354 63.8 16.4 –18.5 21.8 27.7 12.7

Utah ............... 598,388 768,594 8.8 701,281 71.5 28.4 10.1 30.5 37.0 16.6

Vermont ............ 271,214 294,382 18.3 240,634 70.6 8.5 –11.3 14.2 16.8 8.5

Virginia. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,496,334 2,904,192 7.1 2,699,173 68.1 16.3 0.3 17.8 21.0 11.5

Washington . . . . . . . . . 2,032,378 2,451,075 7.3 2,271,398 64.6 20.6 12.3 21.3 25.2 14.8

West Virginia ........ 781,295 844,623 12.8 736,481 75.2 8.1 16.6 7.0 8.6 2.4

Wisconsin. . . . . . . . . . . 2,055,774 2,321,144 10.2 2,084,544 68.4 12.9 1.3 14.4 17.4 8.5

Wyoming ........... 203,411 223,854 13.5 193,608 70.0 10.1 –12.5 14.7 18.3 7.0

Puerto Rico .......... 1,188,985 1,418,476 11.1 1,261,325 72.9 19.3 17.2 19.6 21.0 15.9

– Percentage rounds 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1990 Census of Population and Housing, General Housing Characteristics, Table 176, and Census 2000 Summary File 1.
Data on vacancy status have been

collected since 1940. Vacancy status and other characteristics of

vacant units were determined by

enumerators obtaining information

from property owners and managers, neighbors, rental agents, and

others. Vacant units were subdivided into six housing market classifications: for rent; for sale only; rented or sold, not occupied; for

seasonal, recreational, or occasional

use; for migrant workers; and other

vacant. 

Owning one’s home has long been

considered a part of the “American

Dream.” Census 2000 showed that

about 2 out of 3 householders 

(69.8 million, 66.2 percent) attained

this goal. 

Owner-occupied units included

those with one or more mortgages

as well as those owned free and

clear. The remaining 35.7 million

occupied units (33.8 percent) were

rented or occupied without payment of cash rent. The increase in

the number of owner-occupied

homes in the United States 

(10.8 million, 18.3 percent) far outpaced the change in the rental

inventory (2.7 million, 8.3 percent)

during the 1990s.

In 1890, less than half of United

States households owned their

homes. The homeownership rate

declined from 1890 to

1920. A robust economy

in the 1920s raised the

homeownership rate, but

the Great Depression

drove the rate to its lowest level of the century —

43.6 percent in 1940.

The post-World War II

surge in homeownership

was remarkable. A

booming economy, favorable tax laws, a rejuvenated home building

industry, and easier

financing saw homeownership explode nationally, topping

60 percent in just two decades. In

1990, about 64 percent of U.S.

households owned their homes. 

In 2000, 3.8 million vacant housing

units were on the market either for

sale only or for rent. Another 

0.7 million housing units were

recently rented or sold and were

awaiting occupancy at the time the

census was conducted. The count

of vacant housing units included

3.6 million units for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use. This

vacancy category also included

housing units that were temporarily

occupied at the time of enumeration entirely by people with a usual

residence elsewhere; these occupants were counted at the address

of their usual place of residence. A

small number of vacant units

(25,000 units) were intended for

occupancy by migratory workers

employed in farm work during the

crop season. The remaining 

2.3 million vacant housing units

were classified as “other vacant”

and included units held for personal

reasons of the owner as well as

units held for occupancy by a caretaker or janitor. 

The majority of householders in

each of the four census regions

owned their homes.

In 2000, homeownership rates were 

61.5 percent in the West, 62.4 percent in the Northeast, 68.4 percent

in the South, and 70.2 percent in

the Midwest. More than a third

(26.4 million, 37.7 percent) of all

owner-occupied homes were located in the South. The next largest

segment was in the Midwest 

(17.4 million, 24.9 percent). The

West (13.4 million, 19.2 percent)

and the Northeast (12.7 million,

U.S. Census Bureau 3

Figure 3.

Owner-Occupied Units as a Percentage of All-Occupied 

Housing Units: 1890 to 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Population and Housing, decennial volumes.

47.8 46.7 45.9 45.6 47.8 43.6

55.0

61.9 62.9 64.4 64.2 66.2

1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and 

definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

C. VACANT — Which category best described this vacant unit as of 

April 1, 2000?

For rent

For sale only

Rented or sold, not occupied

For seasonal, recreational,

or occasional use

For migrant workers

Other vacant

Figure 2.

Reproduction of the Question on 

Vacancy Status from Census 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 enumerator questionnaire.
18.1 percent) contributed the balance of the homeowner inventory. 

