US

Current Housing Reports United States: 2009

American Housing Survey for the H150/09 2009 America

United S

Current Hou
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report presents data from the American 

Housing Survey, which was sponsored by the U.S. 

Department of Housing and Urban Development 

and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It was 

prepared primarily under the direction of Edward 

J. Szymanoski, Associate Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for Economic Affairs, and David S. 

Johnson, Chief, Housing and Household Economic 

Statistics Division, Census Bureau. 

Shawn Bucholtz, assisted by David 

Vandenbroucke, Carolyn Lynch, and Wendy

Chi, was responsible for overseeing the American 

Housing Survey resultant report on behalf of the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

Within the Census Bureau, this report was developed 

in the Housing and Household Economic Statistics 

Division. It was prepared under the oversight of 

Arthur R. Cresce, Jr., Assistant Division Chief for 

Housing Characteristics. Management, coordination, 

and analysis of this report were under the supervision of Tamara Cole, Chief, American Housing 

Survey Branch. Primary staff assistance was provided by George T. Boyd, George 

R. Carter III, Kwame Donaldson, Sydney 

England, Janet Freeland, Kimberly A. Geaghan,

William L. Hartnett, Saundra Lord, Mousumi 

Sarkar, Matthew B. Streeter, and Salvatore 

Zagarella.

Under the direction of Cheryl R. Landman, Chief, 

Demographic Surveys Division, Thomas L. Blatt, 

Assistant Division Chief, oversaw the implementation of the American Housing Survey operational 

activities and directed the systems and processing procedures. Under the supervision of Joe 

Huesman, Chief, Housing Surveys Branch, Victoria

Bookhultz, Evan Brassell, Sydney Henderson,

Nancy J. Midziolek, Kyle E. Moore, Serria 

Scott, Ariel L. Teichman, and Kenya D. Tyndle 

coordinated the operational aspects of the American 

Housing Survey. Under the supervision of Debra 

K. P. Knoll, Chief, Housing Surveys Programming 

Branch, Sharonica L. Baker, Ruth W. Coffie, Lisa 

A. Ferrer, Thomas A. Iseman, Cynfon 

L. Lyle, Jimmy T. Nguyen, Susan K. Peters, 

Diana A. Rubin, Diane S. Schwartz, and Kenneth 

Steuerman provided computer programming and 

processing. Lewis S. Lenkey, Evelyn J. Lincoln, 

and Frederick L. McKee provided procedures for 

mailouts and scheduling.

The Demographic Statistical Methods Division, 

under the direction of Ruth Ann Killion, Chief, 

performed sampling, reinterview, and related activities. Under the supervision of Aref Dajani, Chief, 

Longitudinal Surveys Branch, Robert Abramson, 

Stephanie Coffey, Matt Stevens, Toni Marie 

Warner, and Allison Zotti developed the sample 

design, weighting, and computation of sampling 

variances and standard errors. Shawn P. Barber, 

Debra A. Camper, Chongshan Chen, Marilyn 

E. Dorner, Leslie R. Flores, Kimberly Kochurka, 

Niki L. Lamas, Thomas G. L. Lee, Debi Mullen, 

Robert Sanders, Don Washington, Chengee 

B. White, and the Statistical Methods and Quality 

Assurance Branch (National Processing Center) 

implemented the sample selection and prepared 

sample controls. Deloris A. Cockrell, Nelson 

R. Freeze, Lorie McCray, Justin D. Nguyen, and 

Karen Lynn Spinosi conducted the reinterview 

design, procedures, analysis, and programming. 

Field Division, under the direction of Brian 

Monaghan, Chief, Michael J. Weiler, Assistant 

Division Chief for Surveys, and Medell E. Ford 

III, Branch Chief for Health and Housing Surveys, 

assisted by Altheria Y. Barnett, Clinton Borland, 

Gayle Marie, and Thomas O’Leary, administered 

the data collection, clerical processing, and data 

entry activities. 

The Technologies Management Office, under the 

direction of Barbara M. LoPresti, Chief, and 

assisted by Karen A. Bagwell, Robert McGrath, 

Geofrey Pejsa, and Steven W. Tornell, Assistant 

Division Chiefs, provided overall automation support. Thomas R. Spaulding, Authoring Team 

Leader, provided the computer-assisted interviewing 

questionnaires used for data collection. Charles 

M. Tyler, Jr., ROSCO Development Team Leader, 

Timothy S. McGarvey, Laptop Case Management 

Team Leader, and Joanne N. Carruba, Master 

Control System Team Leader, provided computer 

programming and systems support. Sean McLaren,

Software Testing Team Leader, provided application 

and systems testing support. Christopher 

A. Garza, CAPI Telecommunications Team Leader, 

provided systems support for the CAPI telecommunications system. Teresa Sparks, Technical 

Assistance Center Team Leader, provided help desk 

support to the Regional Office and field staff. 

Amanda J. Perry and Linda Chen of the 

Administrative and Customer Services Division, 

Francis Grailand Hall, Chief, provided publications and printing management, graphics design 

and composition, and editorial review for print and 

electronic media. General direction and production 

management was provided by Claudette 

E. Bennett, Assistant Division Chief.

Special acknowledgment is also due to the many 

households whose cooperation contributed to the 

publication of these data.
American Housing Survey

 for the United States: 2009 

Current Housing Reports

Issued March 2011

H150/09

U.S. Department of Housing 

and Urban Development

Shaun Donovan,

Secretary

Ron Sims,

Deputy Secretary

OFFICE OF POLICY 

DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH

Raphael W. Bostic,

Assistant Secretary

U.S. Department

 of Commerce

Gary Locke,

Secretary

Rebecca M. Blank,

Acting Deputy Secretary

Economics and Statistics 

Administration

Rebecca M. Blank,

Under Secretary 

for Economic Affairs

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Robert M. Groves,

Director
SUGGESTED CITATION

U.S. Census Bureau,

Current Housing Reports,

Series H150/09,

American Housing Survey

for the United States: 2009,

U.S. Government Printing 

Office,

Washington, DC, 20401.

Printed in 2011.

ECONOMICS

AND STATISTICS

ADMINISTRATION

Economics 

and Statistics

Administration

Rebecca M. Blank,

Under Secretary for 

Economic Affairs

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Robert M. Groves,

Director

Thomas L. Mesenbourg,

Deputy Director and 

Chief Operating Officer

Howard R. Hogan,

Associate Director for 

Demographic Programs

David S. Johnson,

Chief, Housing and Household 

Economic Statistics Division

OFFICE OF POLICY 

DEVELOPMENT AND 

RESEARCH

Raphael W. Bostic,

Assistant Secretary

Kurt G. Usowski,

Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Economic Affairs

Shawn Bucholtz

Director, Housing and Demographic 

Analysis Division

For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office: Internet: <bookstore.gpo.gov>; Phone: toll-free 

1-866-512-1800; DC area: 202-512-1800; Fax: 202-512-2104. For sale also by HUD USER, P.O. Box 23268, Washington, DC 

20026-3268; Internet: <www.huduser.org>; Phone: toll-free 1-800-245-2691.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Availability 

of Data Via 

Electronic 

Media

In addition to the data shown in this report, users may access a wealth 

of information based on the American Housing Survey (AHS) by way of 

the Internet. 

National and Metropolitan publications dating back to 1973 are available in PDF and scanned format within the AHS Web site at <www

.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cons-hou.html>.

Data tables dating back to 2005 are available in Excel and PDF at 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www/ahs.html>. Also available on the same 

page are the Alterations and Replacements data tables.

Public-use microdata files can be downloaded at <www.huduser.org

/datasets/ahs.html> in SAS and ASCII formats. The AHS Web site also 

offers users the opportunity to download national microdata from 1993 

to 2003 by using DataFerrett.

Additional survey information including questionnaire text, microdata 

codebooks, and AHS-based analyses are available at <www.huduser

.org/datasets/ahs.html>.

Users may send requests for data or questions regarding the data via 

e-mail to <ahsn@census.gov>.

Comments 

From Data 

Users

We, in the American Housing Survey Branch, would like to hear any 

questions or comments that you might have about this report and 

welcome your recommendations for improving the usefulness of our 

products. If you would like to do so, please write to: 

Chief, American Housing Survey Branch

Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division 

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, DC 20233-8500 

or e-mail: 

<ahsn@census.gov>

or call: 

1-888-518-7365.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Census Bureau Home Page

www.census.gov

American Housing Survey Home Page

www.census.gov/hhes/www/ahs.html
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

iii

CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Dates of Current AHS Metropolitan 

Areas: 1974 to 2009 vi

Dates of AHS Metropolitan Areas No 

Longer in Sample: 1974 to 2009 vii

Total Inventory and Vacant Units All 

housing

1. Introductory Characteristics 1-1

2. Height and Condition of Building 1-2

3. Size of Unit and Lot 1-3

4. Selected Equipment and Plumbing 1-4

5. Fuels . . . 1-5

6. Housing and Neighborhood Quality 1-6

Occupied Units Total 

occupied 

Owner 

occupied 

Renter 

occupied 

Tables with standard column headings 

1. Introductory Characteristics 2-1 3-1 4-1 

2. Height and Condition of Building 2-2 3-2 4-2 

3. Size of Unit and Lot 2-3 3-3 4-3 

4. Selected Equipment and Plumbing 2-4 3-4 4-4 

5. Fuels . . . 2-5 3-5 4-5

6. Failures in Equipment 2-6 3-6 4-6 

7. Additional Indicators of Housing Quality 2-7 3-7 4-7 

8. Neighborhood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8 3-8 4-8 

9. Household Composition 2-9 3-9 4-9 

10. Previous Unit of Recent Movers 2-10 3-10 4-10 

11. Reasons for Move and Choice of Current 

 Residence 2-11 3-11 4-11 

12. Income Characteristics 2-12 3-12 4-12 

13. Selected Housing Costs 2-13 3-13 4-13 

14. Value, Purchase Price, and Source of 

 Down Payment * 3-14 * 

15. Mortgage Characteristics * 3-15 * 

Appendixes 

A. Definitions A-1 

B. Sample Design and Weighting B-1 

C. Historical Changes: 2009 C-1

D. Errors D-1 

Index for Table Numbers and Appendixes Index-1 

* Table only applies to owner-occupied units. 
iv American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Introduction

This report presents data from the American Housing 

Survey (AHS). The survey is sponsored by the Department 

of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and conducted 

by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The AHS is the most comprehensive national housing 

survey in the United States. It provides data on a wide 

range of housing subjects, including single-family homes, 

apartments, manufactured housing, vacant units, family 

composition, income, housing and neighborhood quality, 

housing costs, equipment, fuel type, and recent moves. 

National data are collected every 2 years from a sample of 

housing units. The national survey, which began in 1973, 

has sampled the same units since 1985; it also samples 

new construction to ensure continuity and timeliness of the 

data. 

The AHS is a household survey conducted using a laptop 

survey questionnaire. Units in sample were interviewed 

between April and September 2009. Data are collected by 

census enumerators by telephone or personal visit. For 

unoccupied units, data are collected from landlords, rental 

agents, or neighbors.

THE AHS IS ACTUALLY TWO SURVEYS

The AHS conducts a national survey and a metropolitan 

area survey. The national survey, whose data are presented in this report, includes about 60,000 housing units. 

The metropolitan survey has changed many times, mostly 

in response to changes in the AHS budget. This report 

includes a table showing the years in which data were collected for each metropolitan area covered by the AHS. 

In 2009, estimates for the following metropolitan areas 

are available in a separate report: Chicago, Detroit, New 

Orleans, New York City, Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, 

and Seattle. Only New Orleans and Seattle were designed 

as metropolitan surveys in the traditional sense. The other 

five areas were surveyed as part of the 2009 national, 

where the existing national sample was supplemented with 

new sample in order to produce reliable metropolitan estimates. For more information see Appendix B. 

SAMPLE DESIGN

Each housing unit in the AHS sample represents a large 

number of other units. Information regarding the sample size and response rate can be found in Appendix B. 

Sample units are weighted and represent about 2,000 other 

units in the national survey. The weighting is designed to 

minimize sampling error and utilize independent estimates 

of occupied and vacant housing units. 

SAMPLING ERRORS

The data in this report are subject to error from sampling 

and other causes, such as incomplete data and wrong 

answers. Appendix D contains a complete description of 

the types of errors and provides formulas for constructing 

confidence intervals.

2009 CHANGES

When comparing the 2009 report to prior years, please 

note the following.

Chapter 1. The following tables are no longer included in 

the report:

Tables 1B-1 to 1B-7 (Central Cities) 

Tables 1C-1 to 1C-7 (Suburbs) 

Tables 1D-1 to 1D-7 (Outside MSAs) 

Tables 1A-1 through 1A-6 have been renumbered as 1-1 

through 1-6. Table 1-7 (Financial Characteristics—All 

Housing Units) is no longer included; this information 

can be found in Chapters 2 and 3. 

Chapters 2 through 7. In order to reduce the report 

table width some columns are no longer included. Also, 

Tables 17 through 25 have been deleted in each chapter 

and Chapters 5 through 7 are no longer included in the 

report.

The content of the survey questionnaire remained largely 

the same as the prior year, except for the addition of a 

series of items to determine if any household members 

have a physical or mental disability. See Appendix C for a 

complete description of the 2009 changes.

SURVEY AUTHORITY 

Title 12, Sections 1701z-1 and 1701z-2(g) of the U.S. Code, 

authorizes the Secretary of HUD to collect data from the 

public and private agencies and protect the confidentiality 

of the data. Title 12, Section 1701z-10, mandates the collection of the data for the AHS. The guarantee of confidentiality made to respondents is provided by the Census 

Bureau. Title 13, Section 9(a) of the U.S. Code provides 

that all information that would permit the identification of 

individuals will be held in strict confidence. Such information may be seen only by sworn Census Bureau employees 

and may be used only for statistical purposes. Section 214 

of Title 13 sets penalties for disclosing confidential information. Unauthorized disclosure of individual information 

is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment of 

up to 5 years, or both. The Census Bureau is authorized 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 v

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

under Title 31, Section 1535 of the U.S. Code, to perform 

special work or services for other federal agencies. 

AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL AHS DATA

The following table shows various sources for obtaining 

AHS data. Each source shown sets its own charges, so 

prices may vary among the sources. For the data user 

whose needs are not met by the tables included in this 

report, public use microdata (also known as public use files 

or PUF) are available at <www.huduser.org/datasets

/ahs.html>. Microdata files contain data on each sampled 

unit, with any information that might identify respondents 

removed. 

Sources for American Housing Survey Data 

Source Telephone Books Microdata 

HUD USER 

P.O. Box 23268

Washington, DC 20026-3268 

1-800-245-2691 

202-708-3178 

TDD 1-800-927-7589 

Fax 202-708-9981 

National and Metropolitan $5 

Codebooks 

Volume I $30 

Volume II $5 

Volume III $20 

National CD-ROM 

Before 1997 $50 

1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003 $15 

Metropolitan CD-ROM 

Before 1996 $50 

1996 to present $15 

Table Generating Data Disk $15 

CD-ROM1

 AVI-000102 

HUD USER Home Page: 

www.huduser.org/datasets/ahs.html

Codebooks Free 1995 and later National and Metropolitan Free 

Customer Services 

U.S. Census Bureau 

Washington, DC 20233-0801 

www.census.gov/mp/www/cat

301-763-INFO (4636) for 

general information 

Fax 301-763-3842, orders only 

Metropolitan 

 Fees vary

National and Metropolitan CD-ROMs 

Back to early 1970s Call 

 customer services 

 for information

Superintendent of Documents2 

P.O. Box 979050 

St. Louis, MO 63197-9000 

202-512-1800 

Fax 202-512-2104

National $56 

U.S. National Archives and Records 

Administration 

Center for Electronic Records 

www.archives.gov

301-837-0470 National and Metropolitan 

Electronic data are available on removable 

media, such as CD-ROMs and DVDs. Call the 

Electronic and Special Media Record Services 

Division at 301-837-0470. Fees 

 vary 

Internet Publications: 

www.census.gov/prod /www/abs

/cons-hou.html#house

National, Metropolitan 

Analytical 

All reports since 1973 

Interactive Internet Tools DataFerret—data extraction 

system 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003 Free 

Data Extraction System (DES) 1993, 1995 Free 

American Housing Survey Home Page: 

www.census.gov/hhes/www/ahs.html 

1

The American Housing Surveys for 1999 and 2001 issued CD-ROMs titled ‘‘Table Generating Data Disk.’’ These CDs contain a special type of database file called an EXTRACT. This file allows users 

to create their own tables (cross tabulations) with the built-in software. On these CDs, there are data tables that users can manipulate to show selected information, to form graphs, and to print. Included 

also on these CDs is the microdata file in both SAS and ASCII formats along with the associated documentation. The publications also are included. 

2

Ask for U.S. Census Bureau series H150 and H151. Depository libraries may order Superintendent of Documents prefix C3.215. Libraries often keep national books in a special catalog and section 

for U.S. government documents. Metropolitan reports may be located in the general catalog since these are not published by the Superintendent of Documents. 
vi American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Dates of Current AHS Metropolitan Areas: 

1974 to 2009

(Data for each survey is published about 12 months later)

Area 2008–

2009

2003–

2007

1998–

2002

1995–

19971

1992–

1994

1988–

1991

1984–

1987

1981–

1983 1980

1977–

1979

1974–

1976

Anaheim-Santa Ana, CA 

PMSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 90 86 81 ... 77 74

Atlanta, GA MSA ... 04 ... 96 ... 91 87 82 ... 78 75

Baltimore, MD MSA ... 07 98 ... ... 91 87 83 ... 79 76

Birmingham, AL MSA ... ... 98 ... 92 88 84 ... 80 ... 76

Boston, MA-NH CMSA ... 07 98 ... 93 89 85 81 ... 77 74

Buffalo, NY CMSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 88 84 ... ... 79 76

Charlotte, NC-SC MSA ... ... 02 95 ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Chicago, IL PMSA 09 03 99 95 ... 91 87 83 ... 79 75

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN PMSA2 ... ... 98 ... ... 90 86 82 ... 78 75

Cleveland, OH PMSA2 ... 04 ... 96 92 88 84 ... ... 79 76

Columbus, OH MSA ... ... 02 95 ... 91 87 82 ... 78 75

Dallas, TX PMSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 89 85 81 ... 77 74

Denver, CO MSA ... 04 ... 95 ... 90 86 83 ... 79 76

Detroit, MI PMSA 09 03 99 95 93 89 85 81 ... 77 74

Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 

PMSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 89 85 81 ... 77 74

Hartford, CT MSA ... 04 ... 96 ... 91 87 83 ... 79 75

Houston, TX (new sample in 

1987) PMSAs ... 07 98 ... ... 91 87 83 ... 79 76

Indianapolis, IN MSA2 ... 04 ... 96 92 88 84 ... 80 ... 76

Kansas City, MO-KS MSA ... ... 02 95 ... 90 86 82 ... 78 75

Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA 

PMSA2 ... 03 99 95 ... 89 85 ... 80 77 74

Memphis, TN-AR-MS MSA ... 04 ... 96 92 88 84 ... 80 77 74

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL 

CMSA ... 07 02 95 ... 90 86 83 ... 79 75

Milwaukee, WI PMSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 88 84 ... ... 79 75

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI 

MSA ... 07 98 ... 93 89 85 81 ... 77 74

New Orleans, LA MSA 09 04 ... 95 ... 90 86 82 ... 78 75

New York-Nassau-SuffolkOrange, NY PMSAs 09 03 99 95 ... 91 87 83 80 ... 76

Norfolk-Virginia BeachNewport News, VA-NC3 ... ... 98 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Northern NJ PMSAs 09 03 99 95 ... 91 87 ... ... ... ...

Oakland, CA PMSA4 ... ... 98 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Oklahoma City, OK MSA ... 04 ... 96 92 88 84 ... 80 ... 76

Philadelphia, PA-NJ PMSA2 09 03 99 95 ... 89 85 82 ... 78 75

Phoenix, AZ MSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 89 85 81 ... 77 74

Pittsburgh, PA MSA ... 04 ... 95 ... 90 86 81 ... 77 74

Portland, OR-WA PMSA ... ... 02 95 ... 90 86 83 ... 79 75

Providence-PawtucketWarwick, RI-MA PMSAs ... ... 98 ... 92 88 84 ... 80 ... 76

Riverside-San BernardinoOntario, CA PMSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 90 86 82 ... 78 75

Rochester, NY MSA ... ... 98 ... ... 90 86 82 ... 78 75

Sacramento, CA PMSA ... 04 ... 96 ... ... ... 83 80 ... 76

St. Louis, MO-IL MSA ... 04 ... 96 ... 91 87 83 80 ... 76

Salt Lake City, UT MSA ... ... 98 ... 92 88 84 ... 80 77 74

San Antonio, TX MSA ... 04 ... 95 ... 90 86 82 ... 78 75

San Diego, CA MSA2 ... ... 02 ... 94 91 87 82 ... 78 75

San Francisco, CA PMSA4 ... ... 98 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

San Francisco-Oakland, CA 

PMSAs ... ... ... ... 93 89 85 82 ... 78 75

San Jose, CA PMSA ... ... 98 ... 93 88 84 ... ... ... ...

Seattle-Tacoma, WA PMSA5 09 04 ... 96 ... ... ... 83 ... 79 76

Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL MSA ... 07 98 ... 93 89 85 ... ... ... ...

Washington, DC-MD-VA MSA ... 07 98 ... 93 89 85 81 ... 77 74

... Not applicable. 

1

 No areas surveyed for 1997. 

2

 Same area since beginning. All other areas change boundaries over time; see map or list of counties in each report.

3

 Currituck County, NC, was added to the geographic definition in 1998.

4

 Formerly with San Francisco-Oakland, CA PMSAs.

5

 Formerly Seattle-Everett, WA PMSA.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 vii

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Dates of AHS Metropolitan Areas No Longer in Sample: 

1974 to 2009

Area 1998– 

2009

1995– 

19971

1992– 

1994

1988– 

1991

1984– 

1987

1981– 

1983 1980 1977– 

1979

1974– 

1976

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY2

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, 

PA-NJ2

Colorado Springs, CO2

Grand Rapids, MI2

Honolulu, HI2

Las Vegas, NV2

Louisville, KY-IN2

Madison, WI2

Newark, NJ (now covered by 

Northern NJ)2

Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport 

News, VA MSA

Newport News-Hampton, VA MSA

Omaha, NE-IA2

Orlando, FL2

Paterson-Clifton-Passaic, NJ (now 

covered by Northern NJ)2

Raleigh, NC2

Saginaw, MI2

Seattle-Tacoma, WA

Spokane, WA

Springfield-Chicopee-Holyoke, 

MA-CT2

Tacoma, WA2

Wichita, KS2

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

92

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

88

...

...

...

...

...

...

91

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

84

...

...

...

...

...

...

87

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

83

...

83

81

81

...

...

...

81

82

...

...

...

81

...

81

81

80

80

...

80

...

...

80

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

80

...

...

...

...

...

77

...

78

...

79

79

...

77

77

78

78

79

77

78

79

77

...

77

78

77

77

74

76

75

76

76

76

76

75

74

75

75

76

74

75

76

74

...

74

75

74

74

 ... Not applicable. 

1

 No areas surveyed for 1997. 

2

 Same area since beginning. All other areas change boundaries over time; see map or list of counties in each report. 

American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 1

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,112 4,618 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10.1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,955 8,769

Units in Structure

1, detached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,472 2,795 79,677 73,079 63,324 9,755 6,598 820 7.7 1,477 471 1,713 2,118 3,967 (X)

1, attached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,053 252 6,801 5,973 3,952 2,021 828 198 8.9 175 48 213 195 551 (X)

2 to 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,160 167 9,993 8,350 1,353 6,998 1,643 804 10.2 134 73 240 393 186 (X)

5 to 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,347 143 6,204 5,269 632 4,637 935 573 10.9 41 74 137 110 167 (X)

10 to 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,722 127 5,595 4,661 483 4,178 934 620 12.8 42 50 152 70 212 (X)

20 to 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,525 182 4,342 3,630 499 3,131 713 394 11.0 31 55 160 73 203 (X)

50 or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,063 222 4,841 4,004 768 3,237 837 434 11.7 65 43 213 81 344 (X)

Manufactured/mobile home or trailer. . . . 8,769 730 8,040 6,839 5,418 1,421 1,201 176 11.0 143 65 487 329 324 8,769

Cooperatives and Condominiums 

Cooperatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844 77 767 651 429 222 116 23 9.2 22 9 54 9 9 93

Condominiums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,741 764 7,977 6,580 4,399 2,181 1,397 257 10.5 283 55 569 233 639 48

Year Structure Built1, 5

2005 to 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,324 272 7,052 5,884 4,601 1,283 1,168 289 18.3 391 92 206 190 5,955 413

2000 to 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,158 307 8,851 8,102 6,371 1,731 749 175 9.1 197 61 198 118 (X) 884

1995 to 1999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,821 326 8,495 7,825 6,221 1,603 670 196 10.7 112 31 221 110 (X) 1,657

1990 to 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,060 331 6,730 5,995 4,715 1,280 735 157 10.8 142 42 238 155 (X) 1,071

1985 to 1989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,804 289 8,515 7,648 5,159 2,489 867 331 11.6 96 48 259 133 (X) 853

1980 to 1984. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,478 326 7,152 6,380 4,201 2,179 772 267 10.8 82 67 199 156 (X) 961

1975 to 1979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,731 440 13,290 11,835 7,471 4,364 1,456 512 10.4 143 79 403 319 (X) 972

1970 to 1974. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,068 426 10,642 9,413 5,696 3,718 1,228 408 9.8 169 52 345 254 (X) 1,120

1960 to 1969. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,261 514 14,747 13,326 8,917 4,409 1,421 410 8.5 194 110 354 354 (X) 630

1950 to 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,222 331 12,891 11,771 8,528 3,243 1,120 247 7.0 162 59 263 388 (X) 92

1940 to 1949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,945 319 7,626 6,745 4,423 2,322 881 215 8.4 112 56 174 323 (X) 54

1930 to 1939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,840 222 5,619 4,828 2,904 1,924 791 226 10.4 90 53 121 302 (X) 63

1920 to 1929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,164 181 4,983 4,331 2,520 1,811 652 224 10.9 84 37 97 211 (X) (X)

1919 or earlier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,235 334 8,902 7,724 4,703 3,021 1,178 362 10.6 133 92 237 355 (X) (X)

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1974 1975 1974 1974 1975 1971 1973 1974 (X) 1979 1973 1976 1963 2007 1988

Suitability for Year-Round Use2

Built and heated for year-round use. . . . 128,908 3,414 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10.1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,929 8,595

Not suitable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,060 1,060 – – – – – – – – – – – 16 150

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 143 – – – – – – – – – – – 10 24

Time Sharing 

 Vacant, including URE. . . . . . . . 18,306 4,618 13,688 (X) (X) (X) 13,688 4,018 92.0 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 1,184 1,930

Ownership time-shared. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 40 54 (X) (X) (X) 54 9 78.0 8 3 17 17 3 11

Not time-shared. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,212 4,577 13,634 (X) (X) (X) 13,634 4,009 92.0 2,100 877 3,297 3,352 1,181 1,920

Duration of Vacancy

 Vacant units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,535 3,933 12,602 (X) (X) (X) 12,602 4,018 92.1 2,108 879 2,228 3,368 1,085 1,735

Less than 1 month vacant. . . . . . . . . . . . 2,054 518 1,536 (X) (X) (X) 1,536 808 89.6 121 149 240 219 151 180

1 month up to 2 months. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,955 379 1,577 (X) (X) (X) 1,577 835 91.7 169 113 233 227 92 196

2 months up to 6 months. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,034 552 2,482 (X) (X) (X) 2,482 1,050 92.7 418 159 355 501 169 269

6 months up to 1 year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,286 813 1,473 (X) (X) (X) 1,473 407 92.6 379 108 193 387 140 212

1 year up to 2 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,448 159 1,289 (X) (X) (X) 1,289 288 94.2 328 104 183 385 78 197

2 years or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,995 772 2,222 (X) (X) (X) 2,222 233 95.1 302 123 460 1,104 61 394

Never occupied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784 318 466 (X) (X) (X) 466 55 96.9 110 36 188 78 213 143

Don’t know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,979 422 1,556 (X) (X) (X) 1,556 343 92.8 282 88 375 468 180 145

Last Used as a Permanent Residence

 Vacant seasonal. . . . . . . . . . . . 4,618 4,618 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 191 730

Less than 1 month since occupied as 

permanent home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 225 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 23 28

1 month up to 2 months. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 95 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 5 11

2 months up to 6 months. . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 169 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 6 30

6 months up to 1 year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 178 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 3 38

1 year up to 2 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 166 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 20 25

2 years or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,165 1,165 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 14 210

Never occupied as permanent home. . . . 2,062 2,062 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 117 332

Don’t know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 546 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 4 50

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 11 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) – 6

See footnotes at end of table. 
2 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

Metropolitan/Nonmetropolitan Areas

Inside metropolitan statistical areas. . . . 102,679 2,305 100,373 89,949 60,102 29,846 10,425 3,391 10.1 1,692 697 2,222 2,422 4,894 4,723

 In central cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,604 413 37,191 32,645 17,809 14,837 4,545 1,834 10.9 554 309 805 1,044 1,753 669

 Suburbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,075 1,892 63,183 57,303 42,294 15,009 5,879 1,557 9.3 1,138 389 1,418 1,378 3,141 4,054

Outside metropolitan statistical areas. . . 27,433 2,312 25,121 21,857 16,326 5,532 3,263 627 10.1 416 182 1,092 946 1,061 4,046

Regions

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,316 916 22,400 20,451 13,378 7,073 1,949 560 7.3 257 142 532 457 539 657

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,403 930 28,473 25,368 18,249 7,119 3,105 1,039 12.6 528 209 628 700 953 1,505

South. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,372 1,774 47,598 41,586 29,193 12,392 6,012 1,702 12.0 903 340 1,468 1,599 3,030 5,042

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,021 997 27,023 24,401 15,607 8,794 2,623 718 7.5 420 188 685 612 1,433 1,565

Place Size3

Less than 2,500 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,437 379 6,057 5,254 3,982 1,271 803 171 11.7 154 44 200 235 254 668

2,500 to 9,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,314 655 14,659 13,093 9,298 3,795 1,566 460 10.7 312 78 379 338 636 884

10,000 to 19,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . 10,663 200 10,463 9,487 6,314 3,173 976 322 9.1 163 72 144 275 303 290

20,000 to 49,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . 16,712 217 16,495 14,846 9,643 5,204 1,649 573 9.8 297 127 328 324 526 329

50,000 to 99,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . 12,083 115 11,968 10,783 6,549 4,235 1,184 437 9.3 138 103 226 280 434 227

100,000 to 249,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . 9,894 87 9,808 8,793 5,108 3,685 1,014 417 10.1 171 53 153 220 307 111

250,000 to 499,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . 7,057 52 7,005 6,110 3,329 2,781 895 408 12.6 84 61 116 225 367 84

500,000 to 999,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . 4,319 23 4,296 3,716 2,073 1,644 580 254 13.2 70 47 82 127 178 48

1,000,000 persons or more. . . . . . . . . . . 7,826 53 7,773 6,906 2,928 3,978 867 385 8.8 78 47 186 171 171 15

Homes Currently for Sale or Rent

Up for rent only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) 70 (X) 4,033 3,709 100.0 – – 324 – 238 164

Up for rent or for sale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) 47 (X) 325 309 100.0 – – 16 – 30 34

For sale only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,245 (X) 2,168 – (X) 2,108 – 60 – 460 229

Not on the market. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) 73,539 (X) 7,162 – (X) – 879 2,914 3,368 4,029 6,121

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,527 (X) – – (X) – – – – 66 71

Reasons Extra Unit Owned4

 Extra units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,840 4,526 3,314 (X) (X) (X) 3,314 (X) (X) (X) (X) 3,314 (X) 341 1,190

Previous usual residence. . . . . . . . . . . . 861 326 535 (X) (X) (X) 535 (X) (X) (X) (X) 535 (X) 13 158

Used for recreational purposes. . . . . . . . 4,054 2,788 1,266 (X) (X) (X) 1,266 (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,266 (X) 177 714

Investment purposes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755 409 346 (X) (X) (X) 346 (X) (X) (X) (X) 346 (X) 58 51

Unable to sell property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 72 28 (X) (X) (X) 28 (X) (X) (X) (X) 28 (X) 11 7

Inherited property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 319 185 (X) (X) (X) 185 (X) (X) (X) (X) 185 (X) – 35

Other reasons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,150 612 539 (X) (X) (X) 539 (X) (X) (X) (X) 539 (X) 88 184

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 218 533 (X) (X) (X) 533 (X) (X) (X) (X) 533 (X) 25 60

Location of Extra Unit

Within 150 miles of current residence. . . 3,692 2,151 1,540 (X) (X) (X) 1,540 (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,540 (X) 155 622

150 miles or more from current 

residence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,985 1,949 1,036 (X) (X) (X) 1,036 (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,036 (X) 139 433

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,164 426 738 (X) (X) (X) 738 (X) (X) (X) (X) 738 (X) 47 135

Nights Owner Spent at Extra Unit

0 to 2 nights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,765 1,053 712 (X) (X) (X) 712 (X) (X) (X) (X) 712 (X) 56 321

3 to 7 nights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 200 116 (X) (X) (X) 116 (X) (X) (X) (X) 116 (X) 8 36

8 nights or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,390 2,677 1,713 (X) (X) (X) 1,713 (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,713 (X) 220 733

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,370 597 773 (X) (X) (X) 773 (X) (X) (X) (X) 773 (X) 57 100

Nights Owner Rented Extra Unit

0 to 2 nights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,661 3,500 2,161 (X) (X) (X) 2,161 (X) (X) (X) (X) 2,161 (X) 262 1,007

3 to 7 nights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 29 7 (X) (X) (X) 7 (X) (X) (X) (X) 7 (X) – 9

8 nights or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,007 511 496 (X) (X) (X) 496 (X) (X) (X) (X) 496 (X) 45 87

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,136 487 649 (X) (X) (X) 649 (X) (X) (X) (X) 649 (X) 34 87

Manufactured/Mobile Home Size

 Manufactured/mobile homes. . . 8,769 730 8,040 6,839 5,418 1,421 1,201 176 11.0 143 65 487 329 324 8,769

Single-wide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,343 523 4,820 3,923 2,867 1,056 897 147 12.1 97 38 361 253 151 5,343

Double-wide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,289 206 3,082 2,803 2,444 358 280 29 7.5 45 27 103 76 171 3,289

Triple-wide or larger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 – 118 106 103 3 12 – – – – 12 – 3 118

Size not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 – 20 8 4 4 12 – – 1 – 11 1 – 20

See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 3

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

Manufactured/Mobile Home Tiedowns

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . 8,769 730 8,040 6,839 5,418 1,421 1,201 176 11.0 143 65 487 329 324 8,769

Anchored by tiedowns, bolts, or other 

means . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,622 567 7,055 6,136 4,914 1,222 918 134 9.8 116 49 394 225 297 7,622

Not anchored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854 134 720 545 426 119 176 30 19.6 13 14 47 73 19 854

Anchoring not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 29 265 158 78 79 107 12 13.4 14 3 46 32 8 294

Manufactured/Mobile Home Setup

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . 8,769 730 8,040 6,839 5,418 1,421 1,201 176 11.0 143 65 487 329 324 8,769

Set on permanent masonry 

foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558 76 1,481 1,367 1,158 209 115 25 10.4 29 22 33 6 50 1,558

Resting on concrete pad . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,524 192 1,332 1,076 870 206 256 22 9.8 22 9 124 78 77 1,524

Up on blocks, but not on concrete 

pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,269 358 4,911 4,194 3,251 943 717 117 11.0 71 30 294 205 181 5,269

Setup in some other way . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 76 166 113 99 14 54 7 33.0 12 2 21 12 8 242

Setup not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 27 149 90 40 50 59 6 10.4 9 2 15 28 8 176

1

For manufactured/mobile homes, oldest category is 1939 or earlier.

2

If occupied year-round, assumed to be suitable for year-round use.

3

Does not add up to total because not all populations reside in a place; see Appendix A.

4

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

5

Median is estimated from the printed distribution; see Appendix A.

—Con.
4 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,112 4,618 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10 .1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,955 8,769

Stories in Structure1

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,537 1,880 39,657 35,364 26,216 9,148 4,292 815 8.1 745 266 1,031 1,435 1,554 (X)

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,447 1,145 42,302 37,867 25,210 12,657 4,435 1,536 10.7 727 288 939 945 2,392 (X)

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,574 542 27,031 24,508 16,721 7,787 2,524 988 11.2 373 162 494 506 1,205 (X)

4 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,051 160 5,891 5,134 2,349 2,785 757 320 10.2 77 69 185 106 288 (X)

7 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,734 160 2,573 2,094 515 1,580 479 182 10.3 42 29 178 48 192 (X)

Stories Between Main and 

Apartment Entrances

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors . . . 28,329 775 27,553 22,962 3,458 19,503 4,592 2,572 11.5 284 272 822 641 1,054 (X)

None (on same floor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,076 159 8,916 7,616 1,187 6,429 1,300 718 10.0 76 76 197 233 249 (X)

1 (up or down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,916 189 7,727 6,447 911 5,536 1,280 743 11.7 88 86 188 175 251 (X)

2 or more (up or down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,337 427 10,910 8,899 1,361 7,538 2,012 1,111 12.7 120 110 437 233 553 (X)

Elevator on Floor 

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors . . . 28,329 775 27,553 22,962 3,458 19,503 4,592 2,572 11.5 284 272 822 641 1,054 (X)

With 1 or more elevators working . . . . . 5,585 311 5,274 4,348 1,045 3,303 926 426 11.3 80 41 276 103 400 (X)

With elevator, none in working 

condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 – 58 46 11 35 12 8 19.2 – – – 4 2 (X)

No elevator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,686 464 22,222 18,568 2,403 16,165 3,654 2,138 11.6 204 231 546 535 652 (X)

 Units, 3 or more floors from main 

 entrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,805 43 1,763 1,436 133 1,302 327 184 12.2 17 22 66 37 72 (X)

Foundation 

 1-unit building, excluding 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . 89,525 3,047 86,478 79,052 67,276 11,776 7,427 1,018 7.9 1,652 519 1,926 2,312 4,518 (X)

With basement under all of building . . . 29,104 490 28,614 26,713 23,821 2,892 1,902 214 6.8 480 139 479 590 1,237 (X)

With basement under part of building . . 8,991 170 8,821 8,208 7,350 858 613 82 8.6 135 64 157 176 156 (X)

With crawl space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,955 965 19,991 18,022 14,783 3,240 1,968 280 7.9 360 92 538 698 727 (X)

On concrete slab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,693 1,011 27,682 24,917 20,431 4,486 2,765 405 8.2 655 217 717 771 2,327 (X)

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,782 411 1,371 1,192 892 300 179 37 11.0 22 7 35 77 71 (X)

External Building Conditions2

Sagging roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,765 249 2,516 1,888 1,370 517 628 82 13.4 83 50 76 338 3 491

Missing roofing material. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,805 252 5,553 4,640 3,682 958 914 110 10.3 146 85 143 429 82 496

Hole in roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,020 139 1,881 1,458 1,029 429 424 37 7.9 52 33 40 262 6 423

Missing bricks, siding, or other outside 

wall material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,175 211 2,964 2,323 1,661 661 641 80 10.7 68 47 86 359 22 374

Sloping outside walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,687 164 1,523 1,167 781 386 356 42 9.9 40 26 55 193 10 317

Boarded up windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,511 180 1,331 821 558 262 510 58 18.1 42 44 65 301 13 273

Broken windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,850 201 3,649 2,984 2,112 872 666 91 9.4 65 48 97 364 37 703

Bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,552 32 3,520 3,318 2,616 702 202 47 6.3 26 20 44 65 22 65

Foundation crumbling or has open 

crack or hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,822 160 2,662 2,227 1,687 540 435 53 8.9 53 21 65 243 17 152

None of the above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,826 3,031 75,795 69,766 60,037 9,730 6,029 860 8.1 1,419 401 1,890 1,458 4,555 6,807

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,591 102 2,489 2,173 1,832 341 315 29 7.8 48 7 78 153 115 189

Site Placement 

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . 8,769 730 8,040 6,839 5,418 1,421 1,201 176 11.0 143 65 487 329 324 8,769

First site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,912 509 5,403 4,600 4,002 598 803 85 12.3 98 52 353 215 272 5,912

Moved from another site . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,726 174 1,552 1,301 1,047 254 251 51 16.6 23 8 83 87 38 1,726

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 46 506 362 97 265 144 41 13.3 22 5 48 28 9 553

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 – 579 576 272 304 2 – – – – 2 – 4 579

1

Figures exclude manufactured/mobile homes.

2

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit. Figures do not include multiunit structures.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 5

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,112 4,618 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10 .1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,955 8,769

Rooms 

1 room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 104 475 352 26 326 123 57 14.6 – 9 27 30 12 7

2 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,423 194 1,229 946 68 879 283 128 12.6 9 8 68 70 22 39

3 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,290 697 10,593 8,711 1,036 7,675 1,882 949 10.9 100 92 385 356 295 420

4 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,036 1,374 21,662 17,828 6,475 11,354 3,834 1,442 11.2 323 182 998 890 606 2,753

5 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,888 1,108 28,779 25,444 17,232 8,212 3,336 822 9.0 534 209 838 933 1,367 3,082

6 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,480 632 26,848 24,596 20,364 4,232 2,252 408 8.7 463 207 547 627 1,240 1,573

7 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,877 315 17,562 16,489 14,754 1,735 1,073 126 6.8 358 82 241 266 954 689

8 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,623 89 10,533 10,033 9,410 622 501 46 6.9 171 49 98 136 710 150

9 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,629 68 4,561 4,344 4,130 214 217 30 12.3 69 26 52 40 403 36

10 rooms or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,286 36 3,250 3,063 2,933 130 187 8 5.9 81 16 60 21 344 19

Bedrooms 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,265 187 1,077 789 45 744 288 129 14.7 7 11 69 72 29 32

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,690 806 13,884 11,434 1,714 9,720 2,450 1,262 11.4 128 133 500 427 358 508

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,514 1,834 32,680 27,671 13,471 14,200 5,008 1,717 10.7 502 254 1,321 1,215 1,015 3,533

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,734 1,317 52,417 48,082 39,723 8,359 4,335 704 7.7 973 335 1,057 1,267 2,548 4,076

4 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,909 473 25,437 23,830 21,475 2,354 1,607 206 8.0 498 147 368 388 2,005 620

Complete Bathrooms 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,678 557 1,121 403 175 229 717 88 27.3 60 42 99 429 21 185

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,977 1,899 45,078 38,662 15,767 22,894 6,416 2,617 10.2 524 386 1,344 1,545 582 2,861

1 1/2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,233 363 16,870 15,656 12,081 3,575 1,214 335 8.5 228 77 260 314 213 796

2 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,223 1,798 62,425 57,085 48,405 8,680 5,340 978 10.0 1,296 375 1,611 1,080 5,138 4,927

Square Footage of Unit 

 Single detached and 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . . 91,241 3,524 87,717 79,918 68,742 11,176 7,799 996 8.1 1,620 536 2,200 2,447 4,291 8,769

Less than 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988 225 764 603 383 220 161 21 8.7 25 7 65 43 10 331

500 to 749 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,765 462 2,303 1,771 1,085 686 532 62 8.2 46 13 245 166 19 1,020

750 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,440 593 5,847 5,014 3,519 1,495 833 179 10.6 100 31 238 285 68 1,935

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,224 814 20,410 18,419 14,978 3,441 1,991 297 7.9 416 127 527 624 557 2,779

1,500 to 1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,636 521 20,115 18,519 16,284 2,235 1,596 165 6.8 391 143 435 461 827 1,309

2,000 to 2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,361 284 14,077 13,190 12,057 1,134 886 103 8.2 199 88 236 260 813 334

2,500 to 2,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,589 141 7,448 7,050 6,622 429 398 35 7.5 128 15 111 109 535 126

3,000 to 3,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,252 137 7,115 6,692 6,391 301 424 39 11.3 102 35 101 146 751 54

4,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,456 113 4,343 4,030 3,787 243 313 25 9.2 103 39 85 62 469 146

Not reported (includes don’t know) . . . . . . 5,529 234 5,295 4,630 3,638 992 666 70 6.6 110 38 156 291 241 735

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,700 1,150 1,736 1,800 1,800 1,300 1,500 1,250 (X) 1,658 1,680 1,400 1,400 2,300 1,092

Lot Size 

 1-unit structures1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . 95,216 3,512 91,704 83,466 70,643 12,823 8,239 1,157 8.2 1,680 556 2,274 2,571 4,550 8,628

Less than 1/8 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,931 515 13,416 11,824 9,107 2,717 1,593 295 9.7 309 106 447 435 698 1,891

1/8 up to 1/4 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,008 880 24,129 21,793 17,771 4,022 2,336 367 8.3 490 182 585 712 1,110 1,424

1/4 up to 1/2 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,825 518 17,307 15,921 13,837 2,084 1,386 188 8.2 359 87 349 402 931 732

1/2 up to 1 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,292 372 10,920 10,036 8,874 1,162 884 112 8.8 190 33 274 275 447 808

1 up to 5 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,172 754 18,418 17,014 14,895 2,120 1,404 157 6.9 247 106 411 483 922 2,700

5 up to 10 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,104 120 2,984 2,750 2,545 205 234 20 8.7 44 14 70 86 205 509

10 acres or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,885 354 4,530 4,127 3,614 513 403 19 3.5 41 28 138 177 235 564

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .26 0 .32 0 .26 0 .27 0 .32 0 .22 0 .25 0 .18 (X) 0 .25 0 .23 0 .25 0 .25 0 .27 0 .50

1

Does not include cooperatives or condominiums.
6 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-4. 

Selected 

[Numbers in thousands.

Equipment and Plumbing—All Housing Units

Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Equipment1

130,112 4,618 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10 .1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,955 8,769

Lacking complete kitchen facilities . . . . .

With complete kitchen (sink, refrigera5,586 667 4,919 1,751 378 1,374 3,168 677 32.2 678 243 298 1,272 299 367

tor, and oven or burners) . . . . . . . . . . . 124,526 3,951 120,575 110,054 76,050 34,004 10,520 3,342 8.9 1,430 636 3,017 2,096 5,656 8,402

Kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128,769 4,291 124,478 111,510 76,329 35,180 12,968 3,914 9.9 2,044 821 3,215 2,974 5,914 8,613

Refrigerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126,534 4,056 122,478 111,530 76,336 35,193 10,948 3,527 9.0 1,462 669 3,104 2,185 5,726 8,429

Cooking stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126,744 4,127 122,617 111,038 76,153 34,886 11,579 3,650 9.4 1,744 726 3,114 2,344 5,858 8,448

Burners, no stove or range . . . . . . . . . . 258 22 237 208 109 99 29 17 14.5 – – 2 11 5 17

Microwave oven only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 14 481 378 127 251 103 29 10.4 18 3 37 16 10 30

Dishwasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,397 2,111 80,286 73,584 57,191 16,393 6,702 1,919 10.4 1,305 489 1,820 1,168 5,533 3,831

Washing machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101,387 2,482 98,905 93,372 73,826 19,545 5,534 963 4.7 849 333 2,132 1,257 5,279 7,324

Clothes dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,657 2,360 96,297 90,905 72,562 18,343 5,392 949 4.9 824 328 2,085 1,205 5,236 7,017

Disposal in kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,776 1,505 62,271 56,531 40,597 15,933 5,740 1,890 10.5 1,063 441 1,438 908 4,414 1,286

Trash compactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Air conditioning:2

4,511 146 4,365 3,896 3,166 730 469 105 12.5 98 38 158 69 415 62

 Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,475 2,077 80,398 72,808 54,647 18,161 7,590 2,211 10.8 1,456 534 1,888 1,501 5,279 5,469

 Additional central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,193 120 6,073 5,629 4,709 920 444 106 10.2 101 45 107 85 672 319

 1 room unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,020 383 12,637 11,532 5,303 6,229 1,105 435 6.5 91 54 239 285 86 988

 2 room units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,670 144 8,527 8,132 4,800 3,332 395 129 3.7 32 20 110 104 88 790

 3 room units or more . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Safety Equipment1

Working smoke detector 

5,160 54 5,105 4,918 3,604 1,314 187 41 3.0 17 14 84 31 32 301

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 Powered by:

116,141 2,989 113,152 104,362 71,797 32,565 8,789 3,253 9.0 1,396 610 2,293 1,237 5,595 7,338

 Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,217 267 8,949 8,149 5,620 2,528 801 278 9.8 139 56 208 120 524 854

 Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,868 1,547 71,321 66,536 43,210 23,326 4,785 1,785 7.1 701 303 1,252 744 1,832 4,263

 Both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,128 983 31,145 28,421 22,461 5,960 2,724 1,083 15.1 471 204 698 269 3,098 2,134

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,928 191 1,736 1,257 506 751 480 108 12.4 85 47 136 104 142 87

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,101 824 8,276 6,157 3,686 2,472 2,119 356 12.5 280 126 284 1,073 142 911

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 Batteries replaced in last 6 months3

4,870 804 4,066 1,286 945 341 2,780 409 53.2 433 143 737 1,059 217 520

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,933 1,626 76,308 71,505 50,073 21,432 4,803 2,146 9.0 606 361 1,236 453 3,371 4,506

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,706 579 23,127 21,466 14,678 6,788 1,661 367 5.1 362 103 455 374 1,415 1,632

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fire extinguisher purchased or 

3,357 326 3,031 1,986 920 1,066 1,045 354 24.5 204 43 259 186 144 259

recharged in the last 2 years . . . . . . . . 49,902 (X) 49,902 49,902 37,922 11,980 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 2,298 2,983

Sprinkler system inside home . . . . . . . . 6,401 246 6,155 5,167 2,086 3,081 988 488 13.5 119 85 221 76 1,099 95

Working carbon monoxide detector . . . .

Main Heating Equipment 

43,494 673 42,822 40,698 31,691 9,007 2,123 762 7.7 294 164 647 255 2,107 1,676

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,629 2,034 79,595 71,141 51,691 19,450 8,454 2,442 11.1 1,523 588 1,941 1,961 4,037 6,306

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . 13,969 259 13,710 12,506 7,494 5,012 1,204 507 9.1 121 73 291 213 139 33

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,059 868 15,191 13,264 9,764 3,500 1,927 531 13.1 315 107 578 395 1,466 1,327

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air 

5,730 320 5,410 4,761 2,120 2,641 649 230 7.9 33 44 192 149 104 111

units without ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,525 202 5,322 4,802 2,043 2,760 520 167 5.7 46 31 105 170 79 220

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,173 73 1,100 950 580 370 150 23 5.6 15 15 37 61 23 68

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . 1,365 99 1,266 1,109 694 414 157 25 5.6 9 1 45 77 13 148

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,405 107 1,298 1,167 535 632 131 44 6.4 12 3 24 48 6 234

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 203 1,160 1,035 845 190 125 4 2.0 13 8 59 41 28 98

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 10 182 172 155 18 10 – – 2 – 4 5 – 4

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . 98 32 66 43 35 7 24 1 16.4 – – 2 20 – 8

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570 69 501 386 232 154 115 22 12.2 6 4 16 67 22 79

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 11 92 84 34 49 8 3 6.3 3 – 2 – – 10

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930 330 600 386 206 180 215 20 10.0 11 4 18 161 38 123

 See footnotes at end of table.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 7

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

Other Heating Equipment1

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 – 258 251 225 26 7 – – – 1 6 – 15 19

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . 62 2 59 56 51 5 3 3 42.8 – – – – 3 –

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 1 102 97 91 6 5 – – – – 3 2 9 16

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,116 54 2,062 1,882 1,428 454 180 41 8.2 40 4 68 28 74 93

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air 

units without ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 – 78 75 63 12 3 3 18.3 – – – – 14 3

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879 21 858 822 716 106 36 9 7.4 6 2 18 – 23 65

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . 1,540 15 1,525 1,471 1,207 264 54 8 2.9 1 7 17 20 20 260

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,290 174 14,116 13,719 9,886 3,832 397 135 3.4 61 25 119 58 365 922

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,661 205 4,456 4,165 3,740 425 291 27 6.0 55 14 118 77 133 339

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,532 104 5,428 5,205 4,742 464 223 17 3.5 77 15 76 38 404 326

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . 6,313 155 6,158 5,765 4,869 896 392 86 8.7 108 31 93 74 460 176

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832 11 820 790 707 83 30 3 2.8 – 9 15 3 53 56

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 4 70 66 50 17 4 – – – – – 4 2 3

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,453 3,142 90,311 80,034 51,171 28,863 10,277 3,438 10.5 1,546 684 2,370 2,240 4,403 6,305

Plumbing 

With all plumbing facilities . . . . . . . . . . . 127,290 4,006 123,284 110,574 75,852 34,722 12,710 3,872 9.9 2,036 825 3,195 2,783 5,928 8,452

Lacking some or all plumbing 

facilities1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,822 611 2,210 1,232 576 656 978 146 17.8 72 55 119 586 27 317

 No hot piped water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,395 516 879 113 54 58 766 76 52.9 52 39 75 524 12 244

 No bathtub and no shower . . . . . . . . . 846 397 449 113 37 75 336 35 29.8 15 15 47 226 9 99

 No flush toilet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817 369 448 102 37 64 346 36 33.8 16 15 41 238 13 104

 No exclusive use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,257 32 1,225 1,065 507 558 160 61 9.7 20 13 36 31 12 70

Primary Source of Water

Public system or private company . . . . . 113,489 3,238 110,251 98,027 64,372 33,655 12,224 3,898 10.3 1,909 798 2,734 2,884 5,157 6,283

Well serving 1 to 5 units . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,846 1,070 14,776 13,430 11,769 1,660 1,346 113 6.3 192 77 538 426 774 2,318

 Drilled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,141 892 13,249 12,175 10,772 1,404 1,074 90 6.0 150 68 442 324 673 2,048

 Dug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999 106 892 822 700 122 70 6 4.6 8 – 26 30 38 163

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706 72 634 432 298 135 202 17 11.0 34 9 70 72 63 107

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 309 467 349 287 63 118 7 9.6 7 4 42 58 23 169

Safety of Primary Source of Water

 Selected primary water 

 sources4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,054 4,594 125,460 111,772 76,406 35,366 13,688 4,018 10.1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,951 8,765

Safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118,091 3,885 114,206 102,247 71,152 31,095 11,959 3,737 10.6 1,881 778 2,819 2,745 5,436 7,656

Not safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,236 325 8,911 8,412 4,530 3,882 500 105 2.6 46 44 162 143 371 831

Safety not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,727 384 2,343 1,113 724 389 1,230 177 30.7 181 58 333 480 144 277

Means of Sewage Disposal

Public sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103,155 2,596 100,559 89,467 56,736 32,732 11,092 3,764 10.2 1,752 725 2,393 2,458 4,546 4,170

Septic tank, cesspool, or chemical 

toilet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,662 1,800 24,862 22,307 19,667 2,640 2,555 253 8.6 351 153 921 877 1,402 4,576

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 222 73 31 25 6 41 1 16.1 5 1 – 34 6 23

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Includes only those who responded they had some type of air conditioning.

3

Restricted to units with smoke detector powered by both electricity and batteries, or batteries only.

4

Excludes units where primary source of drinking water is commercial bottled water.

—Con.
8 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-5. 

Fuels—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,112 4,618 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10 .1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,955 8,769

Main House Heating Fuel 

 Housing units with heating 

 fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129,181 4,288 124,894 111,420 76,222 35,198 13,473 3,998 10.1 2,097 875 3,296 3,207 5,916 8,646

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,939 2,165 43,774 37,851 22,219 15,632 5,923 2,008 11.3 795 349 1,521 1,250 3,058 4,548

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,361 837 62,525 56,806 41,233 15,573 5,719 1,719 9.8 1,052 420 1,095 1,433 2,371 1,884

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,366 694 6,673 5,817 4,889 929 855 75 7.3 129 46 358 248 327 1,444

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,065 212 8,852 8,214 5,693 2,521 639 162 6.0 84 45 212 136 66 208

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . 732 56 675 599 444 154 76 9 5.7 16 3 22 26 24 335

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 5 122 98 91 7 24 2 24.4 2 – 8 11 3 –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,215 284 1,931 1,780 1,503 277 150 4 1.4 16 8 65 57 57 199

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 7 11 11 8 3 – – – – – – – 3 –

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 28 330 243 142 101 87 20 16.2 3 5 15 44 9 29

Cooking Fuel 

 With cooking fuel . . . . . . . . . 127,453 4,129 123,323 111,623 76,388 35,235 11,700 3,694 9.4 1,761 729 3,149 2,367 5,868 8,485

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,848 2,795 75,053 67,078 45,512 21,567 7,975 2,622 10.7 1,183 507 2,124 1,539 3,745 5,372

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,486 1,306 48,179 44,477 30,827 13,650 3,703 1,069 7.2 577 222 1,019 816 2,114 3,106

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . 27 5 22 14 7 7 8 1 8.6 – – 3 5 – 2

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 17 35 29 17 12 6 1 6.9 – – – 5 2 4

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 6 33 25 25 – 8 1 100.0 1 – 4 2 7 1

Water Heating Fuel

 With hot piped water . . . . . . 128,676 4,100 124,575 111,691 76,371 35,319 12,885 3,939 9.9 2,048 838 3,233 2,826 5,942 8,522

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,871 2,706 52,164 45,435 29,341 16,095 6,729 2,054 11.2 981 376 1,929 1,389 3,034 6,416

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,198 1,252 66,946 61,202 43,645 17,556 5,745 1,773 9.1 1,027 435 1,158 1,351 2,828 2,049

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,126 97 5,029 4,692 3,087 1,604 337 98 5.7 38 23 124 55 52 37

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . 25 – 25 21 18 3 4 – – – – – 4 4 7

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 3 28 23 23 – 5 2 100.0 2 – 1 – – –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 23 112 104 96 9 7 1 14.6 – – 1 5 10 10

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 12 147 135 121 14 11 – – – – 11 – 5 –

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 8 124 78 40 39 46 10 20.5 1 4 9 23 8 2

Central Air Conditioning Fuel 

 With central air 

 conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . 82,475 2,077 80,398 72,808 54,647 18,161 7,590 2,211 10.8 1,456 534 1,888 1,501 5,279 5,469

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,201 2,029 78,172 70,863 53,098 17,765 7,309 2,154 10.7 1,363 497 1,826 1,469 5,120 5,396

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,175 40 2,135 1,891 1,502 389 244 52 11.5 88 28 50 26 146 73

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 8 91 54 48 6 37 5 45.2 5 10 11 5 13 –

Clothes Dryer Fuel 

 With clothes dryer . . . . . . . . 98,657 2,360 96,297 90,905 72,562 18,343 5,392 949 4.9 824 328 2,085 1,205 5,236 7,017

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,936 2,036 74,900 70,497 55,059 15,438 4,403 815 5.0 605 263 1,740 980 4,289 6,450

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,667 318 21,348 20,364 17,478 2,886 984 134 4.4 219 65 343 223 947 564

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 6 49 45 26 19 4 – – – – 1 3 – 3

Units Using Each Fuel1

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127,483 3,743 123,740 111,746 76,378 35,368 11,994 4,014 10.4 1,811 786 2,945 2,438 5,886 8,460 

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,285 2,114 86,171 77,702 55,091 22,611 8,469 2,718 11 .7 1,363 581 1,849 1,959 3,575 4,253 

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,206 228 10,978 9,208 6,409 2,800 1,770 1,046 26 .9 143 139 304 138 150 361 

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . 761 61 700 616 451 164 84 10 5.7 16 3 25 31 24 337

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 5 128 104 97 7 24 2 24.4 2 – 8 11 3 –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,226 287 1,940 1,787 1,510 278 153 5 1.7 16 8 65 59 57 203

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 19 158 147 130 17 11 – – – – 11 – 8 –

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605 54 552 405 254 151 147 32 17.5 7 10 28 70 30 33

All electric units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,198 1,978 35,220 30,166 17,951 12,216 5,053 1,701 12.1 690 283 1,309 1,070 2,460 4,101

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 9

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-6. 

Housing and Neighborhood Quality—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,112 4,618 125,494 111,806 76,428 35,378 13,688 4,018 10 .1 2,108 879 3,314 3,368 5,955 8,769

Selected Amenities1

Porch, deck, balcony, or patio . . . . . . . . 109,246 3,706 105,540 95,406 70,421 24,984 10,135 2,608 9.4 1,723 679 2,670 2,455 5,266 7,314

Usable fireplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,829 985 41,844 38,998 34,458 4,540 2,846 385 7.8 720 202 869 669 2,680 1,269

Separate dining room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,738 1,220 58,518 53,676 43,717 9,959 4,842 1,158 10.3 1,081 385 1,018 1,200 2,979 2,482

With 2 or more living rooms or recreation rooms, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,333 469 35,864 33,912 30,978 2,934 1,952 219 6.9 604 186 538 405 2,213 1,023

Garage or carport included with 

home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,484 1,931 80,553 74,236 60,979 13,258 6,317 1,131 7.8 1,455 458 1,685 1,588 4,757 3,130

Not included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,421 2,668 44,753 37,525 15,420 22,105 7,227 2,862 11.3 641 413 1,597 1,716 1,188 5,636

 Off-street parking included . . . . . . . . . 39,020 2,218 36,802 30,963 13,287 17,676 5,839 2,349 11.6 532 342 1,304 1,312 1,041 5,083

 Off-street parking not reported . . . . . . 17 2 15 3 2 2 11 1 41.4 3 – – 7 1 –

Garage or carport not reported . . . . . . . 206 18 188 44 29 15 144 26 58.2 12 9 32 64 10 4

Owner or Manager on Property 

 Rental, multiunit2

 . . . . . . . . . . . 25,502 (X) 25,502 22,181 (X) 22,181 3,321 2,824 11.2 (X) 245 252 (X) 778 (X)

Owner or manager lives on property . . . 8,252 (X) 8,252 7,461 (X) 7,461 790 665 8.1 (X) 64 61 (X) 262 (X)

Neither owner nor manager lives on 

property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,251 (X) 17,251 14,720 (X) 14,720 2,531 2,159 12.7 (X) 181 191 (X) 516 (X)

Selected Deficiencies1

Holes in floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,923 170 1,753 1,141 581 560 612 73 11.4 72 28 84 354 29 322

Open cracks or holes (interior) . . . . . . . 7,011 313 6,698 5,517 3,101 2,416 1,180 172 6.6 158 72 141 637 111 643

Broken plaster or peeling paint 

(interior). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,339 220 3,118 2,378 1,246 1,132 741 76 6.2 85 51 94 435 42 267

No electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 135 185 84 57 26 101 12 28.7 8 4 14 64 19 35

Exposed wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 81 536 355 221 134 182 17 10.7 11 25 23 105 28 73

Rooms without electric outlets . . . . . . . . 1,926 223 1,703 1,274 650 624 430 58 8.4 25 47 60 241 65 174

Description of Area Within 300 Feet1 

Single-family detached houses . . . . . . . 109,633 3,324 106,309 95,916 68,909 27,007 10,393 2,760 9.2 1,783 667 2,441 2,742 4,725 6,282

Single-family attached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,742 581 24,161 21,832 10,973 10,860 2,328 1,000 8.4 338 147 485 359 1,064 365

Multiunit residential buildings3

 . . . . . . . . 39,210 797 38,413 33,635 11,514 22,121 4,778 2,486 10.0 397 298 860 737 1,296 658

 1- to 3-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . 28,805 410 28,395 25,143 9,014 16,130 3,252 1,773 9.8 262 197 467 552 841 591

 4- to 6-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . 5,969 205 5,764 4,937 1,464 3,473 827 404 10.3 77 59 188 99 246 46

 7-or-more-story multiunit is tallest . . . 3,997 180 3,817 3,172 929 2,243 645 282 11.1 45 34 204 80 206 10

Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . 16,360 1,081 15,280 13,388 10,276 3,112 1,892 308 8.9 256 99 625 603 656 7,003

Commercial or institutional . . . . . . . . . . 40,535 732 39,803 35,649 16,992 18,657 4,154 1,886 9.1 441 285 709 832 1,151 1,580

Industrial or factories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,888 53 5,834 5,376 2,520 2,856 458 203 6.6 47 19 55 134 149 369

Open space, park, woods, farm, or 

ranch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,290 2,482 50,808 45,816 33,110 12,706 4,992 1,215 8.7 725 323 1,444 1,285 3,140 5,155

4-or-more-lane highway, railroad, or 

airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,064 415 21,649 19,612 10,380 9,232 2,037 899 8.8 232 119 326 461 754 1,324

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,828 15 2,813 2,624 1,836 788 189 33 4.0 17 7 47 85 121 143

Bodies of Water Within 300 Feet 

Water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,326 2,053 21,273 18,656 13,824 4,832 2,617 630 11.4 315 134 1,067 472 1,367 2,105

 With waterfront property . . . . . . . . . . . 5,483 1,217 4,266 3,331 2,653 678 934 129 15.7 89 39 545 133 300 371

 Waterfront property not reported . . . . 403 11 392 360 266 94 32 2 2.5 2 – 13 14 15 28

 With flood plain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,971 674 3,297 2,622 1,929 692 675 106 13.1 74 12 348 135 194 416

 Flood plain not reported . . . . . . . . . . . 166 11 155 116 41 74 39 8 9.4 7 6 12 7 28 14

Water not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753 7 746 676 521 156 70 10 5.9 12 – 18 29 73 35

No water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,033 2,558 103,475 92,474 62,083 30,390 11,001 3,379 9.9 1,781 746 2,229 2,867 4,515 6,629

Age of Other Residential Buildings 

Within 300 Feet

Older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,973 783 14,190 12,638 7,710 4,928 1,552 424 7.9 143 90 371 523 99 1,527

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86,813 2,340 84,473 75,613 52,299 23,313 8,860 2,765 10.5 1,451 565 2,073 2,006 3,123 3,780

Newer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,371 409 10,962 9,774 7,126 2,648 1,188 341 11.3 261 98 314 175 2,181 1,615

Very mixed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,264 514 7,750 6,701 4,582 2,120 1,049 250 10.4 116 66 293 323 110 1,150

No other residential buildings . . . . . . . . 4,412 498 3,914 3,316 2,425 891 598 136 13.0 78 45 178 160 309 481

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,279 73 4,205 3,764 2,286 1,478 441 102 6.4 59 14 84 183 133 216

 See footnotes at end of table. 
10 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1-6. 

Housing and Neighborhood Quality—All Housing Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

housing 

units

Seasonal

Year-round

New 

construction 4 

years

Manufactured/

mobile 

Total homes

Occupied Vacant

Total Owner Renter Total

For 

rent

Rental 

vacancy 

rate

For 

sale 

only

Rented 

or sold

Occasional 

use/

URE

Other 

vacant

Manufactured/Mobile Homes in 

Group 

 Manufactured/mobile 

 homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,769 730 8,040 6,839 5,418 1,421 1,201 176 11.0 143 65 487 329 324 8,769

1 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,084 425 5,658 4,918 3,952 966 740 119 10.9 64 50 244 262 270 6,084

7 to 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463 43 420 370 217 153 50 29 15.8 7 – 7 7 23 463

21 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,222 261 1,961 1,550 1,249 301 411 28 8.5 72 15 236 60 30 2,222

Other Buildings Vandalized or With 

Interior Exposed Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113,769 3,956 109,813 98,452 67,919 30,533 11,361 3,444 10.0 1,782 760 2,882 2,492 5,296 7,419

1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,759 79 3,680 3,246 2,034 1,211 435 119 8.9 56 19 65 175 96 336

More than 1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,847 67 4,780 3,856 2,031 1,825 924 270 12.8 113 50 105 386 118 355

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,832 467 3,364 2,871 2,245 626 493 87 11.9 71 37 161 138 272 476

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,905 48 3,857 3,381 2,198 1,182 476 98 7.6 86 13 101 178 173 184

Bars on Windows of Buildings Within 

300 Feet

No bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108,704 3,991 104,713 93,406 66,383 27,024 11,307 3,269 10.7 1,806 729 2,827 2,677 5,308 7,816

1 building with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,286 15 2,271 2,108 1,256 851 163 59 6.5 19 4 24 57 41 119

2 or more buildings with bars . . . . . . . . . 10,230 60 10,170 9,101 3,927 5,174 1,069 439 7.8 116 85 155 274 144 147

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,832 467 3,364 2,871 2,245 626 493 87 11.9 71 37 161 138 272 476

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,061 85 4,975 4,320 2,617 1,703 656 165 8.8 96 25 147 223 190 211

Condition of Streets Within 300 Feet 

No repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,426 2,523 70,903 63,186 44,404 18,782 7,717 2,184 10.3 1,345 484 2,060 1,643 4,048 3,955

Minor repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,170 1,521 41,649 36,976 24,133 12,843 4,674 1,512 10.4 582 318 979 1,282 1,215 3,375

Major repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,523 268 7,255 6,604 4,375 2,228 651 183 7.6 82 42 118 227 381 1,029

No streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,158 241 1,916 1,678 1,259 419 238 56 11.8 34 15 79 53 140 205

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,835 64 3,771 3,362 2,257 1,106 408 82 6.9 65 20 78 163 170 205

Trash, Litter, or Junk on Streets or 

Any Properties Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115,242 4,346 110,896 99,010 69,415 29,595 11,886 3,459 10.4 1,918 755 3,049 2,706 5,458 7,675

Minor accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,439 137 8,302 7,250 3,491 3,759 1,052 388 9.3 110 83 155 316 247 590

Major accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,007 85 2,921 2,519 1,426 1,093 403 112 9.3 31 26 45 189 86 324

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,424 49 3,374 3,027 2,096 931 348 59 5.9 49 16 66 157 164 181

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Two or more units of any tenure in the structure.

3

Figures do not add up because of nonrespondents.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 11

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Sample size . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,057 30,228 14,829 1,692 2,048 5,555 5,276 10,152 6,377 10,279 11,575 14,543 8,660

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Tenure

Owner occupied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 76,428 (X) 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Percent of all occupied. . . . . . . . . . . 68.4 100.0 (X) 80.3 79.2 46.8 50.5 80.0 40.7 65.4 71.9 70.2 64.0

Renter occupied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 (X) 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Race and Hispanic Origin 

White alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,137 65,935 25,202 3,838 5,953 (X) 11,804 19,943 10,840 16,971 21,801 32,251 20,115

Non-Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,333 59,905 19,427 3,432 5,272 (X) (X) 18,564 8,328 15,336 20,858 27,689 15,449

Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,804 6,030 5,775 406 681 (X) 11,804 1,379 2,512 1,634 943 4,562 4,666

Black alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,993 6,547 7,446 562 643 13,993 384 2,246 3,864 2,428 2,533 7,720 1,312

Non-Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,609 6,415 7,195 548 633 13,609 (X) 2,201 3,761 2,261 2,503 7,590 1,256

Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 132 252 14 10 384 384 44 103 168 31 130 56

American Indian or Alaska Native 

alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 968 503 466 33 101 (X) 238 119 212 75 213 221 459

Asian alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,003 2,516 1,487 263 28 (X) 64 482 505 776 490 827 1,910

Pacific Islander alone1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 141 140 26 – (X) 40 47 49 14 24 55 189

Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,423 786 637 50 114 (X) 210 258 268 187 308 512 416

Hispanic or Latino (any race)2

. . . . . . . 12,739 6,439 6,300 438 722 384 12,739 1,482 2,717 1,879 1,057 4,851 4,952

Units in Structure

1, detached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,079 63,324 9,755 3,311 (X) 6,850 6,807 15,913 6,949 11,431 17,944 28,063 15,642

1, attached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,973 3,952 2,021 417 (X) 1,095 597 1,190 841 1,810 1,055 1,935 1,172

2 to 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,350 1,353 6,998 157 (X) 1,699 1,456 1,177 2,154 2,571 1,792 2,096 1,892

5 to 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,269 632 4,637 116 (X) 1,184 1,061 672 1,382 944 1,043 1,818 1,465

10 to 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,661 483 4,178 144 (X) 1,004 815 474 1,022 741 962 1,819 1,139

20 to 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,630 499 3,131 136 (X) 719 724 628 859 914 673 1,049 994

50 or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,004 768 3,237 191 (X) 801 557 1,504 1,039 1,501 756 887 860

Manufactured/mobile home or 

trailer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,839 5,418 1,421 301 6,839 643 722 1,537 1,492 540 1,145 3,918 1,236

Cooperatives and Condominiums

Cooperatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651 429 222 3 23 101 66 216 71 440 79 67 65

Condominiums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,580 4,399 2,181 406 15 593 810 1,577 728 1,312 1,291 2,075 1,902

Year Structure Built3, 5

2005 to 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,884 4,601 1,283 4,771 378 687 557 496 429 533 957 2,921 1,473

2000 to 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,102 6,371 1,731 (X) 768 783 841 1,105 782 719 1,671 3,764 1,947

1995 to 1999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,825 6,221 1,603 (X) 1,459 757 669 1,386 797 690 1,603 3,774 1,756

1990 to 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,995 4,715 1,280 (X) 811 592 546 1,047 571 607 1,337 2,556 1,495

1985 to 1989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,648 5,159 2,489 (X) 669 836 753 1,427 856 1,132 1,358 3,184 1,974

1980 to 1984. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,380 4,201 2,179 (X) 697 734 787 1,229 1,016 627 1,023 3,254 1,477

1975 to 1979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,835 7,471 4,364 (X) 701 1,458 1,484 2,450 2,006 1,476 2,692 4,823 2,843

1970 to 1974. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,413 5,696 3,718 (X) 795 1,385 1,190 2,303 1,578 1,389 1,989 3,938 2,097

1960 to 1969. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,326 8,917 4,409 (X) 401 1,865 1,530 3,692 2,052 2,451 2,957 4,832 3,086

1950 to 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,771 8,528 3,243 (X) 56 1,579 1,530 3,112 1,609 2,609 3,002 3,591 2,569

1940 to 1949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,745 4,423 2,322 (X) 54 1,121 1,087 1,570 1,235 1,645 1,503 2,110 1,488

1930 to 1939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,828 2,904 1,924 (X) 49 737 608 949 894 1,411 1,292 1,192 933

1920 to 1929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,331 2,520 1,811 (X) (X) 633 500 804 677 1,603 1,379 721 627

1919 or earlier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,724 4,703 3,021 (X) (X) 827 658 1,524 1,235 3,560 2,604 924 635

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1974 1975 1971 2007 1990 1971 1972 1970 1971 1958 1970 1979 1976

Metropolitan/Nonmetropolitan 

Areas

Inside metropolitan statistical 

areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,949 60,102 29,846 3,965 3,807 12,529 11,644 17,483 12,232 18,029 18,611 32,121 21,188

In central cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,645 17,809 14,837 1,372 566 6,687 5,432 6,048 6,088 6,062 6,868 11,138 8,577

Suburbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,303 42,294 15,009 2,593 3,241 5,842 6,212 11,435 6,144 11,967 11,743 20,982 12,612

Outside metropolitan statistical 

areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,857 16,326 5,532 806 3,032 1,465 1,095 5,612 3,507 2,422 6,758 9,465 3,212

Regions

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,451 13,378 7,073 412 540 2,428 1,879 4,638 2,632 20,451 (X) (X) (X)

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,368 18,249 7,119 763 1,145 2,533 1,057 5,364 3,385 (X) 25,368 (X) (X)

South. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,586 29,193 12,392 2,414 3,918 7,720 4,851 8,505 6,695 (X) (X) 41,586 (X)

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,401 15,607 8,794 1,181 1,236 1,312 4,952 4,587 3,027 (X) (X) (X) 24,401

See footnotes at end of table. 
12 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Place Size4

Less than 2,500 persons. . . . . . . . . . . 5,254 3,982 1,271 192 471 290 280 1,281 603 698 2,102 1,799 655

2,500 to 9,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . 13,093 9,298 3,795 498 680 1,174 1,322 2,866 1,781 2,284 3,156 4,932 2,720

10,000 to 19,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . 9,487 6,314 3,173 265 245 1,047 868 1,925 1,290 1,776 2,581 3,707 1,422

20,000 to 49,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . 14,846 9,643 5,204 408 278 2,013 1,947 3,111 2,161 2,334 3,745 4,882 3,885

50,000 to 99,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . 10,783 6,549 4,235 362 204 1,328 1,819 1,932 1,518 1,710 2,703 2,727 3,643

100,000 to 249,999 persons. . . . . . . . 8,793 5,108 3,685 242 99 1,569 1,285 1,626 1,361 1,021 1,567 2,961 3,244

250,000 to 499,999 persons. . . . . . . . 6,110 3,329 2,781 284 70 1,310 955 936 1,140 338 1,112 2,353 2,307

500,000 to 999,999 persons. . . . . . . . 3,716 2,073 1,644 144 44 920 749 737 671 225 837 1,523 1,130

1,000,000 persons or more. . . . . . . . . 6,906 2,928 3,978 118 12 1,892 1,661 1,335 1,585 3,364 1,111 940 1,492

1

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

2

Because Hispanics may be any race, data can overlap slightly with other groups. Most Hispanics report themselves as White, but some report themselves as Black or in other categories.