Among the 35.7 million renteroccupied units in the United States,

about a third (12.3 million, 

34.4 percent) were located in the

South and about 8.4 million 

(23.5 percent) in the West. The

remaining renter-occupied homes

were about evenly distributed

between the Northeast (7.6 million,

21.4 percent) and the Midwest 

(7.4 million, 20.6 percent).

Among the states, Nevada

showed the largest percentage

gain in housing units between

1990 and 2000.

The housing stock in Nevada

increased 59.5 percent in the

1990s, from 519,000 to 827,000.

Other western states with rapid

increases in their housing inventories were Arizona (31.9 percent),

Utah (28.4 percent), and Idaho

(27.7 percent). California led the

country in the total number of

housing units in the United States in

2000 (12.2 million) and grew by

more than 1.0 million units 

(9.2 percent) over the course of the

decade. 

In the South, North Carolina led the

way with a 25.0 percent increase in

the number of housing units, closely followed by Georgia (24.4 percent) and South Carolina (23.1 percent). Florida added 1.2 million

units, the largest absolute gain

among the 50 states, and increased

its stock of housing by 19.7 percent

between 1990 and 2000. Housing

growth below the 10-percent level

in the South was evident in just

three states — Louisiana,

Oklahoma, and West Virginia. The

remaining states in the region all

posted gains above the national

level of 13.3 percent. The housing

stock in the District of Columbia,

however, declined slightly (-1.3 percent) from its 1990 level.

Housing growth in states in the

Northeast (6.6 percent) and the

Midwest (10.1 percent) was generally somewhat slower than the

national pace (13.3 percent).

Connecticut and North Dakota (both

about 5 percent) were considerably

below the national level.

In 2000, as in 1990, West

Virginia and Minnesota maintained their positions as the

states with the highest proportions of owner-occupied housing.

While the majority of occupied units

in all 50 states were owner occupied, about 3 out of 4 households

in West Virginia (75.2 percent) and

Minnesota (74.6 percent) owned

their homes. As in 1990, New York

ranked at the bottom with respect

to homeownership (53.0 percent) in

2000. Renters outnumbered owners in Washington, DC, where about

2 out of 5 (40.8 percent) were

homeowners. 

Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho also

posted high growth in their stock of

rental units, adding respectively,

39.4 percent, 24.0 percent, and

20.1 percent more rental units since

1990. The rental inventories in four

states (Alaska, Illinois, Iowa, and

Michigan) remained relatively

unchanged between 1990 and

2000, while the rental inventory in

the District of Columbia declined

3.5 percent. 

One in ten homes in the South

were vacant on Census Day.

With 9 percent of United States

housing vacant in 2000, regional

rates ranged from less than 8 percent in the West to more than 

10 percent in the South. Three

states in the Northeast, four in the

South, and six in the West had total

vacancy rates that exceeded 12 percent. Housing markets were especially “tight” (less than 7 percent of

units were vacant) in five states:

California, Illinois, Connecticut,

Iowa, and Massachusetts. 

Many states with a higher-than-average proportion of vacant units had

a sizeable number of homes classified as “Vacant — for seasonal,

recreational, and occasional use” in

Census 2000 (see Table 2). These

units make up a class commonly

referred to as “vacation” homes,

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 4.

Percent Distribution of Tenure by Region: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.

West

South

Midwest

Northeast 62.4

Owners

Renters

70.2

68.4

61.5

37.6

29.8

31.6

38.5

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and 

definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)
which can be big summer estates

on Long Island, time-sharing condos

in Fort Lauderdale, or simple fishing

cabins in northern Michigan.

Although many analysts have used

this category to estimate the number of second homes in a given

area, the category also includes

units occupied on an occasional

basis as corporate apartments and

other temporary residences where

all the household members reported that their residence was elsewhere.

On a percentage basis, three northern New England states — Maine

(15.6 percent), Vermont (14.6 percent), and New Hampshire 

(10.3 percent) — topped the list.

Florida is the clear leader in the

number of these seasonal, recreational, and occasional-use properties (483,000), followed by

California (237,000), New York

(235,000), and Michigan (234,000). 

Homeowners were a majority in

nearly all United States counties.

In 2000, owners outnumbered

renters in all but 36 (1.1 percent) of

the 3,141 counties and equivalent

areas. Homeownership was fairly

uncommon among households living in New York City, where only 

1 in 5 households (19.6 percent) in

Bronx and (20.1 percent) in New

York (Manhattan) counties and

about 1 in 3 (34.3 percent) in Kings

County (Brooklyn) were homeowners. Other counties with homeownership rates below 30 percent were

Chattahoochee in Georgia (27.0 percent), Aleutians West Census Area

(a county equivalent) in Alaska

(27.8 percent), and the very small

county of Kalawao on the island of

Molokai in Hawaii where all 115

occupied housing units were rented.