3

For manufactured/mobile homes, oldest category is 1939 or earlier.

4

Does not add up to total because not all populations reside in a place; see Appendix A.

5

Median is estimated from the printed distribution; see Appendix A.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 13

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Stories in Structure1

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,364 26,216 9,148 1,240 (X) 4,512 5,359 8,757 5,340 1,109 4,072 19,803 10,381

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,867 25,210 12,657 2,004 (X) 4,388 3,960 6,886 4,677 6,291 10,192 12,065 9,320

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,508 16,721 7,787 954 (X) 3,172 1,731 4,023 2,824 8,689 8,530 4,611 2,678

4 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,134 2,349 2,785 179 (X) 777 712 1,152 868 2,813 1,045 721 554

7 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,094 515 1,580 93 (X) 501 255 740 538 1,009 385 469 231

Stories Between Main and Apartment 

Entrances

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors . . . . . . . . . 22,962 3,458 19,503 692 (X) 4,780 4,034 3,764 5,458 6,514 4,638 6,382 5,428

None (on same floor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,616 1,187 6,429 184 (X) 1,505 1,320 1,290 1,842 1,921 1,476 2,255 1,964

1 (up or down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,447 911 5,536 168 (X) 1,341 1,207 754 1,486 1,616 1,426 1,807 1,598

2 or more (up or down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,899 1,361 7,538 339 (X) 1,934 1,507 1,720 2,129 2,976 1,735 2,320 1,867

Elevator on Floor

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors . . . . . . . . . 22,962 3,458 19,503 692 (X) 4,780 4,034 3,764 5,458 6,514 4,638 6,382 5,428

With 1 or more elevators working . . . . . . . . . . . 4,348 1,045 3,303 219 (X) 834 594 1,647 996 1,744 825 891 888

With elevator, none in working condition . . . . . . 46 11 35 – (X) 7 16 9 15 11 4 10 20

No elevator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,568 2,403 16,165 472 (X) 3,939 3,425 2,108 4,447 4,760 3,808 5,480 4,519

 Units, 3 or more floors from main entrance . . 1,436 133 1,302 55 (X) 326 243 135 319 650 305 306 174

Foundation

 1-unit building, excluding 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . 79,052 67,276 11,776 3,727 (X) 7,944 7,404 17,102 7,790 13,240 18,999 29,999 16,814

With basement under all of building . . . . . . . . . 26,713 23,821 2,892 1,038 (X) 2,473 1,176 5,624 2,067 9,022 11,276 4,269 2,145

With basement under part of building . . . . . . . . 8,208 7,350 858 119 (X) 438 326 1,937 645 2,226 3,280 1,565 1,137

With crawl space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,022 14,783 3,240 602 (X) 1,961 1,692 4,229 2,029 740 2,523 9,517 5,242

On concrete slab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,917 20,431 4,486 1,946 (X) 2,946 4,034 4,995 2,823 1,146 1,758 13,941 8,071

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,192 892 300 23 (X) 125 176 318 225 105 162 707 218

External Building Conditions2

Sagging roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,888 1,370 517 3 292 292 171 275 461 314 500 776 299

Missing roofing material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,640 3,682 958 71 342 573 506 836 752 673 1,312 1,761 893

Hole in roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,458 1,029 429 6 307 296 186 232 370 202 356 639 260

Missing bricks, siding, or other outside wall 

material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,323 1,661 661 21 252 363 240 329 545 401 678 806 437

Sloping outside walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,167 781 386 10 183 241 113 230 279 168 305 515 179

Boarded up windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821 558 262 11 142 168 132 149 235 101 214 374 131

Broken windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,984 2,112 872 33 518 371 408 349 636 353 829 1,171 631

Bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,318 2,616 702 17 60 954 1,018 896 600 362 425 1,422 1,110

Foundation crumbling or has open crack or 

 hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,227 1,687 540 17 71 306 165 354 373 382 820 650 375

None of the above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,766 60,037 9,730 3,794 5,416 6,128 5,901 15,628 6,456 11,449 16,245 27,575 14,497

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,173 1,832 341 98 143 278 161 431 371 376 403 954 441

Previous Occupancy

 Unit built 1990 or later . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,805 21,908 5,897 4,771 3,416 2,818 2,612 4,034 2,579 2,550 5,569 13,016 6,671

Not previously occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,223 10,515 708 3,295 1,581 1,045 909 1,941 732 1,142 2,460 5,464 2,157

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 242 55 43 8 35 20 36 46 49 46 147 55

Site Placement

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . 6,839 5,418 1,421 301 6,839 643 722 1,537 1,492 540 1,145 3,918 1,236

First site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,600 4,002 598 259 4,600 463 467 1,228 894 390 705 2,630 874

Moved from another site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,301 1,047 254 34 1,301 123 85 247 318 107 252 785 157

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 97 265 3 362 28 37 29 98 25 73 188 75

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 272 304 4 576 29 134 32 182 18 115 314 130

Manufactured/Mobile Home Size

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . 6,839 5,418 1,421 301 6,839 643 722 1,537 1,492 540 1,145 3,918 1,236

Single-wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,923 2,867 1,056 133 3,923 363 475 779 1,029 366 766 2,319 472

Double-wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,803 2,444 358 165 2,803 267 233 704 454 174 370 1,544 715

Triple-wide or larger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 103 3 3 106 13 14 53 8 – 2 55 49

Size not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4 4 – 8 – – – 1 1 7 – –

 See footnotes at end of table. 
14 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Manufactured/Mobile Home Tiedowns

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . 6,839 5,418 1,421 301 6,839 643 722 1,537 1,492 540 1,145 3,918 1,236

Anchored by tiedowns, bolts, or other means . . 6,136 4,914 1,222 273 6,136 611 639 1,377 1,299 417 1,034 3,668 1,017

Not anchored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 426 119 19 545 27 66 141 139 91 88 204 161

Anchoring not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 78 79 8 158 4 17 19 55 32 22 46 57

Manufactured/Mobile Home Setup 

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . 6,839 5,418 1,421 301 6,839 643 722 1,537 1,492 540 1,145 3,918 1,236

Set on permanent masonry foundation . . . . . . . 1,367 1,158 209 50 1,367 101 85 364 171 119 303 659 285

Resting on concrete pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,076 870 206 72 1,076 27 127 253 236 141 346 326 263

Up on blocks, but not on concrete pad . . . . . . . 4,194 3,251 943 166 4,194 499 477 886 1,048 260 455 2,851 628

Setup in some other way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 99 14 4 113 8 18 26 23 14 24 42 33

Setup not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 40 50 8 90 7 15 9 15 6 17 40 27

1

Figures exclude manufactured/mobile homes.

2

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit. Figures do not include multiunit structures.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 15

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Rooms 

1 room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 26 326 7 3 45 56 82 141 111 60 33 149

2 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946 68 879 13 7 153 134 176 324 269 130 209 337

3 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,711 1,036 7,675 201 155 1,569 1,364 2,121 2,562 2,235 1,891 2,461 2,124

4 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,828 6,475 11,354 384 1,888 2,764 2,953 3,376 4,035 3,277 3,889 6,376 4,287

5 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,444 17,232 8,212 1,084 2,578 3,620 3,282 5,477 4,009 3,854 5,758 10,355 5,476

6 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,596 20,364 4,232 983 1,383 2,958 2,532 5,440 2,622 4,435 5,400 9,918 4,842

7 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,489 14,754 1,735 813 627 1,548 1,339 3,428 1,231 3,080 3,904 6,110 3,394

8 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,033 9,410 622 646 143 811 624 1,802 483 1,898 2,465 3,533 2,136

9 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,344 4,130 214 334 36 336 259 677 225 751 1,124 1,468 1,000

10 rooms or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,063 2,933 130 306 19 191 196 515 105 540 747 1,121 655

Rooms Used for Business 

Business only 

 1 or more rooms with direct access . . . . 8,518 6,120 2,398 420 701 1,076 901 1,914 1,394 1,363 1,764 3,654 1,737

 1 or more rooms, no direct access . . . . . 6,718 5,359 1,359 460 187 726 573 872 505 1,063 1,439 2,389 1,828

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688 536 152 39 25 65 18 130 127 153 117 302 115

Business and other use 

 1 or more rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,912 14,629 4,283 1,041 797 1,830 1,577 2,721 1,672 2,796 4,329 6,833 4,954

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760 580 181 47 27 72 30 131 135 187 150 308 115

Bedrooms 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 45 744 17 8 100 118 156 282 225 142 97 324

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,434 1,714 9,720 229 202 2,067 1,749 2,726 3,183 2,973 2,391 3,292 2,777

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,671 13,471 14,200 714 2,495 3,891 3,959 6,116 5,245 5,279 6,499 9,480 6,413

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,082 39,723 8,359 2,088 3,571 5,715 4,820 10,223 5,228 7,784 10,885 20,062 9,352

4 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,830 21,475 2,354 1,724 563 2,220 2,093 3,874 1,801 4,190 5,451 8,655 5,534

Complete Bathrooms 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403 175 229 3 16 58 51 75 141 98 93 115 97

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,662 15,767 22,894 389 1,897 6,665 5,895 8,183 9,168 9,418 9,760 11,847 7,636

1 1/2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,656 12,081 3,575 149 671 2,130 1,330 3,929 1,934 4,066 4,770 4,217 2,603

2 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,085 48,405 8,680 4,231 4,254 5,140 5,462 10,908 4,496 6,869 10,746 25,406 14,064

Square Footage of Unit 

 Single detached and 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . . 79,918 68,742 11,176 3,611 6,839 7,492 7,529 17,449 8,441 11,971 19,088 31,981 16,878

Less than 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603 383 220 6 161 63 122 139 150 86 104 247 166

500 to 749 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,771 1,085 686 14 638 198 337 440 466 249 415 810 298

750 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,014 3,519 1,495 67 1,500 614 720 1,088 1,096 614 1,340 2,086 973

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,419 14,978 3,441 478 2,315 2,044 2,079 4,180 2,521 2,047 4,331 7,834 4,207

1,500 to 1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,519 16,284 2,235 667 1,082 1,605 1,733 4,162 1,708 2,458 4,039 7,564 4,457

2,000 to 2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,190 12,057 1,134 697 307 908 936 2,888 830 2,000 3,282 5,165 2,743

2,500 to 2,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,050 6,622 429 455 112 501 363 1,365 308 1,211 1,594 2,819 1,426

3,000 to 3,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,692 6,391 301 643 54 422 390 1,237 308 1,119 1,700 2,488 1,385

4,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,030 3,787 243 399 120 314 225 813 231 805 994 1,519 712

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,630 3,638 992 186 550 823 625 1,138 823 1,382 1,288 1,449 510

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,800 1,800 1,300 2,300 1,120 1,500 1,500 1,700 1,350 1,900 1,800 1,700 1,700

Lot Size 

 1-unit structures1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,466 70,643 12,823 3,814 6,800 8,433 7,914 18,024 9,052 13,297 19,555 33,222 17,392

Less than 1/8 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,824 9,107 2,717 552 1,346 1,654 1,849 2,478 1,603 2,146 2,577 3,439 3,661

1/8 up to 1/4 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,793 17,771 4,022 907 975 2,598 3,051 4,496 2,588 2,625 5,235 7,241 6,692

1/4 up to 1/2 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,921 13,837 2,084 805 529 1,645 1,351 3,296 1,450 2,383 4,044 6,523 2,970

1/2 up to 1 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,036 8,874 1,162 388 690 962 558 2,135 810 1,974 1,964 4,945 1,153

1 up to 5 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,014 14,895 2,120 806 2,335 1,319 842 3,767 1,854 3,072 3,669 8,310 1,963

5 up to 10 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,750 2,545 205 183 433 97 104 595 250 464 737 1,106 443

10 acres or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,127 3,614 513 173 492 157 158 1,258 497 633 1,329 1,656 509

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .27 0 .32 0 .22 0 .30 0 .75 0 .24 0 .16 0 .32 0 .25 0 .34 0 .28 0 .36 0 .18

Persons per Room 

0.50 or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,735 57,341 22,394 3,453 4,601 9,342 5,917 21,553 10,184 14,509 18,703 30,136 16,388

0.51 to 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,566 18,082 11,484 1,267 1,998 4,292 5,521 1,496 4,587 5,548 6,343 10,600 7,075

1.01 to 1.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,142 922 1,220 48 224 319 1,075 38 796 328 285 768 761

1.51 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 83 279 3 17 40 226 7 172 67 38 81 177

 See footnotes at end of table. 
16 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Persons per Bedroom 

0.50 or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,101 22,004 6,097 1,242 1,936 3,366 1,675 9,987 4,450 4,774 6,609 11,111 5,607

0.51 to 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,124 38,173 16,951 2,447 3,024 6,552 4,761 11,654 6,265 10,044 12,702 20,773 11,605

1.01 to 1.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,596 10,733 4,863 735 1,061 2,133 2,326 614 1,817 2,921 3,603 5,687 3,385

1.51 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,197 5,475 6,722 329 809 1,843 3,860 684 2,924 2,487 2,313 3,918 3,479

No bedrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 45 744 17 8 100 118 156 282 225 142 97 324

Square Feet per Person 

 Single detached and 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . . 79,918 68,742 11,176 3,611 6,839 7,492 7,529 17,449 8,441 11,971 19,088 31,981 16,878

Less than 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,502 955 548 52 394 241 585 93 489 184 255 687 376

200 to 299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,230 2,899 1,331 65 773 550 1,114 224 855 454 864 1,751 1,162

300 to 399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,326 4,932 1,394 191 887 677 945 463 779 816 1,444 2,577 1,489

400 to 499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,205 5,933 1,272 289 719 656 846 756 615 964 1,743 2,758 1,740

500 to 599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,115 6,018 1,097 255 584 682 641 936 587 1,021 1,768 2,764 1,561

600 to 699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,227 6,333 894 313 529 576 505 1,194 487 1,036 1,748 2,936 1,506

700 to 799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,848 5,257 591 362 468 502 427 1,273 438 759 1,423 2,406 1,261

800 to 899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,764 4,255 509 249 372 390 319 1,065 346 710 1,082 1,893 1,079

900 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,538 4,181 357 195 358 316 247 1,238 366 608 1,145 1,796 990

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,582 13,289 1,293 790 781 1,083 769 4,540 1,300 2,090 3,513 6,053 2,927

1,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,950 11,052 899 665 424 997 506 4,530 1,356 1,948 2,815 4,911 2,276

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,630 3,638 992 186 550 823 625 1,138 823 1,382 1,288 1,449 510

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 800 520 850 550 675 490 1,035 690 800 750 750 717

1

Does not include cooperatives or condominiums.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 17

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Equipment1

Lacking complete kitchen facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,751 378 1,374 39 28 315 329 243 461 487 385 406 474

With complete kitchen (sink, refrigerator, and oven 

or burners) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110,054 76,050 34,004 4,732 6,811 13,679 12,410 22,852 15,277 19,964 24,984 41,180 23,927

Kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,510 76,329 35,180 4,766 6,830 13,953 12,695 23,019 15,638 20,344 25,308 41,532 24,326

Refrigerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,530 76,336 35,193 4,762 6,824 13,941 12,702 23,049 15,639 20,372 25,328 41,502 24,328

Cooking stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,038 76,153 34,886 4,761 6,790 13,878 12,622 22,906 15,451 20,329 25,207 41,347 24,155

Burners, no stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 109 99 3 15 28 30 37 52 29 32 79 69

Microwave oven only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 127 251 3 26 60 64 102 159 40 103 108 127

Dishwasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,584 57,191 16,393 4,526 3,324 6,430 6,062 13,973 6,250 11,900 15,487 28,691 17,505

Washing machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,372 73,826 19,545 4,599 6,395 9,883 8,943 19,751 10,370 15,327 21,537 36,611 19,896

Clothes dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,905 72,562 18,343 4,561 6,210 9,104 8,208 18,982 9,454 14,512 21,327 35,578 19,489

Disposal in kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,531 40,597 15,933 3,525 1,058 5,604 6,332 10,495 5,435 5,332 13,048 20,217 17,934

Trash compactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,896 3,166 730 302 55 460 378 885 294 512 610 1,569 1,206

Air conditioning:2

 Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,808 54,647 18,161 4,240 4,406 8,668 7,312 14,807 8,237 6,600 17,684 35,825 12,699

 Additional central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,629 4,709 920 576 269 607 576 986 541 331 656 3,676 966

 1 room unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,532 5,303 6,229 71 793 1,727 1,515 2,707 2,696 3,895 3,186 1,765 2,686

 2 room units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,132 4,800 3,332 85 713 1,261 1,117 1,672 1,426 3,846 1,717 1,891 677

 3 room units or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,918 3,604 1,314 30 281 718 685 884 561 2,758 575 1,323 263

Safety Equipment1

Working smoke detector 

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,362 71,797 32,565 4,656 6,263 13,034 11,216 21,165 13,929 19,479 24,153 37,942 22,788

 Powered by:

 Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,149 5,620 2,528 434 772 951 789 2,128 1,186 1,680 1,534 3,238 1,696

 Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,536 43,210 23,326 1,626 3,547 9,365 8,243 13,996 10,050 12,985 16,379 22,831 14,341

 Both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,421 22,461 5,960 2,496 1,909 2,531 2,084 4,684 2,418 4,654 5,971 11,370 6,426

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,257 506 751 100 35 187 100 356 276 160 269 503 325

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,157 3,686 2,472 77 504 839 1,447 1,599 1,586 739 974 3,045 1,399

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,286 945 341 38 72 121 76 331 224 233 241 598 214

 Batteries replaced in last 6 months3

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,505 50,073 21,432 2,808 4,022 8,871 7,869 14,146 9,341 14,175 17,336 25,312 14,682

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,466 14,678 6,788 1,257 1,328 2,809 2,253 4,218 2,718 3,133 4,557 8,179 5,597

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,986 920 1,066 57 106 217 205 317 410 331 457 710 488

Fire extinguisher purchased or recharged in the last 

2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,902 37,922 11,980 2,298 2,983 5,518 4,304 9,625 5,422 9,405 11,183 19,118 10,196

Sprinkler system inside home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,167 2,086 3,081 773 69 830 533 1,313 877 938 877 1,845 1,507

Working carbon monoxide detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,698 31,691 9,007 1,833 1,506 4,395 3,121 8,250 4,055 12,483 12,688 9,927 5,600

Main Heating Equipment 

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,141 51,691 19,450 3,340 5,040 8,625 7,125 14,124 8,970 8,925 20,671 25,268 16,277

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,506 7,494 5,012 109 20 1,778 1,381 2,910 1,789 9,088 2,015 592 811

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,264 9,764 3,500 1,095 1,009 1,734 1,403 2,670 1,511 336 706 10,785 1,436

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,761 2,120 2,641 77 83 453 444 1,115 890 1,159 1,134 827 1,641

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air units without 

ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,802 2,043 2,760 68 152 593 1,438 951 1,140 435 388 1,154 2,825

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 950 580 370 16 58 147 84 316 253 124 103 478 244

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,109 694 414 8 125 360 219 340 345 24 52 992 41

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,167 535 632 6 175 172 394 224 418 29 65 769 304

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,035 845 190 14 92 29 61 233 200 226 158 341 310

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 155 18 – 2 8 11 56 4 24 34 38 76

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 35 7 – 5 2 3 16 5 3 6 16 18

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 232 154 22 55 58 59 63 111 57 35 212 82

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 34 49 – 10 12 37 23 26 18 – 53 13

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 206 180 17 12 21 82 56 76 3 3 58 321

 See footnotes at end of table. 
18 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Other Heating Equipment1

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 225 26 14 16 5 4 53 21 50 62 65 74

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 51 5 3 – 2 3 12 7 27 18 7 4

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 91 6 9 16 2 11 26 – 9 31 36 20

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,882 1,428 454 54 75 166 135 464 244 316 398 640 528

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air units without 

ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 63 12 14 – 3 7 21 15 12 16 28 20

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822 716 106 19 57 58 43 240 86 200 131 310 182

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,471 1,207 264 20 236 156 70 381 226 218 370 745 138

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,719 9,886 3,832 335 854 1,712 1,318 3,028 1,773 2,188 4,082 4,406 3,043

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,165 3,740 425 99 306 160 197 976 371 1,231 863 1,010 1,061

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,205 4,742 464 356 314 330 220 1,036 265 692 1,106 1,942 1,466

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,765 4,869 896 370 169 563 547 941 449 555 903 2,542 1,766

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 707 83 52 56 29 22 178 32 197 192 225 176

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 50 17 2 3 4 7 18 12 9 14 29 14

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,034 51,171 28,863 3,521 4,886 10,982 10,246 16,321 12,297 15,135 17,772 30,637 16,490

Plumbing

With all plumbing facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110,574 75,852 34,722 4,768 6,782 13,768 12,555 22,815 15,446 20,040 25,128 41,249 24,158

Lacking some or all plumbing facilities1

 . . . . . . . . . . . 1,232 576 656 3 57 226 184 280 292 411 241 337 243

 No hot piped water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 54 58 – 7 33 10 27 54 39 25 43 6

 No bathtub and no shower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 37 75 – – 22 24 25 52 33 21 33 26

 No flush toilet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 37 64 – – 16 21 18 42 29 20 23 29

 No exclusive use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,065 507 558 3 50 188 157 248 216 364 206 282 213

Primary Source of Water 

Public system or private company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,027 64,372 33,655 4,117 4,839 13,435 12,224 19,774 14,345 17,101 21,435 36,594 22,897

Well serving 1 to 5 units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,430 11,769 1,660 642 1,941 543 495 3,221 1,315 3,275 3,878 4,821 1,455

 Drilled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,175 10,772 1,404 553 1,726 476 451 2,962 1,167 2,940 3,566 4,321 1,348

 Dug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822 700 122 35 146 52 26 220 116 244 192 316 70

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432 298 135 54 69 14 18 38 32 92 120 183 38

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 287 63 12 59 15 20 101 78 75 55 171 48

Safety of Primary Source of Water 

 Selected primary water sources4

. . . . . . . . . 111,772 76,406 35,366 4,768 6,839 13,983 12,726 23,091 15,731 20,448 25,368 41,569 24,385

Safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102,247 71,152 31,095 4,362 6,114 12,518 10,261 21,669 13,718 18,913 23,950 38,041 21,344

Not safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,412 4,530 3,882 344 646 1,362 2,378 1,203 1,764 1,304 1,243 3,074 2,790

Safety not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,113 724 389 61 79 102 87 220 249 231 176 455 251

Source of Drinking Water

 Primary source not safe to drink . . . . . . . . . 8,412 4,530 3,882 344 646 1,362 2,378 1,203 1,764 1,304 1,243 3,074 2,790

Drinking and primary water source the same . . . . . . 1,486 976 509 64 109 224 309 249 292 272 307 578 329

 Public or private system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,445 941 505 60 103 224 304 241 292 261 294 562 329

 Individual well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 35 5 4 6 – 5 8 1 11 13 16 –

 Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

 Cistern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

 Stream or lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Drinking and primary water source different . . . . . . . 6,926 3,554 3,372 280 537 1,138 2,069 954 1,471 1,032 936 2,497 2,462

 Public or private system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 8 2 – – – – – 2 5 2 3 –

 Individual well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 25 15 – 11 8 10 14 7 6 4 24 7

 Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 69 61 3 10 24 20 25 34 71 9 37 13

 Cistern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 16 9 – 3 – 12 6 5 2 2 3 18

 Stream or lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 4 6 3 – – – – 1 – 1 6 3

 Commercial bottled water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,421 2,620 2,801 217 458 956 1,733 738 1,237 731 718 1,977 1,995

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,291 812 479 57 55 151 294 171 186 217 200 448 426

Source of drinking water not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Means of Sewage Disposal

Public sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,467 56,736 32,732 3,558 3,153 12,961 11,791 17,583 13,435 16,263 20,432 31,288 21,484

Septic tank, cesspool, or chemical toilet . . . . . . . . . . 22,307 19,667 2,640 1,213 3,686 1,025 945 5,506 2,289 4,185 4,930 10,279 2,913

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 25 6 – – 7 3 6 15 3 6 18 3

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Includes only those who responded they had some type of air conditioning.

3

Restricted to units with smoke detector powered by both electricity and batteries, or batteries only.

4

Excludes units where primary source of drinking water is commercial bottled water.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 19

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-5. 

Fuels—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Main House Heating Fuel 

 Housing units with heating 

 fuel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,420 76,222 35,198 4,755 6,826 13,973 12,657 23,039 15,662 20,448 25,366 41,527 24,079

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,851 22,219 15,632 2,370 3,559 5,652 4,951 7,173 6,522 2,448 4,362 24,280 6,761

Piped gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,806 41,233 15,573 1,991 1,508 6,925 6,558 11,596 6,925 9,941 17,720 13,355 15,791

Bottled gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,817 4,889 929 259 1,107 435 267 1,521 758 691 2,163 2,179 784

Fuel oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,214 5,693 2,521 57 155 812 731 2,118 986 6,613 564 844 192

Kerosene or other liquid fuel. . . . . . . . . . 599 444 154 21 299 97 57 141 161 236 12 322 29

Coal or coke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 91 7 3 – – – 11 10 80 8 5 6

Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,780 1,503 277 42 192 43 78 416 266 412 418 501 449

Solar energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 8 3 3 – 3 – 5 – 3 2 – 6

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 142 101 9 6 6 14 58 35 24 116 41 62

Cooking Fuel 

 With cooking fuel. . . . . . . . . . . . 111,623 76,388 35,235 4,767 6,831 13,967 12,716 23,045 15,661 20,398 25,341 41,534 24,351

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,078 45,512 21,567 2,933 4,305 7,645 5,830 14,528 9,229 8,915 14,930 30,821 12,412

Piped gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,476 26,553 12,923 1,562 1,364 5,906 6,532 7,222 5,694 10,015 9,194 8,937 11,330

Bottled gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,001 4,274 726 268 1,158 413 349 1,278 716 1,451 1,193 1,758 599

Kerosene or other liquid fuel. . . . . . . . . . 14 7 7 – – 3 – 3 1 6 4 4 –

Coal or coke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 17 12 – 4 – 4 10 20 4 8 12 4

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 25 – 4 – 1 1 4 – 6 11 3 6

Water Heating Fuel 

 With hot piped water. . . . . . . . . 111,691 76,371 35,319 4,771 6,832 13,960 12,729 23,066 15,684 20,410 25,343 41,543 24,395

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,435 29,341 16,095 2,316 5,135 6,051 4,464 9,723 7,432 4,558 7,532 26,921 6,424

Piped gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,145 40,280 16,865 2,119 1,149 7,194 7,445 11,216 7,162 10,476 16,391 13,222 17,056

Bottled gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,057 3,365 692 270 519 251 255 886 497 745 1,326 1,210 776

Fuel oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,692 3,087 1,604 43 10 450 546 1,138 572 4,529 27 132 4

Kerosene or other liquid fuel. . . . . . . . . . 21 18 3 4 7 4 – 8 1 11 – 8 2

Coal or coke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 23 – – – – – 3 3 17 3 3 –

Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 96 9 10 9 – – 22 5 43 43 10 9

Solar energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 121 14 5 – 9 10 48 6 14 5 23 93

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 40 39 4 2 1 8 22 6 16 17 15 31

Central Air Conditioning Fuel

 With central air conditioning. . . 72,808 54,647 18,161 4,240 4,406 8,668 7,312 14,807 8,237 6,600 17,684 35,825 12,699

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,863 53,098 17,765 4,121 4,346 8,430 7,167 14,322 8,040 6,182 17,083 35,413 12,185

Piped gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,722 1,353 369 101 24 220 140 424 162 381 535 341 465

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 196 27 17 35 19 5 61 35 37 66 70 49

Other Central Air Fuel

 With other central air. . . . . . . . . 5,629 4,709 920 576 269 607 576 986 541 331 656 3,676 966

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,466 4,563 903 561 267 589 566 948 523 305 627 3,598 936

Gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 134 14 15 3 18 10 39 18 25 26 76 21

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 12 3 – – – – – – 1 3 3 8

Clothes Dryer Fuel

 With clothes dryer. . . . . . . . . . . 90,905 72,562 18,343 4,561 6,210 9,104 8,208 18,982 9,454 14,512 21,327 35,578 19,489

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,497 55,059 15,438 3,713 5,689 7,327 5,770 14,749 7,807 9,878 14,843 32,930 12,846

Piped gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,111 16,326 2,785 787 368 1,733 2,387 3,878 1,548 4,203 6,086 2,391 6,431

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,298 1,178 120 62 152 44 51 354 100 431 399 256 212

Units Using Each Fuel1

Electricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,746 76,378 35,368 4,763 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,093 15,727 20,431 25,342 41,572 24,401

Piped gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,886 46,700 21,186 2,507 1,723 8,838 8,701 13,548 8,940 13,048 19,005 17,083 18,750

Bottled gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,816 8,391 1,425 473 1,647 663 504 2,492 1,245 2,042 2,705 3,927 1,141

Fuel oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,208 6,409 2,800 74 249 912 818 2,369 1,172 7,274 694 1,019 222

Kerosene or other liquid fuel. . . . . . . . . . 616 451 164 21 299 99 57 146 162 242 16 328 29

Coal or coke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 97 7 3 – – – 11 10 82 8 8 6

Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,787 1,510 278 42 197 43 78 417 270 413 418 507 449

Solar energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 130 17 8 – 12 10 54 6 17 8 23 99

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 254 151 19 9 13 40 98 50 61 148 85 111

All electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,166 17,951 12,216 1,862 3,177 4,455 3,457 5,894 5,166 1,677 3,351 20,653 4,486

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.
20 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-6. 

Failures in Equipment—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Water Supply Stoppage 

 With hot and cold piped water . . . . . . . . . . 111,691 76,371 35,319 4,771 6,832 13,960 12,729 23,066 15,684 20,410 25,343 41,543 24,395

No stoppage in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,864 73,494 33,370 4,595 6,249 13,469 12,269 22,217 14,824 19,582 24,333 39,755 23,194

With stoppage in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,632 2,031 1,601 111 517 352 387 609 607 612 826 1,188 1,006

 No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . 833 439 394 13 130 64 89 165 118 142 172 269 250

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,861 1,100 760 49 249 161 171 297 281 284 510 612 455

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470 249 221 18 37 59 75 78 76 97 72 154 147

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 98 92 27 31 26 20 20 25 28 33 61 68

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 120 111 3 62 32 29 43 83 56 25 78 73

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 25 22 – 8 10 3 5 24 6 14 14 13

Stoppage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,194 846 348 65 65 139 73 239 253 216 184 599 194

Flush Toilet Breakdowns 

 With one or more flush toilets . . . . . . . . . . 111,704 76,391 35,313 4,771 6,839 13,977 12,718 23,077 15,696 20,422 25,348 41,563 24,371

With at least one working toilet at all times in last 

3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108,440 74,674 33,766 4,694 6,631 13,382 12,303 22,528 14,879 19,833 24,724 40,200 23,683

None working some time in last 3 months . . . . . . . . 2,094 884 1,210 16 144 459 352 308 565 374 451 778 491

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . 568 197 371 10 16 117 99 110 143 107 151 178 133

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,061 512 549 3 90 229 157 163 265 198 224 407 231

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 95 167 3 10 59 38 28 78 36 33 103 89

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 12 30 – 8 7 14 – 17 4 4 25 9

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 55 83 – 18 43 37 5 58 21 30 65 23

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 13 9 – 3 4 6 2 4 8 9 – 6

Breakdowns not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,170 833 337 62 63 137 63 241 253 214 174 585 197

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns 

 With public sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,467 56,736 32,732 3,558 3,153 12,961 11,791 17,583 13,435 16,263 20,432 31,288 21,484

No breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,307 56,096 32,211 3,538 3,095 12,703 11,572 17,394 13,157 16,093 20,118 30,893 21,203

With breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,160 640 521 20 58 258 220 189 278 171 314 395 281

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . 224 130 94 3 2 22 45 31 47 40 67 54 62

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699 415 283 10 43 168 128 128 164 110 173 256 160

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 50 77 3 – 43 20 17 26 10 47 40 30

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 17 33 3 6 11 8 – 19 5 10 26 10

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 27 33 – 6 15 18 13 22 5 17 18 19

 With septic tank or cesspool . . . . . . . . . . . 22,307 19,667 2,640 1,213 3,686 1,025 945 5,506 2,289 4,185 4,930 10,279 2,913

No breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,053 19,462 2,591 1,208 3,646 1,016 934 5,461 2,263 4,145 4,879 10,151 2,878

With breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 204 48 5 40 10 10 45 25 38 51 128 36

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . 35 31 3 – 3 – – 17 3 3 5 19 9

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 140 40 3 28 3 10 26 16 31 38 84 27

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 21 – – 7 7 – – 6 4 3 15 –

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2 3 – 2 – – – – – – 6 –

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 8 2 2 – – – 2 – – 5 5 –

Heating Problems 

 With heating equipment and occupied 

 last winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,459 75,215 31,244 4,375 6,590 13,135 11,786 22,827 14,437 19,761 24,385 39,640 22,673

Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more 

last winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94,725 67,769 26,957 4,080 5,654 11,375 10,666 20,906 12,149 17,018 21,528 35,788 20,391

Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more 

last winter1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,677 6,055 3,622 232 799 1,485 986 1,441 1,856 2,245 2,522 2,959 1,951

 Equipment breakdowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,738 1,594 1,144 47 214 573 366 366 572 701 786 773 478

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . 27 14 12 – – 1 6 1 4 7 10 7 2

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,719 1,119 600 39 117 319 190 245 308 405 516 482 315

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 208 191 9 34 91 53 57 71 115 124 100 60

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 120 86 – 23 44 20 26 53 64 58 71 13

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 125 214 – 38 95 84 35 113 101 70 95 73

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 8 41 – 2 22 13 3 23 10 7 18 14

 Other causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,152 4,571 2,581 185 598 964 646 1,086 1,343 1,626 1,792 2,234 1,501

 Utility interruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,635 2,139 496 106 251 201 121 493 295 619 692 993 332

 Inadequate heating capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,025 350 675 13 55 235 174 128 348 215 234 281 295

 Inadequate insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917 394 523 13 92 214 105 96 246 184 236 247 249

 Cost of heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,200 778 421 32 99 159 103 167 242 258 304 295 343

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,699 1,022 677 33 128 226 186 248 304 398 430 486 384

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3 7 3 – 2 – – 2 3 2 3 3

 Reason for discomfort not reported . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2 24 – – 8 7 8 4 17 3 3 3

Discomfort not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,057 1,391 666 63 137 275 134 480 432 498 335 893 330

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 21

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-6. 

Failures in Equipment—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers

 With electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,722 76,371 35,351 4,760 6,837 13,991 12,722 23,091 15,724 20,428 25,348 41,556 24,391

No fuses or breakers blown in last 3 months . . . . . . 100,576 68,697 31,879 4,297 6,223 12,673 11,814 21,504 14,229 18,514 22,493 37,564 22,004

With fuses or breakers blown in last 3 months . . . . 9,767 6,685 3,082 400 549 1,166 817 1,285 1,233 1,710 2,641 3,273 2,143

 1 time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,334 3,795 1,540 228 318 567 443 850 559 875 1,478 1,836 1,146

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,297 1,596 701 87 119 305 184 284 305 464 595 742 496

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873 571 303 38 32 122 68 77 129 169 234 273 197

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,193 686 507 43 77 142 113 67 213 180 310 405 298

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 37 33 3 3 30 10 6 27 22 25 18 5

Problem not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,380 989 391 63 65 153 91 303 262 204 214 718 244

1

Other causes and equipment breakdowns may not add to the total as both may be reported.

—Con.
22 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Selected Amenities1

Porch, deck, balcony, or patio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95,406 70,421 24,984 4,246 5,955 10,717 9,798 19,712 11,854 15,067 21,854 37,281 21,204

Telephone available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109,325 75,129 34,196 4,462 6,647 13,502 12,452 22,783 15,178 19,740 24,781 40,796 24,009

Usable fireplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,998 34,458 4,540 2,236 1,195 2,866 2,846 7,876 2,424 5,431 8,127 14,517 10,923

Separate dining room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,676 43,717 9,959 2,481 2,106 6,273 5,152 11,183 5,145 11,008 11,774 20,400 10,493

With 2 or more living rooms or recreation 

rooms, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,912 30,978 2,934 1,879 918 2,578 2,071 7,092 1,794 5,852 8,705 11,923 7,431

Garage or carport included with home . . . . . . . 74,236 60,979 13,258 3,926 2,639 6,194 7,412 16,551 6,867 10,731 18,726 25,052 19,727

Not included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,525 15,420 22,105 843 4,200 7,792 5,327 6,525 8,868 9,701 6,629 16,528 4,667

 Off-street parking included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,963 13,287 17,676 732 3,891 6,150 4,018 5,380 7,070 6,271 5,624 15,119 3,950

 Off-street parking not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 2 – – 1 1 – 2 1 2 – –

Garage or carport not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 29 15 3 – 7 – 19 4 18 13 5 7

Cars and Trucks Available1

No cars, trucks, or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,738 2,069 6,669 116 308 2,541 1,398 3,084 3,946 3,232 1,658 2,450 1,398

Other households without cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,421 9,006 4,415 569 1,372 1,284 1,908 2,128 2,081 1,562 3,354 5,902 2,603

1 car with or without trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . 52,458 35,040 17,418 2,232 3,602 6,634 5,487 12,711 7,473 8,846 12,275 20,023 11,314

2 cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,103 22,384 5,719 1,438 1,160 2,793 2,871 4,255 1,872 5,180 6,178 10,195 6,550

3 or more cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,085 7,929 1,157 416 396 741 1,075 916 367 1,632 1,903 3,015 2,535

With cars, no trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,465 33,456 18,009 2,171 2,390 6,996 5,421 11,541 6,917 10,489 11,193 18,063 11,721

1 truck or van with or without cars . . . . . . . . . . . 35,951 28,026 7,925 1,724 2,693 3,279 3,969 6,244 3,593 4,802 8,800 14,305 8,044

2 or more trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,652 12,876 2,775 760 1,449 1,177 1,952 2,226 1,283 1,928 3,717 6,767 3,239

Selected Deficiencies1

Signs of rats in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613 354 258 7 63 124 139 111 148 85 56 295 177

Signs of mice in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,122 3,984 2,138 90 690 905 703 1,140 1,134 1,709 1,465 2,117 831

Signs of rodents, not sure which kind in last 

3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 164 189 9 11 102 37 42 98 83 60 164 46

Holes in floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,141 581 560 14 190 255 177 157 343 231 208 478 225

Open cracks or holes (interior) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,517 3,101 2,416 75 472 999 690 646 1,295 1,081 1,338 2,049 1,049

Broken plaster or peeling paint (interior) . . . . . . 2,378 1,246 1,132 27 158 495 311 343 606 531 642 819 386

No electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 57 26 11 2 2 17 4 14 23 21 30 10

Exposed wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 221 134 13 33 68 50 79 81 63 85 155 52

Rooms without electric outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,274 650 624 45 86 275 179 207 318 215 371 501 187

Special Living2

 Services available to residents1. . . . . . 1,077 101 976 27 (X) 168 80 878 342 246 328 310 193

Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 45 611 18 (X) 63 38 577 187 116 236 177 127

Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762 76 686 18 (X) 119 55 652 226 162 243 229 127

Housekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548 44 504 11 (X) 60 19 503 144 78 208 145 117

Financial management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 26 247 6 (X) 35 9 219 94 74 79 75 45

Aid with telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 16 251 12 (X) 23 15 225 76 48 84 83 53

Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446 35 411 10 (X) 47 17 403 114 81 158 136 70

 Services and assistance available to 

 residents1, 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 18 308 8 (X) 25 8 299 86 54 124 93 54

Bathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 15 261 5 (X) 17 7 259 74 43 112 75 45

Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 13 234 4 (X) 20 4 231 61 36 102 66 42

Moving about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 15 259 2 (X) 24 6 251 70 46 111 70 47

Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 11 244 5 (X) 19 5 239 64 36 103 67 49

Toilet use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 11 223 2 (X) 18 5 218 59 36 96 59 43

Access to Structure

 Entering building from outside4

 . . . . . . 25,915 3,734 22,181 743 – 5,407 4,613 4,456 6,457 6,671 5,225 7,669 6,350

Use of steps not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,771 1,532 8,239 382 – 2,005 1,705 2,345 2,535 2,039 1,663 3,436 2,633

Use of steps required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,136 2,201 13,935 362 – 3,401 2,906 2,106 3,922 4,628 3,557 4,233 3,718

Use of steps not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 6 – – – 2 5 – 4 5 – –

 Entering home from outside5

 . . . . . . . . 85,891 72,694 13,197 4,028 6,839 8,587 8,126 18,639 9,282 13,781 20,144 33,916 18,050

Use of steps not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,011 32,654 5,357 2,151 1,135 3,657 4,304 8,805 3,900 4,860 6,641 16,898 9,611

Use of steps required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,752 39,928 7,824 1,877 5,704 4,926 3,820 9,799 5,362 8,891 13,477 16,973 8,411

Use of steps not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 112 16 – – 4 2 35 20 30 25 45 28

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 23

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Selected Physical Problems

Severe physical problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,864 870 994 11 128 392 294 346 490 596 398 533 337

 Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,232 576 656 3 57 226 184 280 292 411 241 337 243

 Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 245 300 – 61 139 104 60 166 165 128 166 86

 Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 58 13 8 6 7 4 2 19 21 30 20 –

 Upkeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 30 44 – 12 24 7 11 29 14 20 29 10

Moderate physical problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,893 1,625 2,269 52 285 896 697 642 1,064 723 695 1,800 676

 Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 62 101 – 23 44 46 – 58 26 24 82 32

 Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,073 669 404 8 125 345 214 325 331 20 52 965 36

 Upkeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,177 616 560 11 145 267 154 125 345 267 277 459 174

 Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,629 335 1,293 37 19 291 314 218 409 443 357 374 455

Overall Opinion of Structure

1 (worst) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530 203 327 – 44 154 114 84 240 114 94 222 100

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 122 209 9 49 93 56 30 99 33 79 123 96

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 175 436 6 50 151 74 42 230 129 110 194 179

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,153 444 708 14 147 229 111 115 309 209 261 431 251

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,275 2,365 2,910 77 595 969 733 825 1,365 864 1,204 2,071 1,137

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,208 2,655 2,553 75 436 889 608 706 963 966 1,237 1,820 1,185

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,045 8,899 6,146 377 898 2,037 1,653 1,835 2,074 2,724 3,461 5,391 3,468

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,667 21,042 9,625 1,006 1,640 3,582 3,426 5,459 3,654 5,599 7,212 10,987 6,870

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,844 13,627 4,217 880 739 1,568 1,978 3,936 1,716 3,323 3,989 6,434 4,099

10 (best) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,909 23,967 6,941 2,148 2,023 3,660 3,634 9,226 4,263 5,601 6,990 12,077 6,241

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,233 2,926 1,306 179 218 662 354 836 826 889 731 1,837 775

Water Leakage During Last 12 Months

No leakage from inside structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 101,540 70,356 31,184 4,479 6,133 12,417 11,606 21,687 13,999 18,549 22,981 37,787 22,223

With leakage from inside structure1

 . . . . . . . . . . 9,007 5,170 3,836 227 635 1,439 1,063 1,123 1,483 1,679 2,199 3,179 1,951

 Fixtures backed up or overflowed . . . . . . . . . 2,141 1,188 952 37 95 388 248 221 362 333 572 704 533

 Pipes leaked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,809 2,145 1,664 100 328 617 466 465 639 838 830 1,349 791

 Broken water heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,041 714 327 31 144 132 123 177 140 154 219 436 233

 Other or unknown (includes not reported) . . . 2,351 1,263 1,088 59 85 364 268 294 412 405 644 813 488

Interior leakage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,260 902 357 65 71 138 70 285 256 224 188 620 227

No leakage from outside structure. . . . . . . . . . . 99,592 67,686 31,906 4,484 5,943 12,382 11,678 21,049 13,860 17,947 21,473 37,587 22,586

With leakage from outside structure1

 . . . . . . . . . 10,963 7,842 3,121 222 825 1,474 997 1,778 1,620 2,285 3,694 3,383 1,600

 Roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,747 4,168 1,579 75 620 847 646 965 891 1,147 1,426 2,313 860

 Basement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,847 2,309 538 46 20 292 97 467 288 812 1,643 228 164

 Walls, closed windows, or doors . . . . . . . . . . 1,960 1,165 795 78 134 292 174 255 369 317 632 625 386

 Other or unknown (includes not reported) . . . 1,101 691 410 29 81 145 121 171 181 199 299 373 230

Exterior leakage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,250 900 350 65 71 137 65 268 259 219 201 615 215

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Restricted to multiunits with five or more apartments with a resident 55 years of age or older.

3

Limited to units that reported meals, transportation, housekeeping, financial management, aid with telephone, or shopping. 

4

Restricted to multiunits.

5

Restricted to single units.

—Con.
24 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-8. 

Neighborhood—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Overall Opinion of Neighborhood

1 (worst) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837 338 499 24 72 291 148 116 354 164 201 323 149

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637 289 348 29 59 170 94 65 166 105 156 268 108

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,002 459 543 15 100 195 111 99 263 184 229 372 217

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,633 766 867 58 132 291 190 178 429 217 419 536 462

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,332 3,356 2,976 176 474 1,250 964 1,003 1,526 980 1,323 2,554 1,476

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,919 3,454 2,465 210 380 959 735 823 972 1,080 1,285 2,120 1,434

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,767 9,603 5,164 489 808 2,028 1,633 2,194 1,828 2,628 3,324 5,344 3,472

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,794 20,808 8,986 1,156 1,646 3,379 3,373 5,394 3,467 5,506 6,751 10,793 6,745

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,017 13,454 4,563 776 874 1,725 1,902 3,821 1,804 3,243 4,220 6,472 4,082

10 (best) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,465 20,891 7,575 1,663 2,073 3,019 3,198 8,502 4,053 5,437 6,704 10,873 5,452

No neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 31 29 – 4 8 3 12 16 13 10 26 11

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,341 2,979 1,362 175 220 677 388 888 860 895 746 1,905 794

Street Noise or Traffic 

Bothersome street noise or heavy traffic 

present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,381 15,223 10,158 716 1,335 4,099 3,143 4,574 4,659 5,203 6,006 8,466 5,706

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85,122 60,264 24,858 4,009 5,442 9,731 9,517 18,242 10,812 15,052 19,132 32,519 18,418

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,303 941 362 46 62 163 79 279 268 196 230 600 276

Neighborhood Crime

Serious crime in past 12 months . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,299 11,649 7,650 778 944 3,473 2,626 2,763 3,205 2,912 4,318 7,482 4,586

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,116 63,230 26,886 3,905 5,796 10,104 9,943 19,836 12,008 17,159 20,615 33,055 19,287

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,391 1,549 842 88 99 416 170 496 526 379 435 1,049 528

Odors 

Bothersome smoke, gas, or bad smells . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,434 3,278 2,156 159 386 944 725 827 1,115 1,053 1,379 1,732 1,271

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105,015 72,168 32,847 4,563 6,385 12,890 11,931 21,974 14,347 19,194 23,756 39,229 22,836

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,356 982 375 49 68 159 83 293 276 205 233 625 293

Other Bothersome Neighborhood 

Conditions

No other problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,262 63,858 29,404 3,884 5,591 11,180 10,674 20,098 12,825 17,280 21,418 34,624 19,941

With other problems1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,876 11,359 5,517 838 1,163 2,595 1,961 2,650 2,566 2,926 3,663 6,150 4,137

 Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,950 1,733 1,217 80 157 473 381 477 496 646 598 965 741

 Litter or housing deterioration . . . . . . . . . . 1,691 1,101 590 26 97 399 212 309 333 300 376 659 356

 Poor city or county services . . . . . . . . . . . . 694 440 254 11 74 181 86 91 161 110 170 292 123

 Undesirable commercial, institutional, or 

 industrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 247 168 27 17 62 52 60 73 104 91 133 87

 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,521 2,706 1,815 178 393 758 566 624 879 679 1,108 1,678 1,056

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,539 6,748 2,791 583 618 1,415 1,082 1,489 1,235 1,611 1,902 3,565 2,461

 No problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 90 61 7 8 24 22 27 32 42 28 41 39

 Type of problem not reported . . . . . . . . . . . 5 – 5 – – 5 – 3 2 3 2 – –

Other problems not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,667 1,210 457 49 84 219 104 347 348 245 288 811 323

Public Elementary School1

Households with children aged 

5 through 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,636 18,509 8,127 1,429 1,576 3,973 4,760 527 4,309 4,576 5,869 9,994 6,196

 Attend public school (K–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,140 14,932 7,208 1,168 1,422 3,497 4,251 421 3,840 3,675 4,878 8,384 5,203

 Attend private school (K–12) . . . . . . . . . . . 2,583 2,203 380 142 42 277 228 41 163 511 626 905 541

 Attend ungraded school, preschool, etc . . . 438 327 111 30 7 46 52 22 78 105 83 136 114

 Home schooled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382 294 88 28 32 11 25 8 37 51 86 172 73

 Not in school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497 317 180 35 29 65 91 6 80 103 106 172 115

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,208 922 286 70 54 157 184 33 166 239 237 457 275

Households with children aged 

0 through 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,976 20,490 10,486 1,823 1,782 4,467 5,550 493 5,217 5,251 6,931 11,733 7,061

 Satisfactory public elementary school . . . . 25,297 16,966 8,331 1,471 1,538 3,583 4,615 433 4,186 4,304 5,762 9,560 5,671

 Unsatisfactory public elementary 

 school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,146 1,422 724 145 119 431 296 23 428 331 422 862 532

 Not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,532 2,102 1,431 207 125 453 638 36 603 616 747 1,311 859

 Public elementary school less than 

 1 mile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,667 11,571 7,096 832 533 3,068 4,252 260 3,382 3,261 4,128 6,059 5,220

 Public elementary school 1 mile or 

 more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,526 7,785 2,741 882 1,160 1,179 954 195 1,494 1,673 2,416 5,019 1,417

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,783 1,134 649 109 89 220 344 38 342 317 386 655 425

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 25

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-8. 

Neighborhood—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Academic Comparison to Other Area 

Elementary Schools

Households with children aged 0 through 

13 dissatisfied with local elementary 

school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,146 1,422 724 145 119 431 296 23 428 331 422 862 532

 Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 154 63 16 12 53 40 3 56 30 34 103 50

 About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714 490 224 59 48 115 86 12 119 124 149 287 154

 Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,082 696 386 53 60 237 151 2 230 155 202 428 297

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 83 51 16 – 26 19 6 22 21 37 44 31

Building Neighbor Noise2

Neighbor noise present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,015 3,360 14,655 604 (X) 3,832 2,789 2,280 4,216 4,659 3,837 5,115 4,404

 Loudness bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,189 717 4,472 152 (X) 1,258 974 422 1,467 1,172 1,104 1,527 1,385

 Loudness not bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,820 2,641 10,180 453 (X) 2,572 1,815 1,857 2,749 3,485 2,733 3,588 3,015

 Loudness bothersome not reported . . . . . . 6 3 3 – (X) 3 – 1 1 2 – – 3

 Time of noise bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,219 736 4,483 150 (X) 1,311 974 434 1,498 1,179 1,114 1,584 1,342

 Time of noise not bothersome . . . . . . . . . . 12,777 2,618 10,159 454 (X) 2,512 1,814 1,843 2,714 3,479 2,722 3,519 3,056

 Time bothersome not reported . . . . . . . . . . 19 6 14 – (X) 8 – 3 4 1 – 12 7

Neighbor noise not present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,399 4,065 8,334 500 (X) 2,353 2,195 3,053 2,646 3,437 2,198 3,941 2,824

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,474 261 1,213 56 (X) 317 227 312 435 384 246 549 295

Public Transportation 

With public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,257 35,616 24,641 1,501 1,468 9,575 8,993 11,528 9,376 13,375 12,758 16,507 17,617

 Travel time to nearest bus stop, train 

 station, or subway stop

 Less than 5 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,258 10,929 10,328 469 479 3,688 3,153 3,527 3,656 4,795 5,287 5,228 5,947

 5–9 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,699 12,830 8,869 495 486 3,554 3,499 4,156 3,311 4,691 4,230 5,972 6,807

 10–14 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,606 5,853 2,753 270 175 1,308 1,295 1,731 1,133 2,075 1,460 2,582 2,489

 15–29 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,224 3,125 1,099 105 160 542 591 966 509 1,007 647 1,317 1,252

 30 minutes or longer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618 449 169 18 53 88 42 141 131 107 119 269 123

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,852 2,430 1,422 144 115 395 414 1,007 636 700 1,014 1,139 999

 Household uses public transportation 

 regularly for commuting to school or 

 work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,212 3,817 6,395 200 157 2,679 2,252 1,146 2,397 3,639 1,738 1,948 2,887

 Household does not use public 

 transportation regularly for commuting 

 to school or work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,681 31,606 18,075 1,279 1,309 6,801 6,696 10,350 6,900 9,570 10,982 14,470 14,659

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 194 170 23 2 95 45 32 79 166 38 89 71

No public transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,532 38,848 9,684 3,085 5,191 4,128 3,526 10,964 5,859 6,630 11,939 23,794 6,168

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,017 1,964 1,053 185 180 291 220 603 503 447 671 1,285 615

Neighborhood Shopping

Grocery stores or drug stores within 15 

minutes of your home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,737 72,548 34,189 4,433 6,142 13,275 12,346 21,692 14,669 19,618 24,433 39,153 23,532

 Satisfactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103,482 70,400 33,082 4,267 5,876 12,658 11,983 20,982 14,003 19,007 23,830 37,985 22,660

 Not satisfactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,769 1,805 964 152 238 535 330 596 587 517 528 932 792

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486 343 143 15 29 81 32 113 79 94 75 237 80

No grocery stores or drug stores within 

15 minutes of your home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,596 2,819 777 201 549 519 276 1,116 734 609 700 1,728 560

Not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,473 1,061 412 136 148 199 118 287 335 224 235 705 309

Police Protection

Satisfactory police protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101,373 69,633 31,740 4,245 5,992 12,163 11,365 21,223 13,526 18,594 23,406 37,316 22,056

Unsatisfactory police protection . . . . . . . . . . . 7,356 4,800 2,556 352 678 1,351 1,111 1,244 1,598 1,304 1,444 3,004 1,604

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,078 1,995 1,082 174 168 480 263 628 615 553 519 1,266 740

Secured Communities 

Community access secured with walls or 

fences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,759 5,337 5,422 736 566 1,738 1,992 2,339 1,832 1,355 883 4,346 4,175

 Special entry system present . . . . . . . . . . . 6,091 2,682 3,410 529 133 940 1,061 1,405 923 613 320 2,651 2,507

 Special entry system not present . . . . . . . . 4,653 2,648 2,005 207 433 791 931 934 910 742 559 1,688 1,664

 Special entry system not reported . . . . . . . 14 7 7 – – 8 – – – – 3 8 3

Community access not secured . . . . . . . . . . 100,124 70,410 29,714 3,993 6,222 12,152 10,665 20,542 13,696 18,964 24,337 36,821 20,002

Community access not reported . . . . . . . . . . 923 682 242 42 51 104 82 214 211 132 149 418 224

Secured Multiunits

Multiunit access secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,211 1,357 5,854 328 (X) 1,406 1,133 1,880 1,621 2,043 1,637 1,688 1,843

Multiunit access not secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,741 2,151 14,590 373 (X) 3,622 2,985 2,175 4,292 4,187 3,291 5,314 3,949

Multiunit access not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,963 226 1,737 42 (X) 378 495 401 544 440 297 667 558

 See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
26 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-8. 

Neighborhood—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Senior Citizen Communities

 Households with person 55 and 

 over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,684 36,591 9,093 1,208 2,989 4,975 3,706 23,095 6,408 8,991 10,259 16,945 9,489

Community age restricted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,080 1,457 1,624 145 401 389 241 2,453 782 601 553 1,105 821

No age restriction or restriction not 

reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,603 35,134 7,469 1,063 2,588 4,585 3,465 20,642 5,626 8,390 9,706 15,840 8,667

 Community age specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,302 8,867 1,435 139 700 1,058 688 5,831 1,298 1,744 2,550 4,206 1,802

 Community not age specific . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,683 24,100 5,583 854 1,706 3,174 2,572 13,624 3,873 6,085 6,706 10,591 6,302

 Community age specific not reported . . . . 2,618 2,167 451 69 183 352 205 1,187 455 561 449 1,043 564

Community Quality 

Some or all community activities present1

 . . . 49,962 33,117 16,845 2,052 2,272 5,962 5,194 11,087 6,666 9,066 13,917 15,732 11,247

 Community center or clubhouse . . . . . . . . 24,410 14,707 9,703 1,298 1,370 3,260 2,474 6,193 3,523 3,967 6,260 8,613 5,569

 Golf in community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,709 12,762 3,947 384 528 1,082 1,192 4,015 1,712 3,058 6,507 3,890 3,254

 Trails in community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,609 15,300 6,309 1,014 565 2,000 1,975 4,336 2,350 3,815 6,791 6,213 4,791

 Shuttle bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,933 5,718 4,215 185 288 1,124 1,249 3,291 1,643 2,308 2,998 2,275 2,352

 Daycare center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,883 10,633 5,249 322 441 2,454 1,728 2,938 2,390 3,734 5,844 3,646 2,658

 Private or restricted beach, park, or 

 shoreline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,432 15,124 6,308 733 761 1,979 2,303 4,058 2,431 4,427 7,197 5,092 4,716

Description of Area Within 300 Feet1

Single-family detached houses . . . . . . . . . . . 95,916 68,909 27,007 3,899 5,080 11,377 10,548 19,890 12,500 17,146 22,159 35,417 21,194

Single-family attached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,832 10,973 10,860 810 323 3,870 2,982 3,857 3,498 5,223 4,052 6,962 5,595

Multiunit residential buildings3

 . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,635 11,514 22,121 930 578 6,524 5,709 5,779 7,283 7,455 7,311 10,123 8,747

 1- to 3-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . 25,143 9,014 16,130 664 525 4,638 4,160 3,951 5,409 3,838 5,936 8,134 7,235

 4- to 6-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . 4,937 1,464 3,473 138 34 1,056 914 964 1,023 1,997 739 1,202 1,000

 7-or-more-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . 3,172 929 2,243 128 10 746 548 740 739 1,486 543 705 437

Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,388 10,276 3,112 590 5,413 1,272 1,361 3,087 2,472 1,205 2,022 7,346 2,815

Commercial or institutional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,649 16,992 18,657 840 1,336 6,563 5,566 6,183 7,048 8,083 7,766 11,498 8,302

Industrial or factories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,376 2,520 2,856 110 342 1,147 954 810 1,289 1,450 1,365 1,627 934

Open space, park, woods, farm, or ranch . . . 45,816 33,110 12,706 2,610 4,132 4,658 3,664 9,155 5,705 8,549 11,430 16,958 8,878

4-or-more-lane highway, railroad, or 

airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,612 10,380 9,232 566 1,155 3,450 2,748 3,633 3,539 2,994 4,483 7,846 4,289

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,624 1,836 788 111 133 407 233 466 500 460 447 1,150 567

Bodies of Water Within 300 Feet 

Water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,656 13,824 4,832 1,050 1,541 1,548 1,332 3,818 1,980 3,548 4,498 8,188 2,422

 With waterfront property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,331 2,653 678 166 197 152 187 991 294 555 800 1,595 382

 Waterfront property not reported . . . . . . . . 360 266 94 15 24 26 36 83 52 59 81 182 38

 With flood plain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,622 1,929 692 114 268 232 241 614 300 487 318 1,477 340

 Flood plain not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 41 74 21 10 17 20 12 17 18 17 66 15

Water not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676 521 156 58 35 107 40 88 141 162 121 209 185

No water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92,474 62,083 30,390 3,663 5,263 12,339 11,368 19,189 13,618 16,742 20,750 33,189 21,793

Age of Other Residential Buildings 

Within 300 Feet

Older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,638 7,710 4,928 81 1,138 1,516 1,387 2,918 2,424 2,641 2,791 4,639 2,568

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,613 52,299 23,313 2,557 2,892 9,928 8,987 14,750 9,632 13,485 17,353 27,703 17,071

Newer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,774 7,126 2,648 1,716 1,382 988 876 1,974 1,307 1,886 2,151 3,893 1,844

Very mixed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,701 4,582 2,120 81 867 697 722 1,800 1,072 1,225 1,386 2,576 1,515

No other residential buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,316 2,425 891 217 390 262 289 901 520 459 1,005 1,264 589

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,764 2,286 1,478 119 170 603 478 753 783 756 682 1,511 814

Other Buildings Vandalized or With 

Interior Exposed Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,452 67,919 30,533 4,242 5,762 11,263 11,151 20,573 12,918 18,277 22,080 36,453 21,643

1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,246 2,034 1,211 90 265 660 457 575 650 550 727 1,258 711

More than 1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,856 2,031 1,825 105 275 1,366 576 529 1,084 637 1,029 1,393 796

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,871 2,245 626 195 385 155 217 774 382 345 926 1,104 497

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,381 2,198 1,182 140 153 550 337 644 704 642 607 1,378 754

Bars on Windows of Buildings Within 

300 Feet

No bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,406 66,383 27,024 4,267 6,045 9,933 9,012 19,383 11,822 16,564 22,498 35,261 19,083

1 building with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,108 1,256 851 33 105 377 366 424 422 253 342 824 689

2 or more buildings with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,101 3,927 5,174 126 135 2,721 2,654 1,618 2,209 2,481 841 2,730 3,049

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,871 2,245 626 195 385 155 217 774 382 345 926 1,104 497

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,320 2,617 1,703 151 169 807 490 896 903 808 762 1,667 1,083

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 27

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-8. 

Neighborhood—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Condition of Streets Within 300 Feet

No repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,186 44,404 18,782 3,237 2,987 6,701 7,287 13,742 7,666 10,223 13,227 24,274 15,462

Minor repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,976 24,133 12,843 952 2,646 5,391 4,153 6,935 5,750 8,050 9,438 12,555 6,932

Major repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,604 4,375 2,228 336 864 1,221 818 1,389 1,385 1,239 1,762 2,673 930

No streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,678 1,259 419 99 166 182 170 363 255 279 358 636 405

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,362 2,257 1,106 147 174 499 312 665 683 660 583 1,446 672

Trash, Litter, or Junk on Streets or Any 

Properties Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,010 69,415 29,595 4,344 5,953 11,403 10,964 21,173 12,771 17,954 22,740 36,992 21,324

Minor accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,250 3,491 3,759 210 474 1,569 1,081 956 1,762 1,494 1,548 2,386 1,822

Major accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,519 1,426 1,093 81 261 552 428 390 624 438 540 917 623

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,027 2,096 931 136 151 469 267 576 582 565 540 1,290 631

Parking Lots 

With parking lots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,562 14,581 18,981 948 1,272 5,571 4,455 5,907 6,445 6,377 8,678 11,083 7,424

No parking lots within 300 feet . . . . . . . . . . . 75,433 59,870 15,563 3,708 5,433 7,989 8,038 16,660 8,770 13,554 16,201 29,298 16,380

Parking lots not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,811 1,977 833 116 133 434 246 528 523 520 489 1,205 597

Manufactured/Mobile Homes in Group

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . 6,839 5,418 1,421 301 6,839 643 722 1,537 1,492 540 1,145 3,918 1,236

1 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,918 3,952 966 251 4,918 546 399 1,010 1,093 312 707 3,135 764

7 to 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 217 153 19 370 46 64 61 86 46 49 228 48

21 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550 1,249 301 30 1,550 50 260 465 313 182 389 555 424

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Limited to single attached and multiunits.

3

Figures do not add up because of nonrespondents.

—Con.
28 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-9. 

Household Composition—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Population in housing units . . . 283,089 200,336 82,753 13,203 17,068 35,069 41,231 39,508 38,094 50,935 62,940 104,344 64,870

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Persons

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,108 16,777 13,331 977 1,940 4,499 2,171 10,312 6,823 5,829 7,015 11,082 6,182

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,086 27,633 9,453 1,557 2,343 3,767 3,019 10,462 3,211 6,550 8,723 13,976 7,837

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,568 12,223 5,345 770 960 2,409 2,330 1,576 1,892 3,234 3,644 6,933 3,757

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,807 11,791 4,016 881 845 1,855 2,355 417 1,684 2,957 3,626 5,719 3,505

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,117 5,207 1,910 348 454 848 1,580 192 1,147 1,226 1,574 2,484 1,833

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,577 1,797 780 159 203 353 718 90 532 407 494 880 797

7 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,543 1,000 543 80 93 262 567 45 450 248 293 512 490

Number of Single Children Under 

18 Years Old

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,604 50,579 23,026 2,669 4,619 8,399 6,305 22,323 9,426 13,917 16,843 27,138 15,706

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,145 10,796 5,349 781 925 2,477 2,248 503 2,335 2,738 3,467 6,457 3,484

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,934 9,828 4,106 805 724 1,822 2,310 176 1,904 2,502 3,263 5,050 3,119

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,689 3,760 1,928 352 383 866 1,205 69 1,267 990 1,244 2,026 1,429

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,672 1,040 632 119 143 259 439 16 489 204 389 628 451

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 281 222 32 26 115 165 6 196 71 97 187 148

6 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 143 115 14 19 56 69 2 123 29 65 100 64

Persons 65 Years and Over 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85,652 55,429 30,223 4,254 5,078 11,379 10,807 (X) 11,552 15,188 19,500 31,926 19,038

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,640 13,187 4,453 314 1,293 2,097 1,408 14,794 3,561 3,680 3,893 6,461 3,606

2 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,513 7,812 701 203 468 518 524 8,301 625 1,584 1,976 3,198 1,756

Age of Householder 

Under 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,083 1,284 4,799 310 395 949 955 (X) 2,104 807 1,490 2,399 1,386

25 to 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,614 3,541 5,072 634 410 1,245 1,418 (X) 1,325 1,293 2,053 3,343 1,924

30 to 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,093 5,532 4,561 726 624 1,287 1,712 (X) 1,313 1,653 2,161 3,812 2,467

35 to 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,908 14,932 6,976 1,247 1,259 3,005 3,128 (X) 2,444 4,129 4,798 8,034 4,947

45 to 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,505 17,743 5,762 808 1,427 3,049 2,441 (X) 2,493 4,404 5,387 8,537 5,177

55 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,509 14,924 3,585 635 1,186 2,214 1,604 (X) 2,150 3,525 4,115 6,955 3,913

65 to 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,938 9,818 2,120 295 909 1,374 877 11,938 1,669 2,301 2,729 4,573 2,335

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,157 8,653 2,503 115 628 872 604 11,157 2,240 2,337 2,635 3,933 2,252

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 52 39 39 50 46 42 74 47 50 48 48 47

Household Composition by Age of 

Householder

2-or-more-person households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,698 59,651 22,047 3,795 4,899 9,494 10,568 12,783 8,915 14,622 18,354 30,503 18,219

 Married-couple families, no nonrelatives . . . . 55,817 47,008 8,808 2,912 3,157 4,051 6,323 9,967 3,315 9,923 12,815 20,834 12,245

 Under 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,203 495 707 64 118 65 268 (X) 248 141 237 524 301

 25 to 29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,320 2,007 1,313 358 167 221 647 (X) 298 441 789 1,312 778

 30 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,143 3,646 1,497 473 358 335 889 (X) 335 755 1,158 1,960 1,269

 35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,504 10,336 2,168 867 619 992 1,799 (X) 719 2,366 2,781 4,546 2,812

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,681 21,352 2,329 930 1,278 1,865 2,092 (X) 1,050 4,428 5,516 8,655 5,082

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,967 9,174 793 220 616 572 628 9,967 665 1,793 2,334 3,837 2,003

 Other male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,385 4,712 4,673 327 658 1,237 1,710 813 1,210 1,614 2,054 3,364 2,353

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,800 2,170 3,629 258 364 697 1,220 (X) 763 882 1,312 2,091 1,515

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,773 1,878 895 56 226 389 403 (X) 336 580 575 974 644

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 663 150 14 68 150 87 813 111 152 167 299 194

 Other female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,496 7,931 8,565 555 1,084 4,207 2,536 2,004 4,391 3,085 3,485 6,306 3,620

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,066 2,948 6,119 384 538 2,450 1,488 (X) 2,952 1,590 2,082 3,430 1,964

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,426 3,397 2,030 150 403 1,371 824 (X) 1,071 1,109 1,025 2,073 1,219

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,004 1,587 417 22 144 385 224 2,004 368 386 377 802 438

1-person households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,108 16,777 13,331 977 1,940 4,499 2,171 10,312 6,823 5,829 7,015 11,082 6,182

 Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,357 6,770 6,588 438 860 1,940 1,154 2,754 2,577 2,470 3,095 4,816 2,976

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,682 2,142 3,540 253 310 912 570 (X) 969 979 1,332 2,075 1,296

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,922 2,810 2,112 136 347 711 391 (X) 1,014 863 1,163 1,796 1,099

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,754 1,818 936 48 203 317 193 2,754 594 629 600 945 581

 Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,750 10,007 6,743 539 1,080 2,560 1,017 7,558 4,246 3,358 3,920 6,266 3,206

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,980 1,547 2,434 261 215 812 332 (X) 902 730 811 1,651 788

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,212 3,231 1,981 172 359 927 335 (X) 1,173 950 1,222 1,994 1,046

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,558 5,230 2,328 106 506 821 350 7,558 2,172 1,678 1,886 2,622 1,371

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 29

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-9. 