Alcona County in Michigan 

(89.9 percent) and Elbert County in

Colorado (89.6 percent) topped the

list in terms of the highest proportion of households who owned their

homes. Other counties notable for

their high rates of ownership 

(about 89 percent) were Powhatan

and New Kent Counties in Virginia

and Keweenaw County in Michigan.

Florida’s metropolitan areas

were leaders in terms of homeownership.

Five areas in the Sunshine State —

Punta Gorda, Ocala, Fort Pierce-Port

St. Lucie, Sarasota-Bradenton, and

Fort Myers-Cape Coral — were

among the top ten metropolitan

areas with the largest proportions

of owner-occupied units in 2000.

Two other metropolitan areas in

Michigan — Jackson and SaginawBay City-Midland — joined

Barnstable-Yarmouth (Massachusetts), Houma (Louisiana), and

Sharon (Pennsylvania) to round out

the list.

In only five metropolitan areas were

owners outnumbered by renters.

These included the two large

Northeastern primary metropolitan

statistical areas (PMSAs) — Jersey

City, New Jersey (30.7 percent) and

New York, New York (34.7 percent) — and two PMSAs on the West

Coast — Los Angeles-Long Beach

(47.9 percent) and San Francisco

(49.0 percent). The fifth metropolitan area where fewer households

owned (45.6 percent) rather than

rented was Bryan-College Station,

Texas, home of Texas A&M

University. 

Renters outnumbered owners in

many of our country’s largest

cities. 

In the four largest United States

cities in 2000, most households

were renters. About 70 percent of

households in New York City, 

61 percent in Los Angeles, 56 perU.S. Census Bureau 5

Table 2.

Ten States With the Highest Percentage of Seasonal,

Recreational, or Occasional Use Homes: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Area

Total

housing

units

For seasonal,

recreational, or

occasional use Percent

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115,904,641 3,578,718 3.1

Maine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651,901 101,470 15.6

Vermont. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294,382 43,060 14.6

New Hampshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547,024 56,413 10.3

Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260,978 21,474 8.2

Delaware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343,072 25,977 7.6

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,302,947 482,944 6.6

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,189,189 141,965 6.5

Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,321,144 142,313 6.1

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412,633 24,213 5.9

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460,542 25,584 5.6

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.

Table 3.

Ten Metropolitan Areas

With the Highest

Percentage of OwnerOccupied Units: 2000

(For information on confidentiality

protection, nonsampling error, and

definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/

cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Metropolitan area Percent

Punta Gorda, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.7

Ocala, FL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.8

Barnstable-Yarmouth, MA . . . . . 79.2

Fort Pierce–Port St. Lucie, FL. . 78.8

Sarasota–Bradenton, FL. . . . . . . 76.8

Houma, LA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76.7

Jackson, MI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76.5

Fort Myers–Cape Coral, FL . . . . 76.5

Sharon, PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76.3

Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, MI . 76.3

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census

2000 Summary File 1.
6 U.S. Census Bureau Homeownership Rates: 2000 Homeownership rate by state Homeownership rate by county 70.0 and over 66.2 to 69.9 55.0 to 66.1 Less than 55.0 U.S. percent 66.2 70.0 and over 66.2 to 69.9 55.0 to 66.1 Less than 55.0 Figure 5. (For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf) Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1. American FactFinder at factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools. 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles U.S. percent 66.2
cent in Chicago, and 54 percent in

Houston rented their homes.

Renters were also a majority 

(56.8 percent) of households in

Dallas, the eighth largest city in

2000 (see Table 4). Households in

San Diego were almost evenly split

between renters (50.5 percent) and

owners (49.5 percent). Homeownership was more common among the

remaining largest cities in 2000 —

Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio,

and Detroit.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS ON

TENURE

Which type of family had the

highest rate of homeownership?

About 4 out of 5 married-couple

families owned their homes in

2000. Empty nesters and other

married couples without children

under the age of 18 were more likely (84.8 percent) than married couples with children (76.9 percent) to

own their homes. 

More than half (55.4 percent) of the

families maintained by men without

spouses were homeowners, compared with about half (49.6 percent)

of families maintained by women

without spouses. 

In 2000, were people living

alone more likely to own or rent

their homes?

The answer depends on the gender

of the householder. In 2000, more

women (15.5 million) than men

(11.8 million) lived alone.