Household Composition—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Adults and Single Children Under 18 Years 

Old

Total households with children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,201 25,849 12,352 2,102 2,220 5,594 6,434 772 6,313 6,534 8,525 14,447 8,695

 Married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,451 20,367 5,084 1,599 1,293 2,042 4,116 349 2,028 4,433 5,667 9,313 6,039

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,570 2,644 926 301 165 225 537 47 176 629 708 1,419 813

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . 4,291 3,254 1,037 301 266 376 1,024 42 501 727 904 1,524 1,136

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,623 1,946 677 220 92 155 379 4 248 479 664 906 575

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . 1,299 898 401 128 124 102 360 8 265 193 275 478 353

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,669 11,626 2,043 649 646 1,184 1,817 247 839 2,406 3,116 4,985 3,161

 Other households with two or more adults . . . 5,905 2,822 3,083 185 439 1,490 1,373 311 1,529 967 1,306 2,272 1,360

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,174 488 686 36 89 217 257 37 256 170 306 478 220

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . 849 367 483 26 56 234 256 17 267 139 193 319 199

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 134 326 13 26 131 112 12 197 89 99 183 89

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . 312 122 190 14 46 98 127 20 142 40 74 133 65

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,109 1,711 1,398 96 221 810 621 224 666 529 634 1,158 788

 Households with one adult or none . . . . . . . . 6,845 2,660 4,185 318 487 2,062 945 112 2,756 1,134 1,553 2,863 1,296

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830 143 687 15 48 280 102 3 393 107 239 358 126

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . 903 294 609 34 81 341 144 6 440 173 212 364 154

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 65 302 12 17 135 71 – 259 55 89 150 73

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . 276 54 221 18 20 129 64 3 207 30 47 154 45

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,469 2,104 2,365 238 321 1,177 564 101 1,457 768 965 1,837 898

Total households with no children . . . . . . . . . . . 73,604 50,579 23,026 2,669 4,619 8,399 6,305 22,323 9,426 13,917 16,843 27,138 15,706

 Married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,036 27,102 3,934 1,336 1,896 2,031 2,402 9,689 1,367 5,594 7,291 11,744 6,408

 Other households with two or more adults . . . 12,874 6,890 5,984 424 848 1,955 1,743 2,322 1,487 2,550 2,599 4,545 3,180

 Households with one adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,694 16,587 13,108 909 1,874 4,412 2,160 10,312 6,572 5,773 6,953 10,850 6,117

Own Never-Married Children Under 18 Years 

Old

No own children under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,557 53,128 24,429 2,836 4,932 9,327 6,975 22,981 10,477 14,517 17,629 28,884 16,527

With own children under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . 34,249 23,300 10,949 1,935 1,906 4,666 5,764 114 5,262 5,934 7,739 12,701 7,874

 Under 6 years only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,154 4,779 3,375 585 382 962 1,310 13 1,341 1,393 1,908 3,091 1,762

 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,959 2,784 2,174 346 245 598 798 13 707 816 1,096 1,975 1,072

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,720 1,747 974 190 110 294 442 – 477 506 679 933 602

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 248 227 49 27 69 70 – 157 71 133 182 89

 6 to 17 years only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,322 14,229 5,093 857 1,043 2,718 2,838 94 2,422 3,411 4,358 7,101 4,451

 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,460 6,848 2,613 335 525 1,478 1,281 73 1,144 1,700 2,020 3,632 2,109

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,070 5,367 1,703 375 358 821 1,092 15 733 1,250 1,670 2,479 1,670

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,792 2,014 778 147 160 420 465 6 544 460 668 991 672

 Both age groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,773 4,292 2,480 493 481 987 1,617 7 1,499 1,129 1,473 2,509 1,661

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,048 2,006 1,043 209 189 442 639 5 475 532 679 1,173 664

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,724 2,287 1,438 284 292 545 977 2 1,024 598 793 1,336 996

Persons Other Than Spouse or Children1

 With other relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,656 17,454 6,202 676 1,475 3,997 4,316 3,644 3,024 4,721 4,594 8,806 5,535

Single adult offspring 18 to 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,511 10,481 3,030 408 827 2,088 2,215 366 1,478 2,866 2,796 4,861 2,989

Single adult offspring 30 years of age or over . . 3,862 3,148 714 58 235 723 608 2,275 489 768 698 1,542 854

Households with three generations . . . . . . . . . . 3,301 2,342 958 90 197 749 762 569 675 572 586 1,292 850

Households with 1 subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,622 1,837 784 76 173 551 730 466 570 397 452 1,000 772

 Subfamily householder age under 30 . . . . . . 1,318 858 459 26 89 343 362 52 340 172 264 557 325

 30 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,219 906 314 44 82 198 335 413 224 212 171 421 415

 65 and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 73 11 6 2 9 33 1 6 14 16 22 32

Households with 2 or more subfamilies . . . . . . . 111 74 37 – 4 27 55 10 18 20 22 30 39

Households with other types of relatives . . . . . . 7,165 4,543 2,622 223 488 1,481 1,689 1,172 1,213 1,332 1,213 2,756 1,865

 With nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,717 4,816 5,901 439 825 1,153 1,705 607 1,521 1,819 2,406 3,702 2,790

Co-owners or co-renters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,428 1,000 2,427 165 192 281 440 137 477 505 852 1,079 992

Lodgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,207 533 674 39 76 86 339 64 144 185 190 436 397

Unrelated children, under 18 years old . . . . . . . 1,133 647 486 36 75 140 166 57 214 180 293 409 250

Other nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,049 3,160 2,889 229 594 763 996 383 874 1,125 1,326 2,158 1,440

One or more secondary families . . . . . . . . . . . . 621 352 269 21 52 85 119 20 87 92 184 211 133

2-person households, none related to each 

other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,403 2,440 2,963 253 339 482 539 401 492 985 1,184 1,806 1,428

3-to-8-person households, none related to 

each other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862 190 672 22 50 64 132 11 184 144 167 292 260

Educational Attainment of the Householder

Less than 9th grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,257 3,025 2,232 85 691 520 2,516 2,339 1,798 694 762 2,450 1,350

9th to 12th grade, no diploma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,972 5,517 4,455 228 1,222 1,985 2,089 3,047 3,124 1,763 2,021 4,425 1,763

High school graduate (includes equivalency) . . 34,389 22,665 11,724 1,131 2,957 4,916 3,775 8,155 5,576 6,605 8,819 12,757 6,208

 Additional vocational training . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,697 2,553 1,144 151 277 465 332 729 455 602 1,054 1,304 736

Some college, no degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,583 12,659 6,924 868 998 2,877 1,790 3,480 2,693 2,797 4,575 7,220 4,991

Associate’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,244 6,722 2,522 517 519 1,106 736 1,064 826 1,762 2,162 3,208 2,111

Bachelor’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,077 15,894 5,183 1,229 360 1,752 1,251 2,761 1,204 4,071 4,563 7,440 5,002

Graduate or professional degree . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,285 9,947 2,338 712 92 838 582 2,250 518 2,759 2,465 4,086 2,975

Percent high school graduate or higher . . . . . . . 86.4 88.8 81.1 93.4 72.0 82.1 63.9 76.7 68.7 88.0 89.0 83.5 87.2

Percent bachelor’s degree or higher . . . . . . . . . 29.8 33.8 21.3 40.7 6.6 18.5 14.4 21.7 10.9 33.4 27.7 27.7 32.7

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
30 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-9. 

Household Composition—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Citizenship of Householder 

Citizen of the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,356 73,334 31,022 4,481 6,482 13,330 8,527 22,643 14,092 19,064 24,563 38,943 21,786

 Naturalized citizen of the United States . . . . . 6,861 4,732 2,129 267 167 669 2,150 1,551 1,062 1,671 795 1,917 2,478

Year Householder Immigrated to the United 

States

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,129 156 973 42 64 138 444 20 312 252 179 414 284

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,060 659 1,402 105 91 174 1,016 55 421 434 262 783 580

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,056 998 1,058 122 106 232 1,022 58 429 408 268 755 625

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,926 1,037 889 76 70 184 934 95 427 361 231 589 745

1980 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,342 2,175 1,167 112 107 358 1,487 284 522 675 270 1,003 1,393

1979 or before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,797 2,801 996 100 86 248 1,460 1,492 599 928 390 1,014 1,465

Year Householder Moved Into Unit 

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,108 20,126 25,982 4,712 2,609 7,023 6,664 3,507 8,148 7,185 9,917 18,062 10,944

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,490 17,520 4,970 31 1,775 2,528 2,733 3,314 2,672 3,912 5,124 8,156 5,298

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,131 11,217 1,914 13 1,262 1,391 1,251 2,697 1,352 2,509 3,002 4,793 2,827

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,763 7,706 1,057 6 565 926 728 2,047 978 1,720 2,100 3,200 1,742

1985 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,844 5,362 482 6 290 515 447 1,734 590 1,210 1,430 2,057 1,146

1980 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,436 3,124 312 3 156 360 262 1,274 433 908 794 1,178 556

1975 to 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,978 3,734 244 – 99 411 256 1,969 430 905 1,039 1,383 651

1970 to 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,698 2,548 151 – 64 312 163 1,835 354 614 641 1,042 401

1960 to 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,300 3,142 158 – 17 363 142 2,859 431 896 819 1,098 487

1950 to 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,592 1,522 70 – – 135 74 1,441 267 439 391 471 291

1940 to 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 334 23 – 2 21 19 308 61 116 85 114 42

1939 or earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 93 17 – – 8 – 110 24 36 27 32 15

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2003 1999 2007 2007 2002 2005 2005 1990 2005 2001 2002 2003 2004

Household Moves and Formation in Last 

Year 

 Total with a move in last year . . . . . . . 22,726 8,394 14,332 1,809 1,366 3,586 3,703 1,301 4,658 3,186 4,954 8,822 5,764

Household all moved here from one unit . . . . . . 14,975 3,961 11,014 1,412 812 2,645 2,365 836 3,500 2,026 3,219 5,963 3,767

 Householder of previous unit did not move 

 here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,808 460 2,349 148 172 601 507 71 932 380 644 1,149 636

 Householder of previous unit moved here . . . 10,898 3,165 7,733 1,165 569 1,875 1,652 709 2,215 1,453 2,325 4,311 2,808

 Householder of previous unit not reported . . . 1,269 337 932 100 71 169 207 56 354 193 250 503 323

Household moved here from two or more units . . . 1,691 304 1,387 82 95 204 307 24 237 167 445 561 517

 No previous householder moved here . . . . . . 324 42 282 17 21 44 56 – 48 31 90 100 102

 1 previous householder moved here . . . . . . . 438 79 359 27 26 43 82 6 57 37 135 170 96

 2 or more previous householders moved 

 here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679 156 523 32 39 82 118 11 84 70 158 223 227

 Previous householder(s) not reported . . . . . . 251 28 223 7 8 34 51 8 48 29 62 68 92

Some already here, rest moved in . . . . . . . . . . . 6,057 4,129 1,928 315 459 737 1,031 442 921 993 1,289 2,294 1,480

 No previous householder moved here . . . . . . 3,336 2,331 1,006 190 268 406 560 137 541 546 759 1,219 812

 1 or more previous householders moved 

 here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,200 1,497 703 108 147 255 362 266 284 321 423 910 546

 Previous householder(s) not reported . . . . . . 521 301 220 18 44 76 109 39 96 126 107 166 122

Number of previous units not reported . . . . . . . 4 – 4 – – – – – – – – 4 –

Households with Disabled Persons

Households without a disabled person . . . . . . . 91,621 62,765 28,856 4,198 5,052 11,375 10,902 14,149 11,139 16,725 20,647 33,901 20,347

Households with a disabled person1, 2 . . . . . . . . 19,182 12,948 6,234 540 1,754 2,477 1,785 8,738 4,381 3,478 4,541 7,232 3,931

 Hearing disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,077 4,498 1,578 185 561 412 494 3,581 1,073 1,077 1,472 2,159 1,370

 Vision disability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,993 1,940 1,053 61 306 413 372 1,383 792 509 612 1,212 661

 Mental disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,817 3,498 2,320 208 600 825 561 1,842 1,626 1,022 1,400 2,184 1,211

 Physical disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,651 7,880 3,771 319 1,115 1,704 1,039 5,938 2,804 2,118 2,739 4,603 2,192

 Self-care disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,969 2,038 931 78 238 462 315 1,439 771 502 641 1,187 638

 Go-outside-home disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,206 4,140 2,065 174 550 935 594 3,121 1,614 1,100 1,499 2,340 1,267

Disability not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,003 715 288 33 33 141 52 209 218 247 181 453 122

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Mental, physical, and self-care disabilities are limited to household members at least 5 years of age. Go-outside-home disabilities are limited to household members at least 15 years of age.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 31

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-10. 

Previous Unit of Recent Movers—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

HOUSEHOLDER MOVED DURING PAST 

YEAR FROM WITHIN THE UNITED STATES

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,763 4,341 12,422 1,511 926 2,901 2,685 868 3,700 2,190 3,686 6,585 4,303

Structure Type of Previous Residence 

 Moved from within the United States. . 16,763 4,341 12,422 1,511 926 2,901 2,685 868 3,700 2,190 3,686 6,585 4,303

House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,531 2,595 5,936 897 438 1,245 1,212 486 1,708 991 1,956 3,391 2,193

Apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,437 1,208 5,228 442 157 1,381 1,253 261 1,490 1,058 1,363 2,373 1,643

Manufactured/mobile home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783 238 545 79 283 79 99 59 238 30 160 433 159

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 119 380 52 16 71 57 37 131 56 124 150 169

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 182 331 41 32 125 65 26 133 55 83 237 138

Tenure of Previous Residence 

 House, apartment, manufactured/ 

 mobile home in the United States . . . 15,751 4,041 11,710 1,418 878 2,705 2,563 805 3,435 2,079 3,479 6,198 3,996

Owner occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,023 2,032 2,991 701 322 552 569 431 831 628 1,166 2,026 1,203

Renter occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,728 2,009 8,719 717 556 2,153 1,994 375 2,605 1,450 2,313 4,172 2,793

Persons—Previous Residence 

 House, apartment, manufactured/

 mobile home in the United States . . . 15,751 4,041 11,710 1,418 878 2,705 2,563 805 3,435 2,079 3,479 6,198 3,996

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,414 579 1,835 234 72 438 232 369 520 336 570 943 565

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,390 1,420 2,970 449 247 595 463 336 591 629 903 1,769 1,089

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,257 778 2,480 262 190 567 536 54 734 428 788 1,232 809

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,733 654 2,080 264 168 494 530 14 638 337 618 1,095 683

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,408 353 1,055 121 98 278 320 6 416 178 296 538 396

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712 122 589 53 50 137 218 12 271 69 139 285 220

7 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567 98 469 15 39 132 209 4 220 54 126 218 168

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 38 232 20 13 65 55 9 46 48 38 119 66

Previous Home Owned or Rented by 

Someone Who Moved Here

 House, apartment, manufactured/

 mobile home in the United States . . . 15,751 4,041 11,710 1,418 878 2,705 2,563 805 3,435 2,079 3,479 6,198 3,996

Owned or rented by a mover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,933 3,420 8,513 1,211 626 1,969 1,879 716 2,340 1,572 2,575 4,689 3,098

Owned or rented by other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,463 540 2,923 192 211 684 628 71 1,033 441 851 1,333 838

 By a relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,076 303 1,773 85 124 448 348 35 633 238 512 808 518

 By a nonrelative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,387 238 1,149 107 86 235 280 36 400 202 340 525 320

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 – 1 – – 1 – – – 1 – – –

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 80 274 15 41 52 56 18 62 66 53 176 59

Change in Housing Costs 

 House, apartment, manufactured/ 

 mobile home in the United States . . . 15,751 4,041 11,710 1,418 878 2,705 2,563 805 3,435 2,079 3,479 6,198 3,996

Increased with move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,590 2,455 5,135 913 269 1,266 1,141 292 1,413 1,060 1,725 2,840 1,965

Decreased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,520 801 3,719 219 335 773 817 234 1,087 550 969 1,807 1,194

Stayed about the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,107 663 2,444 245 227 577 533 223 807 360 694 1,311 743

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 60 250 23 28 42 57 30 80 68 57 115 69

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 62 161 18 20 47 15 27 48 41 33 125 24
32 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-11. 

Reasons for Move and Choice of Current Residence—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

RESPONDENT MOVED DURING PAST YEAR

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,463 4,623 12,840 1,529 960 2,965 2,832 920 3,870 2,294 3,809 6,858 4,502

Reasons for Leaving Previous Unit1

Private displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 49 393 16 33 50 77 28 114 72 59 162 149

 Owner to move into unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 13 129 8 11 9 27 2 33 17 24 56 45

 To be converted to condominium or 

 cooperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4 20 – – – – – 14 14 – 3 7

 Closed for repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 2 17 – – 1 6 4 5 1 2 2 15

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 29 225 9 22 38 44 20 62 40 34 99 82

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – 2 – – 2 – 2 – – – 2 –

Government displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 22 138 19 7 30 46 10 52 13 39 49 60

 Government wanted building or land . . . . . . . . 29 8 21 7 3 10 10 4 14 1 4 10 13

 Unit unfit for occupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 – 13 – 4 3 – – 7 – 3 8 2

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 15 105 12 – 18 36 5 30 11 32 31 44

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Disaster loss (fire, flood, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 24 132 9 17 38 23 10 66 15 23 108 10

New job or job transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,734 408 1,326 215 23 213 238 22 137 172 345 783 434

To be closer to work/school/other . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,026 315 1,711 121 95 286 340 43 494 271 438 763 553

Other, financial/employment related . . . . . . . . . . 829 139 690 50 60 159 199 38 214 107 182 246 294

To establish own household. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,163 719 1,445 197 155 385 325 33 502 248 554 826 535

Needed larger house or apartment . . . . . . . . . . . 1,951 589 1,362 233 74 401 402 43 358 286 447 763 455

Married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 115 141 23 11 29 37 – 21 31 52 94 80

Widowed, divorced, or separated . . . . . . . . . . . . 446 154 292 29 39 58 39 53 99 68 132 157 88

Other, family/person related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,649 431 1,218 99 119 205 218 204 395 254 384 630 381

Wanted better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,790 511 1,279 229 62 362 285 88 410 240 460 685 405

Change from owner to renter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 (X) 180 12 7 27 35 10 15 21 32 86 41

Change from renter to owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 775 (X) 105 53 79 89 2 19 86 152 278 259

Wanted lower rent or maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . 1,223 103 1,120 36 68 238 252 77 339 165 267 480 311

Other housing related reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,052 224 828 99 55 212 142 85 272 153 238 381 279

Evicted from residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 21 169 3 33 37 45 16 79 16 43 82 49

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,376 545 1,831 236 114 399 366 254 551 348 490 868 669

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718 246 472 44 52 167 88 55 194 99 104 359 156

Main Reason for Leaving Previous Unit

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653 203 450 58 38 89 114 37 114 120 188 205 141

Private displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 5 118 5 9 18 30 – 30 28 9 35 51

Government displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 8 45 7 3 8 13 4 20 1 10 19 21

Disaster loss (fire, flood, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 24 126 9 13 37 21 10 61 15 21 104 10

New job or job transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,590 370 1,220 207 19 191 215 22 125 157 314 719 400

To be closer to work/school/other . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,634 217 1,416 97 75 237 275 38 432 211 342 629 452

Other, financial/employment related . . . . . . . . . . 646 119 527 47 52 125 157 28 176 76 149 191 229

To establish own household. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,876 594 1,282 174 146 353 297 23 469 204 484 721 467

Needed larger house or apartment . . . . . . . . . . . 1,534 431 1,103 185 58 328 333 33 296 242 329 600 363

Married, widowed, divorced, or separated . . . . . . 912 284 628 59 63 113 92 44 148 118 224 327 243

Other, family/personal related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,372 368 1,004 85 102 183 188 180 347 225 315 529 303

Wanted better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,186 305 881 140 37 257 195 66 292 160 294 465 266

Change from owner to renter or renter to 

owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804 685 120 98 44 86 91 9 28 86 143 307 269

Wanted lower rent or maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . 927 60 867 22 49 190 196 54 274 115 185 384 244

Other housing related reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782 168 614 70 48 155 109 57 226 118 187 284 192

Evicted from residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 14 112 3 29 18 35 8 50 11 24 47 43

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,032 484 1,548 202 101 362 314 224 488 277 418 788 548

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,065 286 779 62 77 215 159 84 294 129 171 504 261

Choice of Present Neighborhood1

Convenient to job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,207 1,138 4,069 501 178 778 842 69 666 717 1,024 2,185 1,281

Convenient to friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,039 1,030 3,009 247 325 646 738 336 1,002 595 1,017 1,459 967

Convenient to leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,352 380 972 148 44 158 146 53 192 192 302 455 403

Convenient to public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . 928 176 753 63 19 195 179 35 235 188 166 289 285

Good schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,008 637 1,370 166 53 334 392 12 525 285 409 751 563

Other public services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673 129 544 63 12 130 124 64 174 88 145 248 192

Looks/design of neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,288 1,242 2,046 419 128 509 501 169 507 386 769 1,280 852

House was most important consideration . . . . . . 2,761 1,238 1,523 358 142 421 392 122 489 346 656 993 767

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,806 875 2,931 314 243 686 510 244 1,084 472 801 1,555 978

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757 264 493 60 62 161 99 71 208 106 116 372 163

 See footnotes at end of table.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 33

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-11. 

Reasons for Move and Choice of Current Residence—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Main Reason for Choice of Present 

Neighborhood

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,905 551 1,354 183 78 284 269 99 356 302 406 695 502

Convenient to job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,535 611 2,924 342 116 521 637 35 431 460 655 1,511 909

Convenient to friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,485 570 1,915 131 270 432 459 255 765 314 650 934 586

Convenient to leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 87 244 29 18 18 30 12 51 44 89 97 102

Convenient to public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . 266 29 237 6 3 73 61 11 94 54 51 78 83

Good schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,087 289 798 79 26 190 213 11 294 175 215 411 287

Other public services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 36 185 20 3 66 48 38 70 30 57 80 54

Looks/design of neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,798 635 1,163 215 79 316 299 99 284 188 426 717 467

House was most important consideration . . . . . . 1,765 801 964 203 100 285 277 89 337 211 451 592 510

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,313 750 2,563 261 209 620 440 201 980 410 693 1,371 839

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757 264 493 60 62 161 99 71 208 106 116 372 163

Neighborhood Search 

Looked at just this neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,490 1,590 5,900 519 642 1,191 1,401 532 1,929 1,079 1,571 2,948 1,893

Looked at other neighborhood(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,335 2,802 6,533 966 272 1,619 1,347 327 1,775 1,132 2,143 3,592 2,468

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638 231 407 44 47 155 85 62 166 83 95 318 142

Choice of Present Home1

Financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,261 1,444 4,817 385 455 1,046 1,064 222 1,551 777 1,457 2,384 1,643

Room layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,633 1,618 3,015 659 139 744 689 255 772 664 1,016 1,734 1,218

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758 321 437 87 41 95 138 32 160 138 190 248 183

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,677 1,091 2,586 383 152 656 660 155 720 488 883 1,388 917

Exterior appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,619 657 963 189 72 230 242 107 258 227 316 638 438

Yard/trees/view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,987 856 1,131 152 72 199 232 105 266 286 471 759 471

Quality of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,346 674 671 293 41 139 165 82 168 194 328 476 348

Only one available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871 107 764 23 73 171 141 73 273 129 171 353 219

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,286 741 2,545 230 178 478 466 223 713 442 656 1,245 943

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824 284 540 74 62 185 110 71 207 115 129 407 174

Main Reason for Choice of Present Home

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,256 808 1,448 257 104 304 315 135 391 349 557 807 544

Financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,854 1,008 3,846 248 390 852 886 162 1,294 575 1,139 1,864 1,277

Room layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,540 797 1,743 405 66 467 386 136 455 336 526 995 682

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 33 65 5 1 22 22 6 30 20 28 26 24

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,775 377 1,398 130 59 378 371 57 386 237 423 700 416

Exterior appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 125 350 42 19 87 91 38 91 58 81 215 121

Yard/trees/view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699 287 412 43 31 60 71 46 92 97 151 275 176

Quality of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417 186 231 112 15 53 57 15 65 62 91 168 96

Only one available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684 76 608 15 60 135 117 60 218 93 128 277 187

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,834 636 2,198 198 153 423 406 193 633 352 556 1,125 801

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830 290 540 74 62 185 110 71 213 115 129 407 180

Home Search 

Now in house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,129 3,929 4,200 1,084 (X) 1,143 1,104 368 1,248 934 1,702 3,383 2,110

 Did not look at apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,318 3,430 2,888 934 (X) 816 831 301 851 648 1,328 2,668 1,674

 Looked at apartments too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,467 305 1,162 118 (X) 260 238 38 320 232 320 576 339

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 194 150 31 (X) 67 35 29 77 54 54 139 97

Now in manufactured/mobile home . . . . . . . . . . . 960 410 551 32 960 67 150 60 305 50 209 513 188

 Did not look at apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 304 360 22 663 50 110 43 180 32 116 383 133

 Looked at apartments too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 69 181 7 250 17 37 3 112 18 89 100 43

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 37 10 3 47 – 3 15 13 – 4 31 12

Now in apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,374 285 8,090 413 (X) 1,756 1,579 491 2,318 1,310 1,898 2,962 2,204

 Did not look at houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,907 181 5,726 255 (X) 1,195 1,132 427 1,643 959 1,444 2,029 1,475

 Looked at houses too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,148 92 2,056 145 (X) 465 396 37 573 303 404 785 656

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 12 308 13 (X) 96 51 27 102 48 50 148 73

Recent Mover Comparison to Previous 

Home

Better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,209 3,017 6,192 1,121 446 1,583 1,519 407 1,905 1,195 2,020 3,666 2,328

Worse home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,102 426 2,676 103 209 484 439 128 764 434 686 1,140 843

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,418 920 3,498 242 253 757 784 311 1,018 572 988 1,708 1,150

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734 261 474 64 53 142 90 74 183 93 116 344 181

Recent Mover Comparison to Previous 

Neighborhood

Better neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,206 2,253 4,953 790 409 1,254 1,226 351 1,515 887 1,492 2,978 1,849

Worse neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,303 347 1,955 103 84 409 310 64 609 306 517 865 615

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,471 1,555 4,916 507 348 1,054 1,061 384 1,394 886 1,525 2,387 1,674

Same neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699 179 520 63 67 97 145 47 151 104 133 269 192

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786 290 496 66 53 151 91 74 200 111 142 360 173

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

—Con.
34 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-12. 

Income Characteristics—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Household Income 

Less than $5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,849 2,539 3,310 152 446 1,553 726 1,661 5,849 1,080 1,244 2,430 1,094

$5,000 to $9,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,683 1,884 2,799 117 445 1,123 585 1,653 4,683 843 1,141 1,898 801

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,963 2,788 3,175 74 594 1,101 782 2,554 2,861 973 1,400 2,434 1,157

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,062 3,123 2,940 183 644 1,014 884 2,334 1,106 1,046 1,281 2,598 1,137

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,961 3,110 2,850 147 650 1,012 973 1,918 685 985 1,450 2,386 1,140

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,637 4,507 3,131 214 585 1,193 1,133 2,374 448 1,421 1,641 3,097 1,479

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,966 3,600 2,366 190 586 881 891 1,424 73 911 1,417 2,403 1,235

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,593 3,482 2,111 189 434 650 732 1,344 15 906 1,306 2,274 1,106

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,290 6,852 3,438 364 816 1,286 1,317 2,099 19 1,714 2,500 3,894 2,182

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,654 6,328 2,326 338 512 882 984 1,401 – 1,473 2,113 3,191 1,877

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,780 10,535 3,244 728 593 1,259 1,452 1,740 – 2,442 3,344 4,797 3,197

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,073 8,409 1,663 622 269 843 970 967 – 1,859 2,423 3,403 2,388

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,840 6,007 833 438 107 495 517 574 – 1,522 1,443 2,182 1,693

$120,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,456 13,264 1,192 1,016 159 702 792 1,050 – 3,277 2,665 4,600 3,914

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,000 60,000 28,400 70,200 30,000 30,000 37,000 27,000 7,688 50,100 46,309 42,000 53,300

 As percent of poverty level: 

Less than 50 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,499 3,138 4,361 208 589 2,038 1,112 1,820 7,499 1,346 1,562 3,140 1,449

50 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,240 3,267 4,973 161 904 1,826 1,604 2,089 8,240 1,286 1,823 3,555 1,577

100 to 149 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,449 5,456 4,993 261 1,045 1,771 1,859 3,227 (X) 1,649 2,286 4,341 2,173

150 to 199 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,953 6,692 4,262 402 955 1,653 1,617 3,353 (X) 2,023 2,485 4,378 2,067

200 percent or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,665 57,875 16,790 3,740 3,347 6,705 6,547 12,605 (X) 14,147 17,212 26,172 17,133

Income of Families and Primary Individuals

Less than $5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,728 2,714 4,014 171 495 1,661 915 1,687 6,219 1,210 1,415 2,745 1,357

$5,000 to $9,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,176 2,024 3,152 121 517 1,176 687 1,690 4,712 898 1,286 2,074 918

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,377 2,941 3,436 70 660 1,128 814 2,590 2,679 1,017 1,509 2,577 1,274

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,345 3,293 3,053 186 675 1,040 958 2,373 1,008 1,109 1,346 2,713 1,178

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,310 3,204 3,106 180 677 1,024 1,073 1,908 608 1,066 1,534 2,474 1,236

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,943 4,725 3,218 241 591 1,206 1,164 2,383 414 1,472 1,734 3,194 1,543

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,105 3,710 2,396 205 585 920 843 1,414 72 946 1,464 2,467 1,228

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,578 3,567 2,011 187 403 659 710 1,326 10 932 1,271 2,259 1,116

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,132 6,985 3,146 409 782 1,222 1,227 2,061 16 1,703 2,465 3,798 2,166

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,367 6,278 2,089 339 468 815 949 1,391 – 1,482 2,025 3,039 1,822

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,096 10,346 2,751 696 506 1,219 1,346 1,731 – 2,332 3,127 4,596 3,042

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,509 8,100 1,409 594 250 798 870 962 – 1,768 2,250 3,204 2,287

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,458 5,790 668 426 96 451 474 565 – 1,431 1,369 2,044 1,614

$120,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,680 12,751 929 945 134 674 710 1,013 – 3,085 2,574 4,401 3,621

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,200 57,000 25,030 65,200 27,084 28,000 34,000 26,500 7,200 48,500 43,842 40,000 50,000

Income Sources of Families and Primary 

Individuals1

Wages and salaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,121 56,438 25,683 4,037 4,600 9,915 10,284 6,126 5,880 14,703 18,712 30,465 18,242

 Wages and salaries were majority of 

 income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,826 49,803 24,023 3,691 4,112 9,121 9,612 3,284 5,067 13,335 16,775 27,413 16,304

 2 or more people each earned over 20 

 percent of wages and salaries . . . . . . . . . 14,814 11,622 3,191 687 850 1,445 1,716 1,552 329 2,746 3,450 5,468 3,149

Self-employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,966 10,387 2,578 659 550 884 1,154 1,396 917 2,112 2,929 4,487 3,437

Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,637 21,120 3,517 1,062 642 1,092 1,057 7,961 1,128 5,064 6,197 7,993 5,382

Dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,969 8,868 1,100 410 172 364 263 3,362 281 2,029 2,434 3,213 2,293

Rental income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,613 5,127 487 344 134 333 486 1,470 242 1,110 1,260 1,718 1,525

Social Security or Railroad Retirement . . . . . . . 28,043 22,201 5,843 638 2,168 2,919 1,931 20,975 4,501 5,406 6,481 10,649 5,507

Retirement or survivor pensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,878 13,755 2,122 453 906 1,465 749 10,550 943 3,073 3,865 5,680 3,260

Supplementary Security Income (SSI) . . . . . . . 4,430 2,081 2,350 95 459 1,102 704 1,334 2,095 817 870 1,710 1,033

Child support or alimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,272 2,350 1,922 204 242 789 559 158 907 660 1,159 1,649 804

Public assistance or public welfare . . . . . . . . . . 2,049 559 1,490 47 210 672 413 236 1,252 434 455 570 589

Food stamp benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,593 1,544 5,050 145 791 2,192 1,220 954 5,071 1,187 1,676 2,728 1,002

Disability payments, workers’ compensation, 

veterans’ disability, other disability . . . . . . . . . 5,028 3,421 1,606 191 467 856 454 948 857 968 1,103 1,882 1,074

Other income (VA payments, unemployment, 

royalty, estates, and more) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,426 5,056 2,370 322 508 820 704 862 847 1,354 2,159 2,028 1,886

Food Stamps

 Income of $25,000 or less . . . . . . . . . . 32,692 15,042 17,650 788 3,182 6,353 4,787 10,516 15,397 5,625 7,446 13,352 6,269

Family members received food stamps . . . . . . . 6,593 1,544 5,050 145 791 2,192 1,220 954 5,071 1,187 1,676 2,728 1,002

Did not receive food stamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,021 12,429 11,592 583 2,280 3,721 3,366 8,993 9,144 4,033 5,394 9,667 4,927

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,077 1,069 1,009 60 111 440 200 569 1,183 405 375 956 341

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit. .
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 35

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,806 76,428 35,378 4,771 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,095 15,739 20,451 25,368 41,586 24,401

Monthly Housing Costs 

Less than $100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723 475 248 7 259 154 88 212 315 99 117 265 242

$100 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,889 2,161 728 60 927 538 297 1,168 1,171 282 580 1,454 573

$200 to $249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,114 2,376 738 118 783 414 294 1,483 1,045 393 631 1,629 460

$250 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,619 2,976 643 67 513 474 359 1,565 885 330 789 1,805 696

$300 to $349 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,570 2,989 581 84 435 467 274 1,657 713 487 859 1,666 557

$350 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,811 3,033 778 79 347 389 343 1,603 704 518 1,061 1,611 621

$400 to $449 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,823 2,830 993 83 275 450 376 1,509 730 536 1,083 1,575 629

$450 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,578 2,478 1,101 83 278 439 328 1,294 703 537 1,061 1,398 582

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,392 4,407 2,985 176 488 1,091 766 2,145 1,344 1,376 1,931 2,929 1,157

$600 to $699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,542 3,735 3,808 129 502 1,279 902 1,761 1,361 1,362 2,007 3,045 1,130

$700 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,306 3,597 3,709 186 515 1,133 889 1,406 1,215 1,256 1,893 2,928 1,228

$800 to $999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,200 7,139 6,060 347 580 2,014 1,921 1,980 1,735 2,409 3,260 5,042 2,489

$1,000 to $1,249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,933 8,156 4,777 541 373 1,784 1,604 1,598 1,268 2,594 3,056 4,646 2,637

$1,250 to $1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,459 6,828 2,631 522 178 1,000 1,091 902 619 1,803 2,182 3,188 2,286

$1,500 to $1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,692 9,445 2,247 832 78 980 1,379 1,010 619 2,444 2,397 3,450 3,401

$2,000 to $2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,140 5,422 718 512 10 466 633 500 260 1,476 1,037 1,763 1,864

$2,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,980 8,383 596 923 51 572 958 820 328 2,208 1,027 2,248 3,496

No cash rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,037 (X) 2,037 23 248 348 239 481 722 341 398 945 352

Median (excludes no cash rent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909 1,000 808 1,451 404 799 935 534 590 1,038 829 800 1,145

Monthly Housing Costs as Percent of Current 

Income1

Less than 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,065 2,903 162 99 491 148 206 617 25 413 571 1,276 805

5 to 9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,334 9,614 721 356 1,190 722 644 2,737 70 1,534 2,362 4,538 1,899

10 to 14 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,111 11,147 1,964 420 1,075 1,137 967 3,103 156 2,351 3,380 5,216 2,164

15 to 19 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,210 10,986 3,224 514 683 1,367 1,169 2,644 302 2,543 3,850 5,195 2,622

20 to 24 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,271 9,589 3,682 728 573 1,451 1,319 2,295 350 2,426 3,215 4,817 2,813

25 to 29 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,775 7,167 3,608 652 512 1,333 1,202 1,975 628 2,059 2,432 3,775 2,510

30 to 34 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,116 5,160 2,956 382 340 1,139 1,185 1,394 642 1,563 1,898 2,755 1,899

35 to 39 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,071 3,753 2,317 296 238 955 759 1,130 564 1,143 1,365 2,105 1,458

40 to 49 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,851 4,529 3,322 449 345 1,157 1,256 1,513 995 1,506 1,505 2,794 2,047

50 to 59 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,859 2,649 2,210 191 226 811 825 972 975 967 932 1,717 1,244

60 to 69 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,099 1,676 1,423 141 148 508 537 670 804 590 625 1,039 845

70 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,795 2,380 2,415 184 226 844 864 1,047 1,793 988 853 1,642 1,311

100 percent or more2

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,091 4,016 4,076 258 422 1,604 1,248 2,338 5,816 1,684 1,618 2,871 1,918

Zero or negative income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,119 859 1,261 78 123 471 319 177 1,897 342 364 898 515

No cash rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,037 (X) 2,037 23 248 348 239 481 722 341 398 945 352

Median (excludes 2 previous lines) . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 21 34 26 18 31 32 24 84 26 23 23 27

Median (excludes 3 lines before medians) . . . . . . 23 20 31 25 17 28 29 21 49 24 21 22 25

Rent Paid by Lodgers 

 Lodgers in housing units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977 372 606 39 74 63 282 44 129 147 162 361 306

Less than $200 per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 71 104 7 35 20 67 5 30 20 37 78 40

$200 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 34 84 3 19 10 42 11 13 2 19 66 32

$300 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 66 93 10 10 7 50 3 20 25 32 46 56

$400 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 65 99 7 3 6 36 8 17 29 23 59 53

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 28 67 2 3 3 25 2 20 9 21 37 28

$600 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 35 58 – – – 29 – 3 14 14 39 26

$800 or more per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 32 74 6 – 8 28 4 14 35 4 13 55

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 40 28 3 5 9 5 12 11 13 13 24 17

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 350 400 (Z) 156 250 350 (Z) 325 450 325 350 400

Monthly Cost Paid for Electricity 

 Electricity used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,746 76,378 35,368 4,763 6,839 13,993 12,739 23,093 15,727 20,431 25,342 41,572 24,401

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,701 442 1,259 34 52 203 324 450 402 194 527 77 903

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,851 4,425 5,426 224 377 1,157 1,549 2,482 1,967 2,333 2,767 990 3,762

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,551 11,016 6,535 528 895 2,069 2,131 4,448 2,778 4,140 4,887 3,719 4,805

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,444 12,975 5,469 728 1,062 2,086 2,095 3,859 2,363 3,599 4,946 5,829 4,070

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,826 21,237 6,589 1,505 1,928 3,287 2,826 5,236 3,180 4,337 6,354 12,534 4,600

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,959 12,164 2,795 844 1,221 1,828 1,428 2,520 1,618 2,052 2,562 8,019 2,325

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,451 12,110 2,341 730 1,067 2,171 1,455 2,237 1,496 2,372 1,829 8,150 2,099

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 117 84 124 122 112 98 96 93 94 93 135 85

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained free . . . . . . . . 6,964 2,010 4,954 170 237 1,192 931 1,861 1,924 1,402 1,470 2,255 1,836

 See footnotes at end of table.
36 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Tenure Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

Owner Renter

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Monthly Cost Paid for Piped Gas 

 Piped gas used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,886 46,700 21,186 2,507 1,723 8,838 8,701 13,548 8,940 13,048 19,005 17,083 18,750

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,856 1,410 2,447 118 104 450 982 724 796 635 289 920 2,013

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,402 7,933 4,469 542 476 1,427 2,292 2,464 1,833 1,006 2,297 3,555 5,544

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,777 11,196 3,581 601 455 1,605 1,993 2,803 1,599 1,320 3,858 4,024 5,575

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,648 8,595 2,054 422 253 1,291 918 2,123 1,073 1,747 3,522 3,205 2,174

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,578 9,694 1,884 482 185 1,297 810 2,439 1,002 3,196 4,546 2,534 1,302

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,341 3,698 643 112 51 714 275 903 414 1,525 1,638 812 366

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,200 2,682 518 107 30 659 237 673 360 1,268 1,042 621 269

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 80 55 70 58 79 54 75 63 106 89 70 54

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained free . . . . . . . . 7,082 1,494 5,588 123 169 1,394 1,194 1,420 1,863 2,352 1,814 1,410 1,507

Average Monthly Cost Paid for Fuel Oil 

 Fuel oil used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,208 6,409 2,800 74 249 912 818 2,369 1,172 7,274 694 1,019 222

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 176 52 – 18 15 4 49 47 102 64 54 9

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 325 70 6 20 23 17 85 54 219 68 96 12

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 490 91 3 40 52 40 165 81 374 63 118 26

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825 725 100 5 40 45 22 252 103 546 89 158 32

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,566 1,403 163 12 72 64 81 448 137 1,072 182 249 62

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,161 1,052 108 7 32 58 51 295 78 965 57 117 22

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,848 1,701 146 16 10 107 76 504 107 1,671 71 90 15

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 133 100 138 96 125 125 125 100 154 100 100 100

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained free . . . . . . . . 2,604 536 2,068 26 17 547 528 571 564 2,325 99 135 45

Property Insurance

Property insurance paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,711 72,313 9,397 4,116 4,330 7,484 6,372 18,829 6,553 14,462 20,152 30,222 16,874

Median per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 55 16 52 38 45 50 50 39 51 44 52 54

Monthly Costs Paid for Selected Utilities and 

Fuels

Water paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,789 53,552 9,237 3,007 3,111 6,889 6,281 13,128 6,283 9,350 14,380 25,721 13,338

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 38 29 35 30 33 40 33 30 37 33 33 43

Trash paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,525 44,974 7,551 2,686 2,481 4,525 5,193 10,922 4,957 5,357 13,125 20,327 13,716

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 21 20 21 17 22 27 20 20 21 19 21 25

Bottled gas paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,632 5,902 730 376 977 394 337 1,716 752 1,176 1,632 3,012 812

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 63 54 64 53 56 44 62 57 63 76 59 52

Other fuel paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,786 3,117 669 85 510 248 244 689 403 1,280 500 1,079 926

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 25 25 33 33 25 25 27 30 50 21 17 21

1

Beginning with 1989, this item uses current income in its calculation; see Appendix A.

2

May reflect a temporary situation, living off savings, or response error.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 37

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Race and Hispanic Origin 

White alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,935 3,171 4,745 (X) 6,030 16,387 5,026 11,904 16,589 24,114 13,327

Non-Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,905 2,856 4,285 (X) (X) 15,460 4,265 11,450 16,062 21,481 10,912

Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,030 315 460 (X) 6,030 927 761 454 528 2,633 2,416

Black alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,547 364 503 6,547 132 1,460 1,024 903 1,120 4,014 510

Non-Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,415 356 498 6,415 (X) 1,436 1,012 863 1,101 3,955 496

Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 8 5 132 132 24 12 40 19 59 14

American Indian or Alaska Native alone. . 503 26 62 (X) 108 98 69 32 82 138 250

Asian alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,516 217 14 (X) 32 306 165 444 309 558 1,206

Pacific Islander alone1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 18 – (X) 14 32 25 7 9 24 101

Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786 34 94 (X) 123 189 96 89 140 344 213

Hispanic or Latino (any race)2

. . . . . . . . . . 6,439 339 490 132 6,439 995 810 522 589 2,788 2,540

Units in Structure 

1, detached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,324 3,067 (X) 5,100 5,249 14,990 4,732 10,439 15,964 23,924 12,998

1, attached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,952 324 (X) 594 298 961 343 1,294 682 1,265 711

2 to 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,353 41 (X) 165 185 396 97 607 251 221 274

5 to 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 38 (X) 43 69 150 64 114 102 186 230

10 to 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483 26 (X) 42 41 121 53 75 102 166 140

20 to 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 17 (X) 44 45 169 36 133 64 177 124

50 or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768 46 (X) 57 62 306 71 281 142 181 164

Manufactured/mobile home or trailer. . . . . 5,418 272 5,418 503 490 1,379 1,009 436 943 3,072 966

Cooperatives and Condominiums

Cooperatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 1 23 60 28 165 29 305 51 49 24

Condominiums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,399 301 15 237 397 1,253 355 844 935 1,297 1,323

Year Structure Built3, 5

2005 to 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,601 3,830 301 419 413 390 204 387 797 2,342 1,075

2000 to 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,371 (X) 650 503 613 852 417 555 1,348 3,021 1,447

1995 to 1999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,221 (X) 1,272 484 463 1,128 430 607 1,269 3,022 1,324

1990 to 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,715 (X) 607 322 387 846 298 494 1,066 2,017 1,137

1985 to 1989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,159 (X) 511 337 356 1,058 368 884 970 2,202 1,102

1980 to 1984. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,201 (X) 545 297 367 904 410 448 727 2,067 960

1975 to 1979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,471 (X) 532 527 592 1,827 664 906 1,708 3,135 1,722

1970 to 1974. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,696 (X) 595 529 513 1,736 542 791 1,260 2,439 1,205

1960 to 1969. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,917 (X) 263 860 713 3,109 828 1,664 2,132 3,277 1,844

1950 to 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,528 (X) 48 757 878 2,750 772 1,969 2,306 2,559 1,693

1940 to 1949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,423 (X) 48 588 508 1,295 516 1,063 1,123 1,370 867

1930 to 1939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,904 (X) 46 355 229 740 342 787 860 733 524

1920 to 1929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,520 (X) (X) 261 213 609 218 854 909 414 342

1919 or earlier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,703 (X) (X) 308 195 1,228 395 1,970 1,774 593 366

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1975 2007 1991 1971 1975 1968 1971 1960 1970 1980 1978

Metropolitan/Nonmetropolitan Areas

Inside metropolitan statistical areas. . . . . 60,102 3,150 2,961 5,691 5,791 13,676 4,708 11,575 13,063 22,085 13,380

In central cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,809 930 434 2,617 2,328 4,219 1,706 2,549 3,999 6,425 4,836

Suburbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,294 2,220 2,527 3,074 3,462 9,457 3,001 9,026 9,064 15,660 8,544

Outside metropolitan statistical areas. . . . 16,326 680 2,457 857 649 4,796 1,697 1,803 5,187 7,108 2,227

Regions

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,378 317 436 903 522 3,368 875 13,378 (X) (X) (X)

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,249 642 943 1,120 589 4,277 1,310 (X) 18,249 (X) (X)

South. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,193 1,972 3,072 4,014 2,788 7,239 3,090 (X) (X) 29,193 (X)

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,607 899 966 510 2,540 3,588 1,130 (X) (X) (X) 15,607

See footnotes at end of table. 
38 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Place Size4

Less than 2,500 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,982 156 391 187 207 1,093 267 553 1,598 1,341 490

2,500 to 9,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,298 412 501 582 763 2,345 799 1,667 2,319 3,362 1,950

10,000 to 19,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,314 197 143 448 472 1,459 421 1,178 1,861 2,426 849

20,000 to 49,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,643 295 210 891 954 2,406 777 1,514 2,587 3,104 2,437

50,000 to 99,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,549 271 140 535 832 1,446 473 957 1,792 1,567 2,232

100,000 to 249,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . 5,108 136 78 629 570 1,185 445 451 979 1,686 1,992

250,000 to 499,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . 3,329 203 67 426 489 620 262 140 616 1,288 1,285

500,000 to 999,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . 2,073 92 37 432 436 548 214 77 406 909 681

1,000,000 persons or more. . . . . . . . . . . . 2,928 58 9 707 450 766 364 1,274 546 467 641

1

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

2

Because Hispanics may be any race, data can overlap slightly with other groups. Most Hispanics report themselves as White, but some report themselves as Black or in other categories.

3

For manufactured/mobile homes, oldest category is 1939 or earlier.

4

Does not add up to total because not all populations reside in a place; see Appendix A.

5

Median is estimated from the printed distribution; see Appendix A.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 39

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Stories in Structure1

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,216 1,053 (X) 2,684 3,531 7,499 2,740 807 2,882 15,155 7,372

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,210 1,709 (X) 1,611 1,552 5,717 1,555 4,404 7,633 7,671 5,502

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,721 702 (X) 1,482 698 3,102 925 6,333 6,072 2,846 1,469

4 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,349 68 (X) 225 128 589 134 1,193 630 324 202

7 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 25 (X) 43 39 186 43 205 88 124 97

Stories Between Main and Apartment Entrances

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,458 160 (X) 329 340 1,019 276 1,181 628 815 835

None (on same floor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,187 29 (X) 97 106 322 83 399 187 270 330

1 (up or down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911 53 (X) 102 103 268 64 306 165 200 239

2 or more (up or down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,361 78 (X) 130 132 429 128 476 275 344 265

Elevator on Floor

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,458 160 (X) 329 340 1,019 276 1,181 628 815 835

With 1 or more elevators working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,045 63 (X) 79 86 427 80 356 180 284 225

With elevator, none in working condition . . . . . . . . . . 11 – (X) – 3 2 – – 2 5 4

No elevator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,403 97 (X) 250 252 590 196 825 446 525 607

 Units, 3 or more floors from main entrance . . . . . . 133 5 (X) 19 11 19 13 52 52 12 18

Foundation

 1-unit building, excluding manufactured/ 

 mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,276 3,391 (X) 5,694 5,547 15,951 5,075 11,732 16,645 25,189 13,709

With basement under all of building . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,821 986 (X) 1,897 901 5,350 1,447 8,056 10,066 3,805 1,893

With basement under part of building . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,350 113 (X) 363 254 1,824 463 2,017 2,941 1,398 993

With crawl space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,783 554 (X) 1,348 1,167 3,914 1,259 655 2,123 7,715 4,290

On concrete slab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,431 1,717 (X) 2,026 3,113 4,568 1,764 927 1,371 11,758 6,374

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892 20 (X) 59 113 295 143 77 145 512 159

External Building Conditions2

Sagging roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,370 – 199 196 115 252 270 252 350 561 207

Missing roofing material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,682 52 254 415 338 747 493 564 1,073 1,401 644

Hole in roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,029 3 220 194 118 210 210 141 258 465 165

Missing bricks, siding, or other outside wall 

material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,661 17 193 225 128 289 309 315 486 569 291

Sloping outside walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781 7 146 172 63 207 144 116 204 354 107

Boarded up windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558 8 96 112 84 131 119 62 136 268 93

Broken windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,112 30 377 236 242 304 346 274 591 809 438

Bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,616 14 54 739 743 835 363 281 353 1,188 794

Foundation crumbling or has open crack or hole . . . . 1,687 15 48 191 111 319 209 316 631 468 272

None of the above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,037 3,456 4,357 4,468 4,469 14,563 4,292 10,243 14,471 23,268 12,055

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,832 92 101 174 129 407 279 327 340 792 374

Previous Occupancy

 Unit built 1990 or later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,908 3,830 2,829 1,728 1,876 3,215 1,349 2,042 4,480 10,403 4,982

Not previously occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,515 2,953 1,506 897 795 1,737 545 1,053 2,326 5,158 1,978

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 36 – 18 17 27 16 45 39 104 53

Site Placement

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,418 272 5,418 503 490 1,379 1,009 436 943 3,072 966

First site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,002 242 4,002 405 368 1,135 716 348 620 2,280 755

Moved from another site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,047 30 1,047 88 71 207 226 71 223 630 123

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 – 97 – 5 17 16 6 31 35 25

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 – 272 9 45 19 50 11 69 128 64

Manufactured/Mobile Home Size

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,418 272 5,418 503 490 1,379 1,009 436 943 3,072 966

Single-wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,867 122 2,867 242 313 652 634 277 599 1,643 347

Double-wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,444 148 2,444 249 167 673 367 159 338 1,375 572

Triple-wide or larger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 3 103 13 11 53 8 – 2 55 47

Size not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 – 4 – – – – – 4 – –

Manufactured/Mobile Home Tiedowns

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,418 272 5,418 503 490 1,379 1,009 436 943 3,072 966

Anchored by tiedowns, bolts, or other means . . . . . . 4,914 253 4,914 476 442 1,240 886 344 874 2,900 796

Not anchored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 19 426 23 43 127 87 80 65 143 137

Anchoring not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 – 78 4 5 12 36 12 4 29 32

 See footnotes at end of table. 
40 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Manufactured/Mobile Home Setup

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,418 272 5,418 503 490 1,379 1,009 436 943 3,072 966

Set on permanent masonry foundation . . . . . . . . . . . 1,158 33 1,158 93 56 341 135 104 260 575 219

Resting on concrete pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870 68 870 21 90 235 153 116 283 249 223

Up on blocks, but not on concrete pad . . . . . . . . . . . 3,251 163 3,251 377 326 774 695 207 369 2,195 480

Setup in some other way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 4 99 8 16 24 18 8 24 34 33

Setup not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 4 40 3 3 5 7 1 8 19 11

1

Figures exclude manufactured/mobile homes.

2

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit. Figures do not include multiunit structures.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 41

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Rooms

1 room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5 3 – 3 3 7 5 7 3 11

2 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 3 5 6 9 16 28 21 3 24 21

3 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,036 41 100 90 82 358 184 303 220 230 283

4 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,475 147 1,349 401 691 2,037 1,067 1,147 1,576 2,379 1,372

5 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,232 825 2,028 1,635 1,731 4,698 1,968 2,431 4,151 7,052 3,598

6 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,364 821 1,213 2,004 1,841 5,128 1,616 3,645 4,582 8,234 3,903

7 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,754 739 531 1,263 1,092 3,312 875 2,815 3,552 5,498 2,890

8 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,410 628 139 682 559 1,746 394 1,789 2,344 3,304 1,973

9 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,130 323 32 295 242 670 174 714 1,086 1,404 926

10 rooms or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,933 298 19 172 190 503 91 509 728 1,067 629

Rooms Used for Business 

Business only

 1 or more rooms with direct access . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,120 342 601 523 433 1,596 676 944 1,347 2,658 1,171

 1 or more rooms, no direct access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,359 409 154 454 395 723 284 801 1,180 1,929 1,449

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536 39 23 25 8 102 83 94 95 257 90

Business and other use

 1 or more rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,629 925 677 1,059 962 2,362 889 2,148 3,493 5,331 3,657

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580 43 23 28 11 106 81 113 116 261 90

Bedrooms

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 5 5 – 5 7 10 16 10 5 14

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,714 43 142 140 124 602 282 526 366 409 413

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,471 400 1,854 902 1,197 4,530 1,795 2,595 3,444 4,487 2,945

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,723 1,746 2,938 3,752 3,360 9,626 3,147 6,457 9,413 16,501 7,353

4 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,475 1,636 479 1,753 1,754 3,707 1,171 3,785 5,017 7,791 4,883

Complete Bathrooms

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 3 13 17 10 53 51 25 51 72 27

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,767 106 1,286 1,681 1,607 4,714 2,374 3,705 4,668 4,955 2,440

1 1/2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,081 112 535 1,277 821 3,547 1,061 3,411 3,875 2,957 1,838

2 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,405 3,610 3,584 3,573 4,002 10,159 2,919 6,237 9,656 21,211 11,302

Square Footage of Unit 

 Single detached and manufactured/mobile 

 homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,742 3,339 5,418 5,603 5,739 16,368 5,741 10,875 16,907 26,996 13,964

Less than 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 6 114 42 52 112 66 58 86 146 93

500 to 749 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,085 10 452 83 173 338 257 182 264 493 146

750 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,519 67 1,052 316 469 943 632 493 986 1,391 650

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,978 434 1,956 1,507 1,504 3,857 1,670 1,828 3,684 6,193 3,273

1,500 to 1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,284 593 916 1,252 1,453 3,959 1,224 2,248 3,672 6,585 3,778

2,000 to 2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,057 618 288 759 818 2,801 666 1,896 3,054 4,677 2,429

2,500 to 2,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,622 430 108 398 329 1,320 252 1,162 1,529 2,623 1,308

3,000 to 3,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,391 634 51 384 349 1,196 256 1,069 1,617 2,400 1,304

4,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,787 391 103 295 185 790 195 751 951 1,442 644

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,638 157 379 566 408 1,051 521 1,189 1,063 1,047 339

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,800 2,400 1,200 1,656 1,600 1,764 1,470 2,000 1,800 1,800 1,800

Lot Size

 1-unit structures1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,643 3,472 5,380 6,095 5,874 16,769 5,917 11,742 17,073 27,712 14,116

Less than 1/8 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,107 474 1,059 1,077 1,250 2,209 896 1,710 2,075 2,581 2,742

1/8 up to 1/4 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,771 795 657 1,802 2,284 4,128 1,521 2,305 4,371 5,693 5,401

1/4 up to 1/2 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,837 730 375 1,208 1,035 3,099 979 2,176 3,655 5,493 2,513

1/2 up to 1 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,874 366 534 769 466 2,035 587 1,803 1,818 4,262 991

1 up to 5 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,895 780 1,936 1,028 640 3,525 1,351 2,771 3,281 7,204 1,638

5 up to 10 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,545 176 390 88 87 565 208 424 693 1,012 416

10 acres or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,614 152 428 122 112 1,208 375 551 1,181 1,466 416

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .32 0 .32 1 .00 0 .25 0 .17 0 .32 0 .29 0 .39 0 .32 0 .50 0 .19

Persons per Room

0.50 or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,341 2,823 3,833 4,747 3,462 17,430 4,809 9,972 13,780 22,278 11,312

0.51 to 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,082 971 1,422 1,697 2,539 1,011 1,327 3,284 4,296 6,496 4,006

1.01 to 1.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922 34 153 94 391 31 244 117 161 381 264

1.51 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 3 10 9 48 – 26 6 13 39 26

 See footnotes at end of table.
42 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Persons per Bedroom

0.50 or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,004 1,058 1,595 2,116 1,177 8,694 2,962 3,722 5,204 8,719 4,359

0.51 to 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,173 1,988 2,470 2,952 2,692 8,874 2,100 6,520 9,069 14,905 7,679

1.01 to 1.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,733 573 778 977 1,255 503 559 2,056 2,685 3,834 2,159

1.51 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,475 206 570 502 1,310 394 774 1,064 1,282 1,731 1,397

No bedrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 5 5 – 5 7 10 16 10 5 14

Square Feet per Person

 Single detached and manufactured/mobile 

 homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,742 3,339 5,418 5,603 5,739 16,368 5,741 10,875 16,907 26,996 13,964

Less than 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955 49 292 124 335 77 233 128 190 409 227

200 to 299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,899 55 498 288 714 189 429 371 680 1,093 756

300 to 399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,932 166 681 446 701 417 446 706 1,163 1,943 1,120

400 to 499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,933 257 527 464 653 672 341 876 1,497 2,227 1,333

500 to 599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,018 216 491 512 507 830 367 955 1,554 2,240 1,269

600 to 699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,333 297 470 443 443 1,130 312 953 1,528 2,558 1,294

700 to 799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,257 337 391 412 370 1,194 330 710 1,290 2,157 1,099

800 to 899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,255 218 302 272 276 1,005 239 648 995 1,665 948

900 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,181 191 298 277 225 1,203 293 570 1,043 1,625 943

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,289 756 703 918 659 4,290 1,073 1,963 3,285 5,459 2,583

1,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,052 641 385 883 448 4,310 1,155 1,806 2,619 4,576 2,052

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,638 157 379 566 408 1,051 521 1,189 1,063 1,047 339

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 894 600 750 533 1,050 840 800 800 800 750

1

Does not include cooperatives or condominiums.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 43

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Equipment1

Lacking complete kitchen facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 13 22 29 53 99 65 106 83 120 69

With complete kitchen (sink, refrigerator, and oven or 

burners) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,050 3,817 5,396 6,518 6,386 18,373 6,340 13,272 18,167 29,074 15,538

Kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,329 3,827 5,409 6,537 6,423 18,437 6,386 13,350 18,221 29,158 15,601

Refrigerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,336 3,821 5,409 6,540 6,435 18,451 6,384 13,364 18,232 29,151 15,589

Cooking stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,153 3,824 5,382 6,522 6,408 18,402 6,331 13,344 18,194 29,084 15,530

Burners, no stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 – 12 2 13 26 11 14 11 50 34

Microwave oven only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 2 20 18 14 28 47 16 30 45 36

Dishwasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,191 3,651 2,912 3,579 3,722 12,351 3,298 9,885 12,704 21,879 12,723

Washing machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,826 3,780 5,169 6,142 6,081 17,696 5,963 12,576 17,763 28,400 15,088

Clothes dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,562 3,771 5,056 5,806 5,783 17,191 5,599 12,221 17,620 27,858 14,864

Disposal in kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,597 2,786 903 2,570 3,485 8,512 2,159 4,110 9,911 14,506 12,071

Trash compactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,166 249 39 261 254 799 150 375 500 1,265 1,026

Air conditioning:2

 Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,647 3,442 3,589 4,482 4,500 12,505 3,860 5,371 14,165 25,902 9,209

 Additional central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,709 516 221 358 414 884 307 298 572 3,018 821

 1 room unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,303 49 591 537 342 1,670 760 1,820 1,324 819 1,340

 2 room units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,800 59 541 542 410 1,310 598 2,250 1,071 1,121 358

 3 room units or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,604 24 208 481 362 791 275 2,109 422 902 171

Safety Equipment1

Working smoke detector 

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,797 3,730 5,032 6,092 5,749 16,858 5,531 12,821 17,411 26,833 14,733

 Powered by: 

 Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,620 337 683 492 399 1,505 516 1,103 1,081 2,317 1,119

 Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,210 1,186 2,666 4,099 3,967 11,264 3,809 8,094 11,393 15,160 8,564

 Both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,461 2,143 1,652 1,458 1,361 3,900 1,146 3,547 4,852 9,127 4,935

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 64 31 43 23 190 60 77 85 230 115

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,686 67 336 413 647 1,343 744 389 660 1,908 729

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945 33 50 43 42 271 130 169 179 452 145

 Batteries replaced in last 6 months3

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,073 2,298 3,215 4,094 4,107 11,405 3,737 9,533 12,680 18,220 9,641

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,678 1,008 1,027 1,404 1,162 3,513 1,150 1,962 3,322 5,737 3,657

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920 23 75 59 59 245 69 147 243 330 200

Fire extinguisher purchased or recharged in the last 

2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,922 1,914 2,469 3,095 2,567 8,329 2,702 7,146 8,860 14,434 7,481

Sprinkler system inside home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,086 358 46 220 180 456 150 295 308 766 717

Working carbon monoxide detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,691 1,579 1,264 2,453 1,727 7,020 1,971 8,757 10,421 8,130 4,383

Main Heating Equipment 

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,691 2,701 3,986 4,336 4,196 11,881 3,987 6,459 15,653 17,862 11,717

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,494 80 20 649 344 2,083 524 5,541 1,072 388 494

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,764 877 832 844 843 2,222 716 260 547 7,995 962

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,120 44 62 118 106 627 165 545 460 502 612

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air units without ducts . . . 2,043 54 112 174 486 602 302 200 177 678 987

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580 13 48 78 33 253 120 71 69 303 138

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694 8 94 218 132 286 188 13 29 633 19

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 6 119 71 152 143 152 8 43 364 120

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845 14 80 27 44 197 143 213 132 266 234

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 – 2 8 9 55 4 21 34 32 68

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 – 5 2 3 16 5 3 6 16 11

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 20 42 13 30 49 55 41 28 106 57

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 – 7 4 26 17 15 – – 29 5

None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 14 8 7 35 42 29 3 – 19 183

See footnotes at end of table. 
44 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Other Heating Equipment1

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 12 16 5 4 49 16 47 55 53 70

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3 – 2 – 12 5 27 18 4 3

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 9 13 2 8 26 – 9 31 31 20

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,428 46 61 95 76 381 125 256 331 492 348

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air units without ducts . . . 63 14 – – 4 18 7 9 13 28 13

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716 19 51 47 24 220 56 186 122 273 136

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,207 20 207 114 46 335 154 184 315 611 98

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,886 292 675 966 759 2,570 891 1,533 3,130 3,240 1,983

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,740 85 238 126 154 942 270 1,142 806 890 901

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,742 316 260 263 175 1,002 182 660 1,035 1,751 1,297

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,869 345 154 455 427 909 328 499 803 2,213 1,354

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707 48 52 18 16 163 15 177 170 205 155

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 2 3 – 3 18 3 7 9 26 7

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,171 2,708 3,814 4,653 4,877 12,422 4,454 9,041 11,972 20,356 9,802

Plumbing

With all plumbing facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,852 3,830 5,381 6,466 6,396 18,285 6,311 13,225 18,122 28,994 15,510

Lacking some or all plumbing facilities1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 – 37 81 43 187 94 153 127 199 97

 No hot piped water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 – 3 14 3 20 22 5 14 30 6

 No bathtub and no shower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 – – 3 1 14 20 3 11 24 –

 No flush toilet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 – – 3 – 11 19 2 13 19 3

 No exclusive use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507 – 33 67 38 165 64 147 111 162 87

Primary Source of Water

Public system or private company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,372 3,238 3,733 6,117 6,050 15,385 5,356 10,416 14,720 24,892 14,345

Well serving 1 to 5 units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,769 580 1,635 422 373 2,991 998 2,904 3,479 4,164 1,222

 Drilled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,772 495 1,447 372 352 2,753 902 2,615 3,234 3,781 1,142

 Dug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700 34 131 44 18 202 86 219 162 257 62

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 51 57 7 3 36 9 70 84 126 17

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 12 50 8 16 95 52 58 50 138 41

Safety of Primary Source of Water 

 Selected primary water sources4

. . . . . . . . . . . . 76,406 3,827 5,418 6,541 6,426 18,468 6,402 13,378 18,249 29,184 15,594

Safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,152 3,507 4,865 5,942 5,334 17,478 5,689 12,571 17,368 27,081 14,132

Not safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,530 267 490 568 1,058 816 591 661 773 1,798 1,299

Safety not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724 53 63 31 34 174 121 146 109 305 164

Source of Drinking Water 

 Primary source not safe to drink . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,530 267 490 568 1,058 816 591 661 773 1,798 1,299

Drinking and primary water source the same . . . . . . . . . 976 62 91 124 161 200 131 177 207 392 200

 Public or private system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 58 85 124 156 192 131 168 194 379 200

 Individual well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 4 6 – 5 8 1 9 13 13 –

 Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

 Cistern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

 Stream or lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Drinking and primary water source different . . . . . . . . . . 3,554 205 398 444 897 616 460 484 566 1,406 1,098

 Public or private system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 – – – – – – 5 – 3 –

 Individual well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 – 7 2 4 11 1 4 4 10 7

 Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 3 6 11 6 14 16 30 6 26 6

 Cistern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 – 3 – 6 4 5 2 2 3 10

 Stream or lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 – – – – 1 – 1 3 –

 Commercial bottled water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,620 148 336 364 717 462 387 333 416 1,070 800

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812 51 46 67 163 126 49 109 137 291 275

Source of drinking water not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Means of Sewage Disposal 

Public sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,736 2,700 2,363 5,702 5,697 13,296 4,670 9,662 13,797 20,173 13,103

Septic tank, cesspool, or chemical toilet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,667 1,130 3,055 842 742 5,170 1,724 3,716 4,447 9,004 2,500

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 – – 3 – 6 12 – 5 16 3

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Includes only those who responded they had some type of air conditioning.

3

Restricted to units with smoke detector powered by both electricity and batteries, or batteries only.

4

Excludes units where primary source of drinking water is commercial bottled water.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 45

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-5. 

Fuels—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Main House Heating Fuel

 Housing units with heating fuel . . . . . . . . 76,222 3,816 5,410 6,540 6,404 18,430 6,376 13,375 18,249 29,174 15,424

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,219 1,750 2,847 2,175 2,203 5,045 2,211 1,140 2,112 15,644 3,323

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,233 1,726 1,147 3,632 3,724 9,750 2,903 6,596 13,353 10,386 10,897

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,889 231 881 296 183 1,400 511 554 1,881 1,788 665

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,693 47 124 338 206 1,675 430 4,416 438 696 143

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444 18 249 57 27 131 105 200 8 218 18

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 3 – – – 11 5 75 8 3 6

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,503 28 157 41 59 377 199 375 385 406 338

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 – – – 2 – 3 2 – 3

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 9 6 1 3 40 11 16 62 33 31

Cooking Fuel

 With cooking fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,388 3,826 5,413 6,541 6,435 18,456 6,388 13,374 18,234 29,179 15,601

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,512 2,227 3,452 3,442 2,806 11,552 3,640 6,291 10,351 21,255 7,614

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,553 1,348 1,016 2,804 3,372 5,742 2,218 5,853 6,810 6,427 7,463

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,274 247 942 295 255 1,153 522 1,220 1,056 1,482 516

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – – – 3 – 3 4 – –

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – 4 – 2 2 8 1 2 12 2

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4 – 1 1 4 – 6 11 3 6

Water Heating Fuel

 With hot piped water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,371 3,830 5,415 6,533 6,436 18,450 6,383 13,371 18,235 29,164 15,601

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,341 1,710 4,076 2,651 2,082 7,500 3,031 3,000 4,772 18,029 3,539

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,280 1,814 886 3,574 4,058 9,226 2,808 6,744 12,240 9,975 11,322

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,365 251 424 162 164 805 334 577 1,140 1,006 642

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,087 32 10 136 122 835 198 2,956 27 104 –

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 4 7 4 – 5 1 11 – 5 2

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 – – – – 3 3 17 3 3 –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 10 9 – – 19 5 38 43 10 6

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 5 – 6 7 46 3 14 5 21 81

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 4 2 – 3 10 – 13 6 11 9

Central Air Conditioning Fuel

 With central air conditioning . . . . . . . . . . 54,647 3,442 3,589 4,482 4,500 12,505 3,860 5,371 14,165 25,902 9,209

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,098 3,343 3,536 4,337 4,404 12,085 3,728 5,039 13,676 25,594 8,789

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,353 82 20 136 93 367 105 296 430 252 375

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 17 32 10 2 53 27 37 58 56 44

Other Central Air Fuel

 With other central air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,709 516 221 358 414 884 307 298 572 3,018 821

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,563 501 218 341 406 846 289 276 547 2,947 794

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 15 3 17 8 38 18 21 25 68 19

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 – – – – – – 1 – 3 8

Clothes Dryer Fuel

 With clothes dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,562 3,771 5,056 5,806 5,783 17,191 5,599 12,221 17,620 27,858 14,864

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,059 3,031 4,615 4,547 3,916 13,177 4,479 8,179 11,887 25,526 9,467

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,326 680 316 1,230 1,827 3,677 1,042 3,635 5,370 2,108 5,212

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,178 60 124 29 40 337 78 407 362 224 184

Units Using Each Fuel1

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,378 3,822 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,470 6,397 13,364 18,223 29,183 15,607

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,700 2,125 1,306 4,263 4,486 10,939 3,443 7,819 13,959 12,638 12,284

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,391 441 1,343 463 337 2,302 864 1,724 2,370 3,332 966

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,409 55 212 373 229 1,887 513 4,846 550 845 167

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451 18 249 57 27 133 105 203 12 218 18

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 3 – – – 11 5 78 8 6 6

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,510 28 161 41 59 377 203 375 385 412 338

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 8 – 6 7 48 3 17 8 21 84

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 19 6 6 17 71 12 49 83 63 59

All electric units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,951 1,331 2,541 1,744 1,506 4,200 1,772 840 1,611 13,268 2,232

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.
46 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-6. 