Approximately 8.7 million 

(56.0 percent) of women who lived

alone owned their homes, compared with 5.5 million (47.0 percent) of the lone male householders. 

What proportion of United

States households were comprised of two or more unrelated

people, and are these households more likely to rent or

own their homes?

The Census Bureau uses the term

“nonfamily households” to include

people living alone as well as those

householders who only live with

people who are not related to the

householder by birth, marriage, or

adoption. In 2000, the 6.5 million

householders who lived with other

unrelated individuals represented

about 6 percent of all United States

occupied households. About 2 out

of 5 (39.5 percent) of these householders owned their homes.

U.S. Census Bureau 7

Table 4.

Ten Largest Cities and Percent of Renter-Occupied

Units: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

City Total population

Total occupied

housing units Percent renters

New York, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,008,278 3,021,588 69.8

Los Angeles, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,694,820 1,275,412 61.4

Chicago, IL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,896,016 1,061,928 56.2

Houston, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,953,631 717,945 54.2

Philadelphia, PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,517,550 590,071 40.7

Phoenix, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,321,045 465,834 39.3

San Diego, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,223,400 450,691 50.5

Dallas, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,188,580 451,833 56.8

San Antonio, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,144,646 405,474 41.9

Detroit, MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 951,270 336,428 45.1

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.

Table 5.

Family Type by Tenure: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Family characteristic

Occupied units

Total Owner

Percent

owner Renter

Total housing units . . . . . . . . . . 105,480,101 69,815,753 66.2 35,664,348

Total families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,787,347 53,071,538 73.9 18,715,809

Married-couple families . . . . . . . . 54,493,232 44,240,872 81.2 10,252,360

With children1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,835,505 19,103,921 76.9 5,731,584

Without children1 . . . . . . . . . . . 29,657,727 25,136,951 84.8 4,520,776

Male householder, no spouse

present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,394,012 2,433,530 55.4 1,960,482

With children1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,190,989 1,113,804 50.8 1,077,185

Without children1 . . . . . . . . . . . 2,203,023 1,319,726 59.9 883,297

Female householder, no

spouse present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,900,103 6,397,136 49.6 6,502,967

With children1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,561,874 2,851,607 37.7 4,710,267

Without children1 . . . . . . . . . . . 5,338,229 3,545,529 66.4 1,792,700

Total nonfamily households . . . . . . 33,692,754 16,744,215 49.7 16,948,539

Male householder. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,556,103 7,004,848 45.0 8,551,255

Living alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,779,106 5,530,759 47.0 6,248,347

Living with nonrelative . . . . . . . 3,776,997 1,474,089 39.0 2,302,908

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . 18,136,651 9,739,367 53.7 8,397,284

Living alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,450,969 8,659,549 56.0 6,791,420

Living with nonrelative . . . . . . . 2,685,682 1,079,818 40.2 1,605,864

1

Children represent own children under 18 years.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.
How likely are young householders to be homeowners?

Homeownership was directly related to the age of the householder.

The youngest householder age

group (under 25 years of age) had

the lowest level of homeownership

(17.9 percent). The percentage of

homeowners increased to 

45.6 among householders between

the ages of 25 and 34 and continued to increase up to a peak of

about 81 percent for householders

65 to 74 years of age.

ABOUT CENSUS 2000

Homeownership rates have served

as an indicator of the health of the

Nation’s economy for decades. Data

on vacant units are needed by federal and local agencies in order to

evaluate the overall state of housing

markets. 

The federal government uses this

information to allocate Section 8

and other housing program subsidies that assist Americans to afford

decent, safe, and sanitary housing.

Local organizations use the information to assess neighborhood stability and to plan road, health, and

transportation improvements in

their communities. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Figure 6.

Homeownership Rates by Age of Householder: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and 

definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

17.9

45.6

66.2

74.9 79.8

Age in years

81.3 77.3

66.1

85 and 

over

15 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 to 74 75 to 84

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Washington, DC 20233

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Census 2000 data for state and local areas are available on the Internet via

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information on housing tenure, vacancy status, and other characteristics of

the housing inventory, visit the U.S. Census Bureau’s Internet site at

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more information on metropolitan areas, including concepts, definitions,

and maps, go to www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metroarea.html.

Information on other population and housing topics is presented in the

Census 2000 Brief Series, located on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site at

www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html. This series presents information about race, Hispanic origin, age, sex, household type,

housing tenure, and other social, economic, and housing characteristics.

For more information about Census 2000, including data products, call

Customer Services Center at 301-763-INFO (4636) or 

e-mail: webmaster@census.gov.