Failures in Equipment—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Water Supply Stoppage

 With hot and cold piped water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,371 3,830 5,415 6,533 6,436 18,450 6,383 13,371 18,235 29,164 15,601

No stoppage in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,494 3,687 4,956 6,381 6,280 17,819 6,061 12,888 17,566 28,034 15,007

With stoppage in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,031 93 414 102 123 427 189 337 519 713 461

 No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 8 87 13 26 104 38 71 95 161 112

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,100 40 213 52 60 219 92 160 337 381 223

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 18 25 21 23 57 8 66 44 92 48

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 27 28 3 5 12 7 8 19 36 35

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 – 52 10 7 32 34 29 16 37 38

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 – 8 4 3 4 9 4 8 7 6

Stoppage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846 50 45 50 33 204 133 147 150 417 133

Flush Toilet Breakdowns

 With one or more flush toilets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,391 3,830 5,418 6,544 6,439 18,461 6,387 13,376 18,236 29,175 15,604

With at least one working toilet at all times in last 3 months . . 74,674 3,771 5,265 6,373 6,311 18,083 6,137 13,092 17,901 28,412 15,269

None working some time in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884 12 110 123 103 174 113 138 192 351 203

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 6 5 27 25 53 25 35 49 78 35

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512 3 74 62 56 105 57 77 107 210 118

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 3 9 11 6 12 11 9 12 34 40

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 – 5 5 2 – 5 – 3 10 –

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 – 14 13 12 3 13 11 17 20 8

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 – 3 4 3 – 3 5 5 – 3

Breakdowns not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833 47 43 48 25 204 136 146 143 412 132

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns

 With public sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,736 2,700 2,363 5,702 5,697 13,296 4,670 9,662 13,797 20,173 13,103

No breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,096 2,687 2,312 5,596 5,621 13,163 4,584 9,572 13,604 19,953 12,967

With breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640 13 51 106 77 133 86 89 194 221 136

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 3 2 2 11 26 13 25 45 36 24

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 7 36 95 62 89 62 61 108 158 88

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3 – 7 – 9 3 3 28 11 8

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – 6 – 1 – – 1 4 6 6

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 – 6 2 2 9 8 – 9 9 9

 With septic tank or cesspool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,667 1,130 3,055 842 742 5,170 1,724 3,716 4,447 9,004 2,500

No breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,462 1,127 3,020 832 742 5,125 1,710 3,682 4,398 8,903 2,479

With breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 3 35 10 – 45 12 32 49 101 21

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 – 3 – – 17 – 3 5 15 9

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 3 23 3 – 26 6 26 36 65 13

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 – 7 7 – – 6 4 3 15 –

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – 2 – – – – – – 2 –

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 – – – – 2 – – 5 3 –

Heating Problems

 With heating equipment and occupied last winter . . 75,215 3,626 5,329 6,465 6,319 18,370 6,260 13,220 18,033 28,839 15,123

Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more last winter . . . . 67,769 3,390 4,638 5,763 5,838 16,815 5,348 11,565 16,140 26,272 13,791

Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more last winter1 . . . . . . 6,055 190 586 602 413 1,181 677 1,364 1,649 1,945 1,098

 Equipment breakdowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,594 39 168 224 158 304 157 363 494 460 277

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 – – 1 1 – – 3 6 5 –

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,119 30 103 158 112 222 108 245 362 305 207

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 9 30 32 11 40 12 47 66 62 33

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 – 14 15 8 22 14 35 28 51 7

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 – 19 18 22 16 21 30 33 35 27

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 – 2 – 3 3 2 3 – 2 3

 Other causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,571 151 429 390 258 891 528 1,034 1,190 1,504 843

 Utility interruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,139 88 171 124 75 444 168 495 579 793 272

 Inadequate heating capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 8 47 39 52 69 68 62 93 106 89

 Inadequate insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 7 55 80 39 53 56 88 94 106 105

 Cost of heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 32 79 92 39 139 131 173 202 203 200

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,022 30 90 74 64 203 122 235 258 313 215

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – – – – – – – – 3 –

 Reason for discomfort not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – – – 2 – 2 – – –

Discomfort not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,391 46 105 100 68 375 235 291 244 621 234

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers

 With electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,371 3,822 5,416 6,547 6,429 18,470 6,394 13,363 18,229 29,175 15,604

No fuses or breakers blown in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,697 3,431 4,953 5,911 5,938 17,113 5,808 12,059 16,144 26,408 14,085

With fuses or breakers blown in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . 6,685 339 425 560 449 1,094 437 1,158 1,922 2,254 1,351

 1 time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,795 206 255 289 281 715 204 626 1,114 1,298 757

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,596 71 93 165 100 255 136 325 416 544 311

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571 19 23 51 28 69 35 102 175 175 118

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686 40 50 45 39 50 57 94 198 232 162

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3 3 10 1 5 5 10 19 6 2

Problem not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989 52 39 77 42 263 150 146 163 512 168

1

Other causes and equipment breakdowns may not add to the total as both may be reported.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 47

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Selected Amenities1

Porch, deck, balcony, or patio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,421 3,506 4,774 5,668 5,732 16,876 5,690 11,742 16,799 27,257 14,623

Telephone available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,129 3,601 5,277 6,388 6,329 18,286 6,245 13,054 17,904 28,752 15,419

Usable fireplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,458 2,085 1,072 2,207 2,222 7,563 1,799 5,096 7,578 12,728 9,056

Separate dining room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,717 2,208 1,820 3,975 3,372 10,171 2,982 8,906 9,812 16,781 8,219

With 2 or more living rooms or recreation rooms, etc. . . . 30,978 1,736 829 2,156 1,773 6,842 1,444 5,462 8,088 10,863 6,565

Garage or carport included with home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,979 3,429 2,357 4,257 5,030 14,988 4,275 9,346 15,978 21,441 14,214

Not included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,420 398 3,061 2,287 1,409 3,472 2,129 4,017 2,262 7,750 1,391

 Off-street parking included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,287 352 2,843 1,824 1,227 2,942 1,783 3,083 1,907 7,089 1,209

 Off-street parking not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – – – – 2 – 2 – –

Garage or carport not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 3 – 3 – 12 1 15 9 3 2

Cars and Trucks Available1

No cars, trucks, or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,069 22 177 400 159 1,251 743 701 391 716 261

Other households without cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,006 471 1,024 609 934 1,789 999 998 2,375 4,098 1,535

1 car with or without trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,040 1,704 2,891 3,111 2,663 10,616 3,352 5,868 8,687 13,576 6,909

2 cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,384 1,252 1,005 1,842 1,843 3,935 1,081 4,317 5,087 8,148 4,832

3 or more cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,929 381 321 584 839 882 231 1,494 1,710 2,655 2,070

With cars, no trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,456 1,602 1,840 3,223 2,541 9,536 2,947 7,276 7,547 11,680 6,952

1 truck or van with or without cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,026 1,519 2,212 2,066 2,388 5,683 1,974 3,834 7,106 11,197 5,889

2 or more trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,876 688 1,188 858 1,351 2,003 741 1,566 3,206 5,600 2,504

Selected Deficiencies1

Signs of rats in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 7 45 36 58 96 59 29 29 182 114

Signs of mice in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,984 78 500 356 239 915 445 1,002 1,050 1,443 489

Signs of rodents, not sure which kind in last 3 months . . 164 9 5 27 13 34 18 27 29 79 30

Holes in floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 14 151 78 61 115 119 96 129 234 122

Open cracks or holes (interior) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,101 57 350 383 288 496 433 536 814 1,188 562

Broken plaster or peeling paint (interior) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,246 24 110 189 101 269 183 263 373 444 166

No electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 8 2 – 10 2 11 15 21 18 3

Exposed wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 10 28 37 23 52 34 24 61 112 24

Rooms without electric outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650 33 58 88 58 151 86 116 227 228 78

Special Living2

 Services available to residents1. . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 1 (X) 3 4 76 11 17 21 39 25

Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 1 (X) – – 40 9 6 15 11 13

Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 1 (X) 3 4 65 11 14 16 29 17

Housekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 1 (X) – – 37 9 7 13 13 12

Financial management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 – (X) – – 21 4 8 8 6 4

Aid with telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 1 (X) – – 14 6 3 8 3 2

Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 1 (X) – 4 35 8 6 14 12 2

 Services and assistance available to 

 residents1, 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 – (X) – – 15 5 2 7 9 –

Bathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 – (X) – – 12 5 2 7 5 –

Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 – (X) – – 13 5 2 7 3 –

Moving about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 – (X) – – 15 5 2 7 6 –

Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – (X) – – 11 5 2 7 3 –

Toilet use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – (X) – – 11 5 2 7 3 –

Access to Structure

 Entering building from outside4

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,734 167 – 351 401 1,142 321 1,210 661 932 932

Use of steps not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,532 90 – 91 186 565 149 388 225 465 453

Use of steps required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,201 78 – 260 216 577 172 819 435 467 479

Use of steps not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – – – – – 2 – – –

 Entering home from outside5

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,694 3,663 5,418 6,196 6,038 17,330 6,084 12,169 17,589 28,261 14,675

Use of steps not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,654 1,921 939 2,706 3,354 8,253 2,668 4,369 5,888 14,518 7,879

Use of steps required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,928 1,742 4,479 3,487 2,681 9,048 3,406 7,770 11,679 13,711 6,768

Use of steps not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 – – 4 2 28 10 30 22 32 28

 See footnotes at end of table.
48 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Selected Physical Problems

Severe physical problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870 8 77 125 78 228 142 234 210 296 130

 Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 – 37 81 43 187 94 153 127 199 97

 Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 – 33 34 31 39 36 65 60 86 33

 Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 8 4 4 4 2 12 14 30 14 –

 Upkeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 – 9 7 – 8 8 4 12 14 –

Moderate physical problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,625 26 221 345 254 436 333 258 259 943 164

 Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 – 16 19 14 – 13 11 14 30 8

 Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 8 94 203 132 271 179 12 29 609 19

 Upkeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616 11 117 112 64 99 123 136 155 253 73

 Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 11 17 26 53 83 51 104 66 96 69

Overall Opinion of Structure

1 (worst) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 – 23 38 15 55 62 28 43 95 38

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 4 32 20 26 14 25 2 25 45 50

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 4 40 21 15 16 27 29 41 56 49

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444 9 105 48 29 88 71 71 110 192 70

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,365 57 399 271 209 568 396 381 601 946 436

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,655 49 279 290 162 472 268 482 686 967 520

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,899 261 715 791 672 1,344 674 1,584 2,225 3,247 1,843

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,042 794 1,311 1,660 1,732 4,368 1,437 3,666 5,255 7,690 4,431

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,627 684 609 923 1,183 3,248 872 2,424 3,184 5,062 2,957

10 (best) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,967 1,821 1,742 2,206 2,211 7,598 2,143 4,169 5,547 9,606 4,646

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,926 149 162 279 184 700 430 542 531 1,286 568

Water Leakage During Last 12 Months

No leakage from inside structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,356 3,595 4,898 6,013 5,964 17,375 5,833 12,345 16,695 26,922 14,394

With leakage from inside structure1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,170 185 467 480 443 861 424 893 1,406 1,825 1,047

 Fixtures backed up or overflowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,188 33 68 137 104 177 90 168 349 369 302

 Pipes leaked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,145 78 228 187 185 341 179 443 526 797 379

 Broken water heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714 29 122 60 86 148 47 94 169 283 169

 Other or unknown (includes not reported) . . . . . . . . . . 1,263 45 65 108 87 224 120 212 401 418 232

Interior leakage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902 50 53 53 32 236 148 141 149 446 167

No leakage from outside structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,686 3,593 4,748 5,686 5,848 16,698 5,508 11,578 15,346 26,381 14,381

With leakage from outside structure1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,842 187 617 808 562 1,548 746 1,660 2,750 2,365 1,067

 Roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,168 65 480 487 387 856 473 841 1,040 1,683 603

 Basement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,309 38 18 200 65 426 159 655 1,329 190 135

 Walls, closed windows, or doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,165 71 79 129 85 201 107 189 385 367 225

 Other or unknown (includes not reported) . . . . . . . . . . 691 18 60 59 49 139 63 119 219 230 123

Exterior leakage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900 50 53 53 29 227 151 140 153 447 159

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Restricted to multiunits with five or more apartments with a resident 55 years of age or older.

3

Limited to units that reported meals, transportation, housekeeping, financial management, aid with telephone, or shopping. 

4

Restricted to multiunits.

5

Restricted to single units.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 49

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-8. 

Neighborhood—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Overall Opinion of Neighborhood

1 (worst) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 10 41 51 31 91 78 41 77 160 61

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 24 51 34 28 48 24 40 77 120 52

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 12 67 71 37 72 48 62 132 192 73

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766 35 99 77 70 138 112 84 220 246 216

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,356 144 368 438 346 713 437 477 768 1,399 713

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,454 151 272 388 321 618 292 590 791 1,322 751

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,603 371 627 931 848 1,716 702 1,643 2,250 3,571 2,138

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,808 891 1,305 1,709 1,746 4,346 1,477 3,678 4,966 7,778 4,386

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,454 628 744 953 1,084 3,136 831 2,287 3,308 4,945 2,915

10 (best) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,891 1,419 1,678 1,605 1,723 6,860 1,962 3,934 5,118 8,120 3,718

No neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 – 4 4 1 8 1 4 1 20 6

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,979 145 164 284 203 725 440 541 542 1,320 577

Street Noise or Traffic

Bothersome street noise or heavy traffic present . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,223 482 1,008 1,639 1,419 3,497 1,549 2,926 3,793 5,343 3,161

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,264 3,313 4,361 4,836 4,972 14,744 4,692 10,316 14,269 23,435 12,245

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 35 49 72 48 231 164 136 188 415 202

Neighborhood Crime

Serious crime in past 12 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,649 598 739 1,428 1,223 2,105 951 1,567 2,679 4,779 2,624

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,230 3,165 4,605 4,958 5,129 15,983 5,194 11,581 15,283 23,703 12,663

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,549 67 74 161 87 383 259 230 288 711 320

Odors

Bothersome smoke, gas, or bad smells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,278 125 311 330 367 663 389 563 895 1,071 749

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,168 3,669 5,054 6,142 6,024 17,567 5,843 12,673 17,156 27,686 14,653

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982 35 52 76 48 243 174 142 198 437 205

Other Bothersome Neighborhood Conditions

No other problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,858 3,125 4,411 5,217 5,316 15,939 5,319 11,378 15,425 24,369 12,687

With other problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,359 666 944 1,235 1,058 2,239 872 1,843 2,578 4,254 2,684

 Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,733 58 114 176 165 382 156 344 402 541 446

 Litter or housing deterioration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,101 18 78 196 85 266 121 160 268 444 229

 Poor city or county services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440 11 67 80 49 70 72 59 106 199 77

 Undesirable commercial, institutional, or industrial . . . . 247 20 14 25 15 52 20 65 56 77 49

 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,706 129 303 298 269 510 249 372 704 1,042 587

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,748 475 537 705 638 1,272 452 1,091 1,403 2,564 1,691

 No problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 7 6 12 11 19 8 23 15 24 27

 Type of problem not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Other problems not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,210 39 63 95 64 294 213 157 247 570 236

Public Elementary School1

Households with children aged 5 through 15 . . . . . . . . . . 18,509 1,180 1,168 1,759 2,442 452 1,503 3,163 4,432 6,928 3,986

 Attend public school (K–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,932 948 1,054 1,486 2,148 352 1,309 2,488 3,599 5,638 3,206

 Attend private school (K–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,203 125 32 180 149 37 75 415 568 774 446

 Attend ungraded school, preschool, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 25 6 20 26 22 23 80 63 104 80

 Home schooled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 25 23 5 20 8 19 45 62 130 57

 Not in school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 28 15 21 41 6 22 55 75 115 71

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922 65 45 80 107 31 82 163 190 346 223

Households with children aged 0 through 13 . . . . . . . . . . 20,490 1,520 1,235 1,786 2,651 420 1,549 3,485 4,995 7,654 4,355

 Satisfactory public elementary school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,966 1,223 1,078 1,462 2,203 370 1,323 2,924 4,246 6,302 3,494

 Unsatisfactory public elementary school . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,422 119 88 172 164 19 106 218 265 587 353

 Not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,102 178 69 153 284 31 120 343 484 766 508

 Public elementary school less than 1 mile . . . . . . . . . . . 11,571 662 346 1,110 1,985 210 845 1,969 2,820 3,656 3,125

 Public elementary school 1 mile or more . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,785 756 846 589 500 177 598 1,318 1,921 3,592 955

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,134 102 43 87 165 32 106 198 255 406 276

Academic Comparison to Other Area Elementary 

Schools

Households with children aged 0 through 13 dissatisfied 

with local elementary school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,422 119 88 172 164 19 106 218 265 587 353

 Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 16 12 15 24 – 17 19 25 76 34

 About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 55 35 53 47 12 26 88 102 201 99

 Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696 41 41 91 80 1 56 95 110 287 204

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 7 – 13 13 6 7 15 27 23 17

 See footnotes at end of table.
50 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-8. 

Neighborhood—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Building Neighbor Noise2

Neighbor noise present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,360 207 (X) 422 295 696 277 1,096 618 832 814

 Loudness bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717 50 (X) 94 85 117 71 236 121 163 197

 Loudness not bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,641 157 (X) 325 210 579 207 860 497 669 615

 Loudness bothersome not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – (X) 3 – – – – – – 3

 Time of noise bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 736 54 (X) 98 95 114 82 243 115 169 210

 Time of noise not bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,618 152 (X) 322 200 582 195 853 503 660 602

 Time bothersome not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – (X) 3 – – – – – 3 3

Neighbor noise not present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,065 273 (X) 488 386 1,322 332 1,333 697 1,246 789

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 11 (X) 34 19 85 55 74 27 119 40

Public Transportation

With public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,616 994 1,183 3,719 3,998 8,283 2,815 7,543 8,055 9,598 10,421

 Travel time to nearest bus stop, train station, or 

 subway stop 

 Less than 5 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,929 278 385 1,221 1,174 2,309 873 2,392 2,947 2,606 2,983

 5–9 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,830 346 378 1,438 1,574 2,994 1,015 2,619 2,744 3,392 4,075

 10–14 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,853 175 144 570 721 1,351 429 1,303 1,079 1,757 1,715

 15–29 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,125 76 139 305 316 794 220 740 524 968 892

 30 minutes or longer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449 13 37 42 25 121 44 70 83 203 94

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,430 105 99 144 188 714 233 419 679 671 661

 Household uses public transportation regularly for 

 commuting to school or work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,817 100 117 720 569 582 308 1,260 726 726 1,104

 Household does not use public transportation regularly 

 for commuting to school or work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,606 887 1,063 2,963 3,411 7,679 2,473 6,204 7,311 8,826 9,265

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 8 2 37 17 21 33 78 18 45 52

No public transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,848 2,686 4,110 2,689 2,309 9,728 3,337 5,570 9,757 18,754 4,767

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,964 150 126 138 132 461 254 266 437 842 419

Neighborhood Shopping

Grocery stores or drug stores within 15 minutes of your 

home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,548 3,537 4,860 6,155 6,240 17,257 5,781 12,732 17,526 27,288 15,002

 Satisfactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,400 3,386 4,632 5,922 6,042 16,688 5,523 12,374 17,153 26,473 14,401

 Not satisfactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,805 135 207 202 177 493 216 300 318 643 543

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 15 21 31 22 77 42 58 56 172 58

No grocery stores or drug stores within 15 minutes of 

your home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,819 182 451 293 130 968 415 499 537 1,398 385

Not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,061 111 107 100 69 246 209 148 186 508 219

Police Protection 

Satisfactory police protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,633 3,399 4,753 5,837 5,742 16,929 5,501 12,283 16,927 26,267 14,156

Unsatisfactory police protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,800 294 544 516 568 1,051 608 786 943 2,072 999

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,995 138 121 194 129 492 296 309 380 854 453

Secured Communities

Community access secured with walls or fences . . . . . . . 5,337 459 487 367 656 1,512 440 606 480 2,281 1,969

 Special entry system present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,682 284 121 150 273 829 184 239 113 1,281 1,048

 Special entry system not present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,648 175 366 213 383 683 257 367 364 996 921

 Special entry system not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – 4 – – – – 3 4 –

Community access not secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,410 3,336 4,893 6,124 5,736 16,783 5,831 12,680 17,644 26,614 13,472

Community access not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682 35 39 56 47 177 134 92 126 297 166

Secured Multiunits

Multiunit access secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,357 79 (X) 106 135 454 118 366 281 334 375

Multiunit access not secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,151 82 (X) 216 237 608 163 774 348 524 506

Multiunit access not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 6 (X) 29 30 81 40 70 32 74 51

Senior Citizen Communities

 Households with person 55 and over . . . . . . . . . 36,591 1,021 2,669 3,132 2,451 18,472 3,763 6,629 8,363 14,189 7,409

Community age restricted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,457 94 366 89 71 1,079 194 223 113 683 437

No age restriction or restriction not reported . . . . . . . . . . . 35,134 927 2,303 3,043 2,379 17,393 3,569 6,406 8,250 13,506 6,972

 Community age specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,867 125 637 793 551 5,031 884 1,393 2,164 3,726 1,584

 Community not age specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,100 735 1,513 2,006 1,667 11,359 2,364 4,588 5,700 8,881 4,931

 Community age specific not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,167 67 154 244 161 1,003 321 424 386 899 457

 See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 51

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-8. 

Neighborhood—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Community Quality

Some or all community activities present1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,117 1,460 1,854 2,570 2,547 8,356 2,468 5,860 9,765 10,437 7,054

 Community center or clubhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,707 818 1,178 1,181 1,127 4,306 1,177 2,307 4,016 5,260 3,125

 Golf in community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,762 329 447 611 694 3,410 832 2,307 5,041 3,064 2,350

 Trails in community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,300 839 451 983 1,099 3,509 981 2,619 4,925 4,416 3,339

 Shuttle bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,718 106 216 422 536 2,033 482 1,303 1,923 1,196 1,297

 Daycare center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,633 251 339 1,157 795 2,392 822 2,318 4,242 2,441 1,632

 Private or restricted beach, park, or shoreline . . . . . . . . 15,124 584 592 925 1,158 3,327 964 2,982 5,282 3,693 3,167

Description of Area Within 300 Feet1

Single-family detached houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,909 3,347 4,020 5,906 5,760 16,439 5,400 12,034 16,618 26,160 14,097

Single-family attached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,973 521 242 1,330 1,021 2,522 889 2,583 2,075 3,662 2,653

Multiunit residential buildings3

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,514 364 438 1,457 1,383 2,805 1,228 2,507 2,801 3,346 2,860

 1- to 3-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,014 259 398 1,046 1,100 2,098 981 1,567 2,352 2,682 2,413

 4- to 6-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,464 65 28 263 170 412 141 562 245 385 271

 7-or-more-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929 40 6 130 96 264 95 348 174 242 165

Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,276 512 4,318 824 877 2,758 1,464 969 1,630 5,713 1,964

Commercial or institutional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,992 492 1,023 2,240 1,841 3,820 1,703 3,641 4,158 5,590 3,603

Industrial or factories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,520 81 269 401 311 515 317 585 743 830 363

Open space, park, woods, farm, or ranch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,110 2,169 3,281 2,289 1,894 7,548 2,540 6,027 8,566 12,502 6,015

4-or-more-lane highway, railroad, or airport . . . . . . . . . . . 10,380 324 882 1,215 1,112 2,513 1,015 1,569 2,529 4,218 2,065

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,836 96 91 184 132 408 285 315 320 793 408

Bodies of Water Within 300 Feet

Water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,824 859 1,294 714 727 3,192 990 2,575 3,454 6,126 1,668

 With waterfront property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,653 139 163 59 132 846 178 423 623 1,322 286

 Waterfront property not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 12 16 10 22 62 29 39 62 136 30

 With flood plain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,929 77 215 115 144 539 169 360 236 1,108 225

 Flood plain not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 11 10 6 2 2 2 7 6 21 7

Water not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521 51 30 64 29 83 101 120 96 169 135

No water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,083 2,920 4,094 5,769 5,683 15,197 5,314 10,683 14,699 22,898 13,803

Age of Other Residential Buildings Within 300 Feet

Older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,710 67 892 527 556 2,351 1,003 1,601 1,823 2,991 1,295

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,299 2,097 2,198 4,836 4,704 12,054 3,806 8,975 12,558 19,445 11,322

Newer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,126 1,311 1,216 487 518 1,452 526 1,263 1,602 3,042 1,218

Very mixed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,582 59 690 331 349 1,377 461 815 1,025 1,833 909

No other residential buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,425 192 305 131 133 707 253 288 822 918 398

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,286 103 118 235 180 530 355 436 420 964 466

Other Buildings Vandalized or With Interior Exposed 

Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,919 3,400 4,572 5,398 5,666 16,456 5,352 12,186 15,974 25,871 13,888

1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,034 70 215 294 226 464 228 326 490 805 414

More than 1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,031 68 225 528 267 391 282 245 589 741 457

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,245 177 300 91 113 646 220 240 786 856 363

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,198 116 106 236 167 515 324 381 411 921 486

Bars on Windows of Buildings Within 300 Feet

No bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,383 3,427 4,831 4,888 4,840 15,868 5,118 11,849 16,458 25,220 12,856

1 building with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,256 21 63 181 187 326 155 119 184 495 459

2 or more buildings with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,927 81 106 1,058 1,092 987 533 708 356 1,568 1,295

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,245 177 300 91 113 646 220 240 786 856 363

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,617 124 118 330 206 645 379 461 466 1,055 635

Condition of Streets Within 300 Feet

No repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,404 2,581 2,355 3,294 3,795 11,022 3,190 7,018 9,874 17,383 10,129

Minor repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,133 757 2,059 2,406 1,984 5,515 2,182 5,019 6,490 8,448 4,175

Major repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,375 279 749 545 423 1,132 577 752 1,187 1,851 586

No streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,259 81 134 104 77 287 129 190 300 501 269

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,257 132 121 198 160 517 327 400 398 1,010 447

Trash, Litter, or Junk on Streets or Any Properties 

Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,415 3,481 4,748 5,639 5,752 17,001 5,507 12,189 16,765 26,480 13,981

Minor accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,491 167 367 505 342 673 396 611 779 1,274 828

Major accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,426 62 197 201 193 318 187 208 316 544 357

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,096 120 106 202 151 479 315 370 389 895 441

 See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
52 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-8. 

Neighborhood—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Parking Lots

With parking lots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,581 456 964 1,435 1,296 3,223 1,246 2,799 4,145 4,595 3,041

No parking lots within 300 feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,870 3,274 4,363 4,914 5,000 14,799 4,868 10,228 13,747 23,757 12,138

Parking lots not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,977 100 91 198 143 450 292 351 357 841 428

Manufactured/Mobile Homes in Group

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,418 272 5,418 503 490 1,379 1,009 436 943 3,072 966

1 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,952 234 3,952 440 269 903 756 256 572 2,557 567

7 to 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 19 217 35 38 47 28 29 35 119 34

21 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,249 19 1,249 28 183 429 225 152 337 396 365

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Limited to single attached and multiunits.

3

Figures do not add up because of nonrespondents.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 53

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-9. 

Household Composition—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Population in housing units . . . . . . 200,336 10,956 13,179 17,149 21,623 33,085 14,795 35,269 47,621 74,798 42,647

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Persons 

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,777 653 1,555 1,725 890 7,048 2,915 2,944 3,986 6,619 3,227

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,633 1,286 1,978 1,962 1,593 9,381 1,541 4,615 6,785 10,717 5,516

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,223 626 738 1,148 1,160 1,380 563 2,233 2,657 4,871 2,461

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,791 760 585 987 1,195 368 554 2,206 2,937 4,300 2,348

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,207 297 349 445 886 170 445 943 1,283 1,760 1,222

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,797 145 154 170 396 84 206 281 392 587 537

7 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000 63 59 111 319 41 181 156 209 339 296

Number of Single Children Under 18 Years Old

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,579 2,089 3,821 4,167 3,286 17,825 4,396 8,980 11,986 19,482 10,130

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,796 645 689 1,132 1,085 421 776 1,785 2,460 4,347 2,204

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,828 670 499 830 1,116 143 596 1,746 2,481 3,579 2,022

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,760 292 264 294 624 63 367 697 946 1,253 864

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,040 103 114 73 220 16 166 112 273 374 281

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 27 15 37 80 3 57 44 60 108 70

6 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 3 16 14 29 – 47 14 43 51 35

Persons 65 Years Old and Over

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,429 3,412 3,833 4,846 5,122 (X) 3,791 9,515 13,542 20,989 11,383

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,187 241 1,145 1,255 893 10,842 2,085 2,478 2,862 5,209 2,638

2 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,812 177 440 446 424 7,630 529 1,385 1,846 2,995 1,586

Age of Householder

Under 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,284 139 179 74 136 (X) 344 180 347 516 241

25 to 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,541 480 240 240 426 (X) 219 466 986 1,384 705

30 to 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,532 590 436 352 668 (X) 297 782 1,365 2,159 1,227

35 to 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,932 1,060 937 1,399 1,682 (X) 846 2,709 3,597 5,551 3,075

45 to 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,743 684 1,169 1,669 1,487 (X) 1,103 3,224 4,248 6,563 3,708

55 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,924 554 1,079 1,352 1,046 (X) 1,149 2,650 3,430 5,781 3,063

65 to 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,818 242 814 887 606 9,818 1,007 1,733 2,294 3,932 1,860

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,653 81 565 573 389 8,653 1,441 1,636 1,983 3,307 1,728

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 40 52 52 47 74 58 52 51 52 51

Household Composition by Age of 

Householder

2-or-more-person households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,651 3,177 3,863 4,822 5,549 11,424 3,490 10,434 14,263 22,575 12,380

 Married-couple families, no nonrelatives . . . . . . . 47,008 2,627 2,673 2,936 4,054 9,174 1,946 8,207 11,418 17,724 9,658

 Under 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495 38 60 13 63 (X) 88 77 127 219 73

 25 to 29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,007 305 114 80 261 (X) 55 243 564 795 405

 30 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,646 431 272 147 455 (X) 118 516 930 1,396 804

 35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,336 792 488 701 1,166 (X) 385 1,930 2,482 3,793 2,131

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,352 867 1,160 1,503 1,596 (X) 733 3,883 5,133 7,904 4,432

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,174 195 579 492 514 9,174 566 1,559 2,184 3,617 1,814

 Other male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,712 219 448 480 579 663 424 811 1,124 1,722 1,054

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,170 160 214 195 327 (X) 193 314 568 790 498

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,878 48 172 179 186 (X) 152 384 419 676 399

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 11 62 106 65 663 80 113 136 256 158

 Other female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,931 330 743 1,405 916 1,587 1,120 1,415 1,721 3,128 1,667

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,948 205 282 486 399 (X) 431 484 705 1,148 611

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,397 108 329 646 389 (X) 448 657 710 1,323 706

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,587 17 131 273 128 1,587 240 274 306 656 351

1-person households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,777 653 1,555 1,725 890 7,048 2,915 2,944 3,986 6,619 3,227

 Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,770 272 662 660 439 1,818 936 1,140 1,637 2,582 1,410

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,142 151 209 214 144 (X) 183 326 576 778 462

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,810 99 291 305 193 (X) 444 436 673 1,100 601

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,818 22 163 142 102 1,818 309 378 389 704 347

 Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,007 381 893 1,065 452 5,230 1,979 1,805 2,349 4,037 1,817

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,547 187 153 229 98 (X) 252 247 343 691 266

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,231 117 296 389 168 (X) 474 514 744 1,339 633

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,230 77 444 446 185 5,230 1,253 1,044 1,262 2,006 918

 See footnotes at end of table.
54 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-9. 

Household Composition—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Adults and Single Children Under 18 Years Old

Total households with children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,849 1,741 1,597 2,380 3,154 647 2,009 4,398 6,263 9,711 5,477

 Married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,367 1,433 1,002 1,398 2,439 315 971 3,580 4,933 7,465 4,389

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,644 271 125 127 278 43 61 456 601 1,021 566

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . 3,254 278 196 253 582 37 217 552 773 1,170 759

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,946 194 51 68 168 4 61 366 560 641 379

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . 898 113 96 45 201 8 121 138 215 329 216

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,626 578 536 904 1,209 223 512 2,069 2,784 4,305 2,467

 Other households with two or more adults . . . . . . 2,822 134 307 535 459 259 420 424 729 1,086 583

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 26 37 72 69 28 51 62 155 187 84

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . 367 13 46 90 75 15 68 52 92 157 66

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 10 6 16 24 12 35 29 42 46 17

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . 122 12 39 19 47 18 36 13 38 51 20

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,711 74 180 337 243 186 231 268 402 645 396

 Households with one adult or none . . . . . . . . . . . 2,660 174 288 447 256 73 617 393 602 1,160 506

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 7 17 27 9 3 33 20 42 62 19

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . 294 17 40 65 26 6 73 32 59 149 54

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 3 6 13 4 – 12 15 13 20 17

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . 54 3 4 12 19 3 30 2 17 21 14

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,104 144 222 330 197 62 469 324 471 907 402

Total households with no children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,579 2,089 3,821 4,167 3,286 17,825 4,396 8,980 11,986 19,482 10,130

 Married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,102 1,215 1,692 1,551 1,701 8,925 1,016 4,700 6,589 10,415 5,399

 Other households with two or more adults . . . . . . 6,890 277 625 896 695 1,852 570 1,347 1,444 2,572 1,526

 Households with one adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,587 597 1,504 1,720 890 7,048 2,811 2,934 3,953 6,495 3,205

Own Never-Married Children Under 18 Years 

Old

No own children under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,128 2,221 4,079 4,620 3,628 18,385 4,879 9,307 12,532 20,637 10,653

With own children under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,300 1,609 1,339 1,927 2,811 87 1,526 4,072 5,717 8,557 4,954

 Under 6 years only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,779 498 192 214 463 10 167 853 1,241 1,708 976

 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,784 294 128 130 291 10 81 465 660 1,067 592

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,747 163 56 82 157 – 70 341 495 564 347

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 41 8 3 16 – 16 47 87 77 37

 6 to 17 years only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,229 698 806 1,364 1,584 72 932 2,526 3,422 5,243 3,037

 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,848 264 418 804 697 60 454 1,219 1,548 2,672 1,410

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,367 319 273 392 624 6 278 954 1,348 1,898 1,167

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,014 115 114 167 263 6 200 353 527 673 460

 Both age groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,292 414 342 350 764 5 427 693 1,054 1,606 941

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,006 172 130 198 293 5 142 319 479 797 412

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,287 242 212 152 471 – 285 374 575 809 529

Persons Other Than Spouse or Children1

 With other relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,454 568 1,152 2,288 2,479 3,094 1,405 3,368 3,632 6,638 3,817

Single adult offspring 18 to 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,481 343 669 1,203 1,423 301 631 2,149 2,346 3,836 2,150

Single adult offspring 30 years of age or over . . . . . 3,148 48 216 518 399 1,965 342 599 592 1,290 666

Households with three generations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,342 75 156 413 449 506 304 383 453 887 619

Households with 1 subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,837 63 137 287 408 429 259 260 340 690 547

 Subfamily householder age under 30 . . . . . . . . . 858 21 63 168 198 49 129 104 190 353 211

 30 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 36 72 113 183 380 127 145 134 317 310

 65 and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 6 2 6 27 1 3 11 16 20 26

Households with 2 or more subfamilies . . . . . . . . . . 74 – 4 14 37 6 5 6 14 24 29

Households with other types of relatives . . . . . . . . . 4,543 189 327 774 824 958 528 800 812 1,795 1,137

 With nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,816 290 577 348 491 486 390 794 1,184 1,686 1,152

Co-owners or co-renters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000 81 118 45 110 96 44 196 227 349 228

Lodgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533 22 50 18 112 51 37 68 98 194 173

Unrelated children, under 18 years old . . . . . . . . . . 647 25 54 62 55 48 82 107 185 200 155

Other nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,160 182 421 266 288 313 277 523 826 1,093 718

One or more secondary families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 15 42 36 32 17 31 60 124 109 59

2-person households, none related to each other . . . . 2,440 160 261 135 153 311 145 415 566 845 614

3-to-8-person households, none related to each 

other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 2 14 11 19 4 29 42 27 59 61

Educational Attainment of the Householder

Less than 9th grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,025 64 527 240 1,222 1,597 748 243 485 1,655 641

9th to 12th grade, no diploma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,517 148 937 737 794 2,205 1,143 817 1,204 2,681 816

High school graduate (includes equivalency) . . . . . 22,665 840 2,311 2,116 1,746 6,627 2,241 4,290 6,244 8,501 3,630

 Additional vocational training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,553 127 211 192 190 585 171 408 795 905 446

Some college, no degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,659 654 790 1,253 983 2,873 994 1,727 3,000 4,802 3,129

Associate’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,722 448 458 566 449 919 383 1,246 1,638 2,393 1,444

Bachelor’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,894 1,040 311 1,025 818 2,334 605 2,862 3,605 5,806 3,620

Graduate or professional degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,947 635 85 610 427 1,917 291 2,192 2,073 3,354 2,327

Percent high school graduate or higher . . . . . . . . . . 88.8 94.5 73.0 85.1 68.7 79.4 70.5 92.1 90.7 85.1 90.7

Percent bachelor’s degree or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.8 43.7 7.3 25.0 19.3 23.0 14.0 37.8 31.1 31.4 38.1

 See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 55

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-9. 

Household Composition—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Citizenship of Householder

Citizen of the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,334 3,596 5,215 6,352 4,839 18,226 6,007 12,968 17,904 27,981 14,481

 Naturalized citizen of the United States . . . . . . . . 4,732 229 125 360 1,355 1,090 446 1,023 597 1,383 1,728

Year Householder Immigrated to the 

United States

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 29 12 14 57 – 19 31 27 72 27

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659 93 45 24 250 13 82 79 104 302 174

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 998 98 69 99 392 12 117 165 156 361 315

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,037 59 46 73 405 37 119 164 148 332 392

1980 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,175 92 74 200 892 151 191 372 184 723 896

1979 or before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,801 92 81 146 959 1,123 317 622 324 804 1,051

Year Householder Moved Into Unit

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,126 3,787 1,546 1,622 2,015 1,678 1,417 2,898 4,558 8,170 4,500

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,520 17 1,544 1,452 1,837 2,261 1,325 2,697 4,120 6,760 3,944

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,217 13 1,206 1,009 927 2,091 840 1,965 2,660 4,282 2,310

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,706 3 527 654 550 1,691 671 1,353 1,914 2,946 1,494

1985 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,362 6 276 417 357 1,530 430 1,042 1,345 1,926 1,048

1980 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,124 3 140 272 193 1,108 340 763 737 1,121 503

1975 to 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,734 – 96 346 202 1,861 363 766 1,009 1,330 629

1970 to 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,548 – 64 287 142 1,746 315 550 622 1,000 376

1960 to 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,142 – 17 336 135 2,735 379 802 805 1,063 472

1950 to 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,522 – – 130 63 1,386 248 408 380 454 280

1940 to 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 – 2 15 19 291 53 110 78 109 37

1939 or earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 – – 8 – 93 24 24 22 32 15

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1999 2007 2000 1999 2002 1985 1997 1997 1999 2000 2001

Household Moves and Formation in Last Year

 Total with a move in last year . . . . . . . . . . 8,394 1,211 713 681 949 675 737 1,173 1,916 3,239 2,067

Household all moved here from one unit . . . . . . . . . 3,961 912 342 303 365 281 348 533 887 1,544 997

 Householder of previous unit did not move 

 here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 75 74 39 60 20 71 53 123 193 91

 Householder of previous unit moved here . . . . . . 3,165 775 222 245 266 235 227 450 700 1,210 805

 Householder of previous unit not reported . . . . . . 337 63 46 19 39 26 50 30 64 141 101

Household moved here from two or more units . . . . 304 31 31 19 35 5 12 31 77 87 108

 No previous householder moved here . . . . . . . . . 42 6 10 – – – 3 4 15 12 11

 1 previous householder moved here . . . . . . . . . . 79 12 14 2 5 – 2 10 27 21 21

 2 or more previous householders moved here . . . 156 13 4 11 24 5 3 13 29 46 67

 Previous householder(s) not reported . . . . . . . . . 28 – 3 6 6 – 3 4 7 8 9

Some already here, rest moved in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,129 267 340 359 549 390 377 608 952 1,608 961

 No previous householder moved here . . . . . . . . . 2,331 171 187 185 306 111 221 334 588 877 532

 1 or more previous householders moved here . . . 1,497 81 125 132 205 242 120 218 301 634 344

 Previous householder(s) not reported . . . . . . . . . 301 15 28 42 38 36 36 56 63 97 85

Number of previous units not reported . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Households With Disabled Persons

Households without a disabled person . . . . . . . . . . 62,765 3,388 3,946 5,295 5,433 11,681 4,446 11,076 14,990 23,717 12,981

Households with a disabled person1, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . 12,948 424 1,453 1,213 973 6,614 1,845 2,161 3,113 5,154 2,520

 Hearing disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,498 151 480 216 272 2,827 535 749 1,162 1,595 992

 Vision disability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,940 38 257 166 193 995 327 293 398 835 415

 Mental disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,498 148 446 346 294 1,377 553 549 852 1,411 686

 Physical disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,880 243 945 900 587 4,357 1,244 1,296 1,835 3,357 1,392

 Self-care disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,038 68 210 255 165 1,066 338 314 426 893 405

 Go-outside-home disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,140 129 450 504 335 2,251 689 648 1,015 1,680 797

Disability not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715 18 19 39 34 177 114 141 146 321 107

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Mental, physical, and self-care disabilities are limited to household members at least 5 years of age. Go-outside-home disabilities are limited to household members at least 15 years of age.

—Con.
56 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-10. 

Previous Unit of Recent Movers—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

HOUSEHOLDER MOVED DURING PAST 

YEAR FROM WITHIN THE UNITED STATES 

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,341 956 388 336 412 294 358 582 966 1,665 1,129

Structure Type of Previous Residence

 Moved from within the 

 United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,341 956 388 336 412 294 358 582 966 1,665 1,129

House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,595 631 187 145 215 225 189 339 615 986 655

Apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,208 213 60 149 144 28 86 210 233 459 306

Manufactured/mobile home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 56 108 22 19 15 30 7 63 123 45

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 25 11 9 11 11 6 9 25 27 58

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 31 21 11 23 15 46 17 30 70 65

Tenure of Previous Residence

 House, apartment, manufactured/ 

 mobile home in the United States . . . 4,041 900 356 316 379 268 306 556 911 1,568 1,006

Owner occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,032 538 185 96 177 222 150 284 475 811 463

Renter occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,009 362 171 220 201 46 156 272 436 757 544

Persons—Previous Residence

 House, apartment, manufactured/ 

 mobile home in the United States . . . 4,041 900 356 316 379 268 306 556 911 1,568 1,006

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 127 25 67 31 73 64 64 107 244 163

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,420 316 145 110 77 167 68 187 293 594 346

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 165 75 46 82 14 46 107 219 283 169

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654 162 50 48 64 6 42 110 155 241 147

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 92 19 32 67 – 43 64 75 105 109

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 25 24 4 31 5 15 11 28 46 38

7 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 3 16 – 25 3 22 7 24 37 31

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 10 3 9 2 2 6 6 11 18 3

Previous Home Owned or Rented by 

Someone Who Moved Here

 House, apartment, manufactured/

 mobile home in the United States . . . 4,041 900 356 316 379 268 306 556 911 1,568 1,006

Owned or rented by a mover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,420 801 238 268 312 234 226 488 733 1,309 890

Owned or rented by other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540 90 95 44 62 20 74 61 167 207 105

 By a relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 31 58 24 42 3 45 37 91 102 72

 By a nonrelative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 59 37 21 20 16 30 24 76 104 33

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 9 24 4 4 14 6 6 10 52 12

Change in Housing Costs

 House, apartment, manufactured/ 

 mobile home in the United States . . . 4,041 900 356 316 379 268 306 556 911 1,568 1,006

Increased with move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,455 648 128 220 214 94 124 364 564 918 609

Decreased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 94 148 35 114 50 97 87 173 354 186

Stayed about the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 127 65 54 38 88 62 86 153 246 179

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 19 – 4 9 16 14 10 9 19 22

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 11 15 3 4 20 9 9 12 30 11
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 57

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-11. 

Reasons for Move and Choice of Current Residence—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

RESPONDENT MOVED DURING PAST YEAR 

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,623 965 410 353 451 342 401 603 1,030 1,802 1,188

Reasons for Leaving Previous Unit1

Private displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 – 23 1 5 10 3 5 16 12 16

 Owner to move into unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 – 7 – 3 2 – 3 7 – 3

 To be converted to condominium or 

 cooperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 – – – – – – – – – 4

 Closed for repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – – – – – – – – 2

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 – 16 1 2 8 3 1 9 12 6

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Government displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 11 3 8 8 2 3 – 3 14 5

 Government wanted building or land . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 3 2 – 2 3 – – 8 –

 Unit unfit for occupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 9 – 6 8 – – – 3 6 5

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Disaster loss (fire, flood, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 9 4 – 3 – 3 4 3 16 –

New job or job transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 105 2 27 27 9 14 41 107 193 67

To be closer to work/school/other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 65 25 24 32 20 28 33 76 130 76

Other, financial/employment related . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 27 6 8 33 13 28 5 40 36 59

To establish own household. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719 151 73 73 91 6 62 90 183 258 189

Needed larger house or apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589 165 21 65 62 18 11 94 158 202 135

Married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 20 8 8 4 – 3 12 29 48 26

Widowed, divorced, or separated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 25 22 12 8 16 22 26 50 46 32

Other, family/person related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 54 60 9 23 71 44 75 89 158 109

Wanted better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511 157 25 45 59 25 36 67 138 196 109

Change from owner to renter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)

Change from renter to owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 105 53 79 89 2 19 86 152 278 259

Wanted lower rent or maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 10 22 3 17 18 15 22 22 33 26

Other housing related reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 55 20 16 13 27 16 46 55 76 47

Evicted from residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 – 11 – 3 3 – 1 5 6 9

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 144 49 47 24 98 43 79 101 239 126

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 32 37 15 20 40 63 24 34 114 73

Main Reason for Leaving Previous Unit

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 36 15 16 20 13 6 35 68 63 37

Private displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 – 3 – 2 – 3 – – 2 3

Government displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 3 2 – 2 3 – – 8 –

Disaster loss (fire, flood, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 9 4 – 3 – 3 4 3 16 –

New job or job transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 101 2 18 27 9 14 36 94 177 64

To be closer to work/school/other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 41 15 19 26 17 28 18 52 94 54

Other, financial/employment related . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 27 6 8 32 10 27 2 36 36 45

To establish own household. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594 138 65 59 81 5 60 70 147 218 158

Needed larger house or apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 129 17 35 46 15 10 72 107 148 103

Married, widowed, divorced, or separated . . . . . . . . . 284 41 39 20 14 13 29 37 80 99 69

Other, family/personal related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 44 55 9 20 63 38 71 72 133 91

Wanted better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 103 12 19 40 22 34 41 65 124 76

Change from owner to renter or renter to owner . . . . 685 88 41 70 70 2 17 70 120 255 239

Wanted lower rent or maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 3 13 3 11 10 11 11 10 18 20

Other housing related reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 39 13 9 12 20 16 38 47 55 29

Evicted from residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 – 7 – 3 – – 1 1 6 6

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484 128 47 46 20 93 39 69 78 224 113

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 35 54 19 23 48 63 29 48 127 81

Choice of Present Neighborhood1

Convenient to job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,138 288 45 81 90 24 57 175 249 479 236

Convenient to friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,030 148 127 46 120 106 90 168 264 355 242

Convenient to leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 81 23 7 26 25 20 42 103 127 107

Convenient to public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 34 6 13 15 5 16 40 27 58 51

Good schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637 110 22 39 81 7 57 105 144 230 158

Other public services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 30 8 4 10 13 6 16 39 34 41

Looks/design of neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,242 295 76 90 133 72 49 165 292 465 319

House was most important consideration . . . . . . . . . 1,238 265 80 107 123 64 87 174 313 416 336

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875 211 120 88 61 78 93 91 156 421 207

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 43 37 15 23 55 66 24 36 121 83

 See footnotes at end of table.
58 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-11. 

Reasons for Move and Choice of Current Residence—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Main Reason for Choice of Present 

Neighborhood 

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551 108 38 22 50 33 39 89 117 202 143

Convenient to job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 183 15 44 64 6 45 98 104 280 129

Convenient to friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570 79 102 36 61 79 51 80 141 221 128

Convenient to leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 15 6 – 7 11 8 1 28 28 30

Convenient to public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 – – 4 4 1 3 6 1 12 10

Good schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 48 7 24 35 6 16 51 62 116 60

Other public services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 12 3 4 5 6 – 1 10 5 20

Looks/design of neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635 145 41 55 74 46 30 71 171 216 176

House was most important consideration . . . . . . . . . 801 153 59 75 70 41 52 111 221 247 222

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 179 102 74 59 58 91 71 138 355 186

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 43 37 15 23 55 66 24 36 121 83

Neighborhood Search

Looked at just this neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,590 314 249 98 181 170 224 247 328 644 370

Looked at other neighborhood(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,802 619 124 239 250 133 117 337 669 1,046 750

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 32 37 16 20 39 60 19 32 112 67

Choice of Present Home1

Financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,444 240 170 99 138 63 160 171 337 549 387

Room layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,618 459 84 95 165 91 88 209 347 618 444

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 50 23 20 46 13 41 60 66 111 84

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,091 263 75 90 130 57 72 134 272 411 273

Exterior appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657 119 38 41 67 51 47 104 127 262 164

Yard/trees/view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 856 111 38 36 84 47 51 153 204 317 181

Quality of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674 205 29 37 65 41 59 97 156 256 165

Only one available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 13 18 2 12 16 6 21 17 38 31

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741 115 69 66 46 61 59 104 170 281 186

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 60 37 16 26 50 56 33 34 131 87

Main Reason for Choice of Present Home

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808 178 49 45 75 45 36 105 214 297 192

Financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,008 143 150 82 114 48 135 97 236 393 282

Room layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797 276 38 64 81 55 37 89 160 313 234

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 – 1 7 7 – 10 11 12 10 –

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 75 24 50 44 21 27 53 106 123 96

Exterior appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 14 6 11 21 17 10 15 21 65 24

Yard/trees/view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 30 12 7 17 22 9 67 47 105 68

Quality of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 85 15 12 14 13 18 33 39 86 28

Only one available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 10 18 – 9 14 3 15 11 24 26

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636 94 60 59 42 56 55 87 149 254 146

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 60 37 16 26 50 62 33 34 131 92

Home Search

Now in house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,929 893 (X) 314 400 249 285 505 864 1,538 1,023

 Did not look at apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,430 796 (X) 273 358 203 213 412 767 1,366 884

 Looked at apartments too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 68 (X) 25 24 18 24 70 70 90 75

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 29 (X) 16 17 28 48 22 27 82 63

Now in manufactured/mobile home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 29 410 9 37 52 76 31 121 181 76

 Did not look at apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 22 304 9 25 37 37 23 79 149 53

 Looked at apartments too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 3 69 – 10 – 26 8 37 12 11

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3 37 – 3 15 13 – 4 20 12

Now in apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 44 (X) 31 14 42 40 67 45 83 89

 Did not look at houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 22 (X) 17 9 36 29 48 39 46 49

 Looked at houses too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 19 (X) 13 4 2 7 16 5 31 40

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3 (X) – – 3 5 3 2 7 –

Recent Mover Comparison to Previous Home

Better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,017 756 211 253 291 131 187 385 660 1,206 765

Worse home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 40 80 18 45 38 47 63 89 178 97

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920 122 82 74 85 122 108 130 244 310 235

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 47 36 8 29 50 59 25 37 107 91

Recent Mover Comparison to Previous 

Neighborhood

Better neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,253 544 149 187 232 125 143 286 439 977 551

Worse neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 42 34 19 30 18 41 31 87 134 96

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,555 279 141 132 140 141 134 236 412 501 406

Same neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 49 50 5 18 13 17 16 39 80 44

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 52 36 9 32 46 66 35 53 111 92

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 59

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-12. 

Income Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Household Income

Less than $5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,539 68 327 404 234 1,058 2,539 369 516 1,147 508

$5,000 to $9,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,884 59 280 294 147 952 1,884 286 377 905 316

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,788 31 426 382 212 1,679 1,066 393 679 1,320 397

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,123 127 491 299 294 1,776 364 514 678 1,410 521

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,110 92 468 335 401 1,476 276 490 833 1,305 482

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,507 142 458 458 424 2,024 209 794 1,067 1,899 747

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,600 117 494 393 437 1,208 47 461 934 1,580 625

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,482 132 356 325 353 1,140 10 517 891 1,481 593

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,852 268 721 676 645 1,842 11 1,035 1,791 2,783 1,243

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,328 283 416 541 573 1,287 – 1,026 1,665 2,453 1,184

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,535 636 524 815 938 1,595 – 1,758 2,764 3,775 2,239

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,409 538 243 617 700 899 – 1,485 2,163 2,902 1,859

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,007 387 87 383 419 540 – 1,290 1,323 1,973 1,421

$120,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,264 950 127 625 663 995 – 2,962 2,570 4,260 3,472

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000 78,000 32,000 44,793 50,000 30,400 7,130 68,000 57,000 52,000 70,000

 As percent of poverty level: 

Less than 50 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,138 101 399 495 321 1,190 3,138 431 642 1,431 634

50 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,267 80 610 529 489 1,258 3,267 445 668 1,658 497

100 to 149 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,456 151 776 622 745 2,258 (X) 729 1,311 2,508 909

150 to 199 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,692 307 772 734 708 2,691 (X) 1,180 1,620 2,790 1,103

200 percent or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,875 3,191 2,861 4,168 4,176 11,074 (X) 10,594 14,009 20,806 12,465

Income of Families and Primary Individuals

Less than $5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,714 70 354 407 263 1,081 2,602 402 552 1,211 549

$5,000 to $9,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,024 65 318 311 161 977 1,880 298 423 977 327

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,941 31 463 389 226 1,711 1,032 412 720 1,367 442

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,293 135 518 310 329 1,800 354 539 734 1,473 547

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,204 116 484 341 419 1,474 263 516 847 1,319 522

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,725 159 467 467 463 2,036 210 831 1,128 1,982 784

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,710 123 497 409 416 1,205 49 469 958 1,653 629

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,567 132 350 333 358 1,125 8 534 897 1,511 625

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,985 321 714 670 640 1,807 7 1,056 1,828 2,808 1,293

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,278 284 378 526 577 1,278 – 1,050 1,672 2,385 1,171

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,346 604 452 831 929 1,586 – 1,753 2,671 3,707 2,215

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,100 500 222 586 649 888 – 1,447 2,045 2,785 1,822

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,790 385 85 360 394 539 – 1,237 1,277 1,888 1,388

$120,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,751 903 114 607 615 967 – 2,834 2,497 4,128 3,293

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,000 75,000 30,001 43,600 48,001 30,000 7,000 65,000 55,000 50,000 66,400

Income Sources of Families and Primary 

Individuals1

Wages and salaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,438 3,282 3,598 4,842 5,249 5,198 1,878 9,876 13,768 21,209 11,585

 Wages and salaries were majority of 

 income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,803 2,978 3,161 4,392 4,795 2,713 1,525 8,830 12,169 18,739 10,065

 2 or more people each earned over 20 

 percent of wages and salaries . . . . . . . . . 11,622 621 709 907 939 1,352 116 2,097 2,890 4,350 2,285

Self-employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,387 574 472 505 736 1,269 480 1,676 2,495 3,618 2,599

Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,120 957 608 807 827 7,088 770 4,272 5,439 6,979 4,430

Dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,868 383 159 295 221 3,033 206 1,770 2,234 2,874 1,990

Rental income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,127 329 129 284 430 1,392 200 1,010 1,195 1,558 1,363

Social Security or Railroad Retirement . . . . . . . 22,201 518 1,887 1,826 1,326 17,046 2,635 3,962 5,068 8,842 4,328

Retirement or survivor pensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,755 398 853 1,108 612 9,121 682 2,505 3,364 5,051 2,836

Supplementary Security Income (SSI) . . . . . . . 2,081 68 325 397 303 719 583 299 404 910 468

Child support or alimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,350 135 164 258 239 137 213 380 694 848 428

Public assistance or public welfare . . . . . . . . . . 559 35 131 117 99 115 196 86 123 194 156

Food stamp benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,544 51 471 365 229 360 1,105 177 388 776 204

Disability payments, workers’ compensation, 

veterans’ disability, other disability . . . . . . . . . 3,421 157 400 422 253 753 328 610 784 1,318 709

Other income (VA payments, unemployment, 

royalty, estates, and more) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,056 258 365 361 386 728 377 921 1,587 1,360 1,188

Food Stamps

 Income of $25,000 or less . . . . . . . . . . 15,042 446 2,256 1,867 1,502 7,268 6,197 2,295 3,500 6,744 2,502

Family members received food stamps . . . . . . . 1,544 51 471 365 229 360 1,105 177 388 776 204

Did not receive food stamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,429 364 1,706 1,368 1,191 6,496 4,497 1,974 2,902 5,444 2,109

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,069 31 79 135 82 413 595 145 210 524 190

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.
60 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Monthly Housing Costs

Less than $100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 3 257 63 47 170 128 43 61 182 190

$100 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,161 36 919 259 207 949 598 149 369 1,186 457

$200 to $249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,376 101 759 197 171 1,194 540 158 442 1,442 334

$250 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,976 65 494 270 281 1,393 494 207 645 1,584 539

$300 to $349 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,989 74 408 301 198 1,491 431 328 708 1,481 472

$350 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,033 72 267 199 246 1,406 387 325 841 1,355 513

$400 to $449 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,830 69 214 252 219 1,293 337 376 815 1,205 434

$450 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,478 62 194 218 152 1,102 273 361 713 986 418

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,407 127 289 396 279 1,756 439 898 1,130 1,715 663

$600 to $699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,735 86 283 405 224 1,324 338 784 962 1,547 442

$700 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,597 97 320 363 246 1,040 338 698 998 1,451 449

$800 to $999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,139 196 397 678 664 1,462 555 1,239 2,073 2,824 1,003

$1,000 to $1,249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,156 366 333 743 619 1,219 436 1,440 2,388 3,109 1,219

$1,250 to $1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,828 422 156 570 567 748 286 1,139 1,910 2,454 1,326

$1,500 to $1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,445 719 77 718 918 814 375 1,877 2,223 2,949 2,396

$2,000 to $2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,422 466 10 381 501 420 174 1,316 988 1,615 1,502

$2,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,383 870 41 537 900 692 275 2,039 982 2,111 3,251

No cash rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)

Median (excludes no cash rent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000 1,572 332 901 1,113 512 502 1,196 937 827 1,389

Median Monthly Housing Costs for Owners

Monthly costs including all mortgages plus 

maintenance costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,049 1,607 370 959 1,177 548 541 1,255 981 881 1,438

Monthly costs excluding second and subsequent mortgages and maintenance costs . . . 984 1,538 332 882 1,080 511 501 1,173 915 819 1,340

Monthly Housing Costs as Percent of Current 

Income1

Less than 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,903 92 488 133 171 594 8 364 550 1,231 758

5 to 9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,614 334 1,134 617 561 2,658 49 1,358 2,237 4,283 1,736

10 to 14 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,147 361 973 842 711 2,932 109 1,923 2,910 4,601 1,713

15 to 19 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,986 437 607 814 719 2,410 215 1,911 3,112 4,062 1,902

20 to 24 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,589 635 467 754 716 1,966 191 1,693 2,478 3,584 1,834

25 to 29 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,167 514 398 625 586 1,481 262 1,336 1,648 2,604 1,578

30 to 34 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,160 299 248 488 579 1,024 282 925 1,289 1,763 1,182

35 to 39 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,753 225 168 429 370 818 242 717 834 1,277 925

40 to 49 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,529 358 219 468 551 1,119 434 856 992 1,598 1,084

50 to 59 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,649 129 151 268 332 675 317 566 510 916 657

60 to 69 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,676 109 83 192 229 443 285 343 380 553 401

70 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,380 142 137 300 324 664 548 493 416 812 658

100 percent or more2

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,016 157 263 516 486 1,577 2,660 776 747 1,546 947

Zero or negative income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859 39 82 102 103 109 803 118 146 363 232

No cash rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)

Median (excludes 2 previous lines) . . . . . . . . . . 21 25 15 25 27 21 89 23 20 20 24

Median (excludes 3 lines before medians) . . . . 20 24 14 23 25 19 42 21 19 19 22

Rent Paid by Lodgers

 Lodgers in housing units . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 22 47 13 70 34 32 41 79 150 101

Less than $200 per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 2 23 2 16 5 11 9 13 29 21

$200 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 3 12 1 10 4 4 1 7 20 6

$300 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 7 5 – 12 3 3 9 17 16 25

$400 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 4 3 6 10 8 5 13 18 23 12

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 2 – – 7 2 4 – 6 22 –

$600 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 – – – 7 – 1 1 8 20 7

$800 or more per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 – – – 8 1 5 7 3 6 16

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 3 5 4 – 12 – 2 8 15 15

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 (Z) (Z) (Z) 350 (Z) (Z) (Z) 325 400 347

Monthly Cost Paid for Electricity

 Electricity used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,378 3,822 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,470 6,397 13,364 18,223 29,183 15,607

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 12 43 23 65 190 72 65 116 28 234

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,425 144 292 288 489 1,622 609 945 1,363 477 1,640

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,016 385 728 762 964 3,600 1,155 2,611 3,397 1,994 3,014

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,975 540 833 904 1,093 3,289 1,078 2,559 3,889 3,582 2,944

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,237 1,251 1,545 1,806 1,684 4,728 1,580 3,311 5,237 9,145 3,543

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,164 742 1,003 1,178 913 2,355 895 1,732 2,187 6,397 1,849

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,110 674 849 1,381 1,088 2,105 816 2,018 1,530 6,791 1,770

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 129 123 133 115 102 105 105 100 145 97

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained free . . . . . . 2,010 75 125 206 144 581 192 123 504 770 613

 See footnotes at end of table.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 61

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Monthly Cost Paid for Piped Gas

 Piped gas used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,700 2,125 1,306 4,263 4,486 10,939 3,443 7,819 13,959 12,638 12,284

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,410 81 50 100 250 375 185 169 112 547 581

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,933 439 370 581 1,208 2,001 766 475 1,573 2,494 3,391

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,196 511 339 834 1,314 2,495 796 598 2,959 3,156 4,481

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,595 394 211 801 641 1,912 583 1,235 2,854 2,656 1,850

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,694 440 144 876 543 2,243 519 2,523 3,845 2,192 1,133

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,698 102 47 501 192 856 250 1,300 1,403 685 309

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,682 99 23 421 159 621 173 1,094 851 490 247

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 75 60 91 61 79 71 118 92 73 59

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained free . . . . . . 1,494 59 121 149 179 437 170 426 360 417 291

Average Monthly Cost Paid for Fuel Oil

 Fuel oil used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,409 55 212 373 229 1,887 513 4,846 550 845 167

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 – 15 13 2 46 30 90 39 44 3

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 6 16 12 3 80 37 179 63 74 10

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 1 34 43 22 162 65 307 60 101 22

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725 5 40 33 16 237 79 480 81 139 26

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,403 12 67 52 60 427 108 945 164 241 52

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,052 7 27 50 35 276 62 886 50 95 22

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,701 16 6 93 55 476 92 1,540 64 82 15

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 (Z) 96 142 133 125 100 167 100 100 117

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained free . . . . . . 536 9 6 77 35 182 39 419 30 68 18

Property Insurance

Property insurance paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,313 3,749 4,173 5,972 5,615 17,351 5,220 12,930 17,676 26,972 14,736

Median per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 56 38 54 54 50 48 58 50 58 58

Monthly Costs Paid for Selected Utilities and 

Fuels

Water paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,552 2,686 2,566 5,033 4,892 12,366 4,136 8,710 12,504 20,914 11,424

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 38 30 35 45 33 33 38 35 35 46

Trash paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,974 2,458 2,068 3,267 4,063 10,253 3,282 4,921 11,498 16,876 11,679

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 21 17 23 29 20 21 21 20 21 25

Bottled gas paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,902 349 804 320 231 1,626 589 1,057 1,485 2,662 698

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 64 54 56 43 62 62 64 76 59 57

Other fuel paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,117 79 414 165 173 631 243 1,189 391 828 709

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 33 33 25 25 25 30 42 21 17 21

Cost and Ownership Sharing

Ownership shared by person not living here . . . . . 2,527 93 193 279 289 666 472 481 535 906 604

 Costs shared by person not living here . . . . . . . 476 31 21 38 56 73 130 121 66 127 162

 Costs not shared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,035 63 173 237 233 593 339 354 467 775 439

 Cost sharing not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 – – 3 – – 3 6 2 5 3

Ownership not shared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,124 3,643 5,135 6,105 6,050 17,438 5,660 12,566 17,424 27,470 14,664

 Costs shared by person not living here . . . . . . . 1,008 53 115 116 109 153 142 169 191 493 156

 Costs not shared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,949 3,589 5,016 5,980 5,942 17,241 5,481 12,357 17,212 26,881 14,499

 Cost sharing not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 – 4 9 – 44 36 41 21 96 9

Ownership sharing not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,777 94 90 163 100 368 274 331 290 817 339

Monthly Payment for Principal and Interest

One or more regular mortgages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,945 3,197 2,039 4,242 4,410 4,936 2,589 8,237 11,775 17,118 10,815

 Less than $100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,327 140 132 131 120 229 118 279 265 580 203

 $100 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,072 49 162 171 82 236 167 208 290 438 136

 $200 to $249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776 42 139 88 50 166 96 145 208 321 102

 $250 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981 27 156 143 77 168 121 127 307 471 75

 $300 to $349 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,323 40 156 189 98 280 94 260 413 516 134

 $350 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550 49 219 163 159 292 205 191 467 724 168

 $400 to $449 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,631 16 200 194 119 228 135 219 558 718 136

 $450 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,707 49 79 173 123 269 161 282 561 674 189

 $500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,816 75 251 388 331 482 220 511 1,239 1,647 420

 $600 to $699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,859 159 165 365 367 442 157 540 1,143 1,580 596

 $700 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,443 185 157 314 271 305 198 493 1,084 1,372 493

 $800 to $999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,162 377 125 508 479 513 212 1,016 1,648 2,372 1,126

 $1,000 to $1,249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,879 478 56 438 540 405 247 1,054 1,443 1,897 1,485

 $1,250 to $1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,059 371 23 306 398 265 144 796 810 1,247 1,207

 $1,500 to $1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,786 489 8 300 525 305 129 1,019 759 1,325 1,682

 $2,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,574 649 11 370 672 352 185 1,097 578 1,236 2,663

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878 1,198 403 739 977 625 583 966 736 760 1,275

 See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
62 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Average Monthly Cost Paid for 

Real Estate Taxes

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,751 423 2,688 1,210 631 2,700 1,558 479 1,056 5,107 1,110

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,017 214 1,071 680 456 1,964 816 361 1,232 3,495 929

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,565 240 654 721 578 1,886 718 483 1,508 3,455 1,119

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,883 231 238 547 536 1,612 537 573 1,478 2,575 1,257

$100 to $124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,494 272 225 543 641 1,567 541 629 1,828 2,585 1,452

$125 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,880 193 122 400 410 1,124 304 593 1,518 1,680 1,089

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,140 434 147 699 873 2,124 593 1,442 2,677 2,904 2,117

$200 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,727 605 136 756 953 2,317 567 2,581 3,216 3,313 2,617

$300 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,171 379 29 327 487 1,107 237 1,783 1,581 1,411 1,397

$400 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,655 257 37 221 305 674 154 1,264 768 864 759

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,884 181 20 183 204 476 130 1,103 532 598 652

$600 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,260 401 51 261 366 921 250 2,088 854 1,207 1,110

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 183 25 100 146 114 77 280 154 99 167

Annual Taxes Paid Per $1,000 Value

Less than $5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,710 804 1,606 1,440 1,011 4,686 1,684 796 1,227 7,266 3,422

$5 to $9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,383 1,057 904 1,694 1,621 4,995 1,555 2,129 3,355 9,467 6,431

$10 to $14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,473 854 769 1,343 1,309 3,756 1,215 3,417 5,018 5,539 3,499

$15 to $19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,992 407 458 717 871 1,999 598 2,798 3,830 2,376 988

$20 to $24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,058 301 287 493 607 1,134 406 1,777 2,191 1,692 399

$25 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,812 408 1,394 859 1,021 1,902 947 2,462 2,628 2,854 868

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 10 10 10 11 9 9 15 14 8 8

Routine Maintenance in Last Year

Less than $25 per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,139 2,479 3,127 2,682 2,378 8,948 2,972 3,809 7,554 11,986 5,791

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,691 509 1,092 1,475 1,461 3,503 1,104 3,032 4,333 6,513 3,814

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,887 48 133 288 341 593 205 567 640 1,087 593

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,768 198 235 470 643 1,199 399 1,701 1,735 2,787 1,545

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,655 73 69 271 202 478 160 583 563 981 529

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,460 48 93 281 297 549 160 840 680 1,151 789

$200 or more per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,885 46 128 352 413 692 247 907 773 1,322 883

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,942 430 540 728 705 2,509 1,157 1,939 1,973 3,366 1,664

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4 17 25 29 17 17 42 25 25 33

Condominium and Cooperative Fee

 Fee paid by owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,790 302 (X) 296 425 1,386 374 1,149 982 1,328 1,331

Less than $50 per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 8 (X) 24 37 51 10 46 19 82 59

$50 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 33 (X) 12 32 66 32 23 57 87 87

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536 53 (X) 14 56 118 40 105 172 131 127

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 74 (X) 37 67 147 45 122 175 192 196

$200 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,016 55 (X) 44 95 279 48 173 241 265 337

$300 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838 44 (X) 51 65 275 65 176 114 253 296

$500 or more per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 19 (X) 27 8 174 16 205 62 85 92

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810 16 (X) 87 64 276 119 299 142 232 137

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 180 (X) 220 187 252 200 270 198 215 230

Other Housing Costs Per Month

Homeowner association fee paid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,397 1,409 – 732 675 1,651 337 581 1,614 4,797 2,405

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 42 (Z) 31 36 42 33 58 17 33 47

Manufactured/mobile home park fee paid . . . . . . . 310 – 310 6 40 120 64 15 63 158 73

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 (Z) 120 (Z) (Z) 105 120 (Z) 240 25 250

Land rent fee paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 4 7 9 2 19 10 10 19 33 23

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z) (Z)

Government Subsidy for Repairs

 Units with major repairs in the last 

 2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,019 1,453 2,874 3,446 3,659 9,280 3,010 7,366 11,136 15,742 8,775

Received low interest loan or grant . . . . . . . . . . . . 796 14 77 113 107 203 120 166 189 265 175

No low interest loan or grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,002 1,417 2,792 3,318 3,532 9,045 2,871 7,176 10,882 15,382 8,563

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 22 6 15 20 32 19 24 65 96 36

1

Beginning with 1989, this item uses current income in its calculation; see Appendix A.

2

May reflect a temporary situation, living off savings, or response error.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 63

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-14. 

Value, Purchase Price, and Source of Down Payment—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Value

Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,696 17 1,256 157 203 360 400 209 323 783 381

$10,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,311 64 1,001 129 115 364 259 154 307 660 190

$20,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,073 18 581 157 96 321 248 134 251 577 110

$30,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,187 47 429 121 120 351 241 174 261 620 131

$40,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,155 77 611 501 347 1,090 566 410 968 1,468 309

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,261 159 584 690 496 1,561 634 633 1,841 2,341 447

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,002 118 290 795 594 1,624 684 754 1,958 2,882 409

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,980 122 214 551 431 1,397 468 524 1,728 2,281 447

$120,000 to $149,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,629 310 251 693 625 1,680 504 836 2,487 3,573 732

$150,000 to $199,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,141 644 158 882 866 2,483 775 1,682 3,162 4,494 1,803

$200,000 to $299,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,494 984 34 893 1,114 2,942 735 2,640 2,857 4,549 3,447

$300,000 to $399,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,924 512 5 463 701 1,681 393 2,025 1,087 2,390 2,421

$400,000 to $499,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,200 288 – 236 285 884 202 1,342 415 993 1,449

$500,000 to $749,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,577 290 2 211 313 1,069 202 1,268 400 980 1,930

$750,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,798 179 1 67 133 666 94 591 204 602 1,402

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,000 220,000 25,000 120,000 150,000 150,000 100,000 230,000 134,000 140,000 270,000

Ratio of Value to Current Income

Less than 1.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,304 512 3,528 1,443 1,183 2,230 505 2,245 4,561 6,660 1,839

1.5 to 1.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,070 461 447 737 746 1,258 63 1,377 2,816 3,684 1,193

2.0 to 2.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,281 516 277 668 589 1,170 161 1,342 2,369 3,245 1,325

2.5 to 2.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,123 499 157 612 607 1,243 99 1,225 1,814 2,652 1,432

3.0 to 3.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,044 666 271 874 892 2,093 229 1,732 2,260 3,781 2,270

4.0 to 4.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,844 317 169 413 548 1,626 217 1,080 1,055 2,004 1,706

5.0 to 6.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,220 368 157 560 634 2,560 477 1,469 1,368 2,525 1,858

7.0 to 8.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,486 168 66 258 359 1,428 324 692 545 1,152 1,098

9.0 to 10.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,975 56 29 176 165 957 317 464 285 702 523

11 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,222 226 235 704 613 3,799 3,210 1,635 1,031 2,426 2,131

Zero or negative income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859 39 82 102 103 109 803 118 146 363 232

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .8 2 .9 0 .8 2 .7 3 .0 4 .7 15 .0 3 .2 2 .3 2 .6 3 .8

Other Activities on Property

Medical or commercial establishment . . . . . . . 652 19 25 38 32 142 44 199 162 206 86

Neither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,776 3,811 5,393 6,509 6,407 18,330 6,361 13,179 18,088 28,987 15,521

Year Unit Acquired

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,482 3,830 1,539 1,600 1,892 1,527 1,405 2,769 4,452 7,949 4,312

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,794 (X) 1,474 1,448 1,867 2,245 1,376 2,841 4,165 6,749 4,039

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,722 (X) 1,264 1,106 961 2,151 858 2,038 2,791 4,534 2,359

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,681 (X) 506 612 577 1,727 581 1,371 1,954 2,870 1,485

1985 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,501 (X) 304 418 391 1,610 477 1,105 1,363 1,992 1,041

1980 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,166 (X) 150 290 202 1,145 345 737 715 1,184 531

1975 to 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,763 (X) 96 338 190 1,895 371 778 1,002 1,318 665

1970 to 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,545 (X) 60 275 152 1,753 312 552 616 1,011 366

1960 to 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,102 (X) 21 326 140 2,817 379 755 785 1,056 506

1950 to 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,405 (X) 2 118 58 1,361 256 343 351 450 261

1940 to 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 (X) 2 13 10 225 38 77 51 73 36

1939 or earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 (X) (X) 3 – 15 8 12 3 8 6

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1999 2007 2000 1999 2001 1985 1997 1997 1999 2000 2000

First-Time Owners 

First home ever owned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,676 1,066 2,196 4,155 3,639 5,851 3,102 6,761 7,362 11,616 5,938

Not first home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,233 2,648 3,128 2,233 2,741 12,366 3,061 6,243 10,625 16,995 9,370

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,519 117 94 158 59 255 243 374 263 583 300
64 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-14. 

Value, Purchase Price, and Source of Down Payment—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Purchase Price

Home purchased or built . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,877 3,706 5,076 5,904 6,148 17,250 5,532 12,346 17,380 27,307 14,843

 Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,799 13 912 270 331 1,432 625 460 694 1,265 381

 $10,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,229 8 863 512 320 2,528 631 747 1,174 1,684 625

 $20,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,648 12 750 357 270 1,697 421 683 979 1,515 472

 $30,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,489 44 510 380 252 1,339 394 682 958 1,429 421

 $40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,002 17 427 254 244 957 292 511 850 1,239 403

 $50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,076 23 279 365 226 855 293 459 945 1,335 337

 $60,000 to $69,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,126 29 258 269 310 735 264 450 921 1,343 411

 $70,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,968 37 190 332 270 673 238 412 805 1,333 418

 $80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,662 136 236 531 562 931 300 780 1,569 2,426 887

 $100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,288 109 126 341 370 684 254 643 1,210 1,685 751

 $120,000 to $149,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,691 262 97 532 594 991 317 962 1,806 2,647 1,275

 $150,000 to $199,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,055 602 19 490 805 1,152 312 1,408 1,939 2,755 1,953

 $200,000 to $249,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,029 521 9 263 374 577 203 886 1,006 1,680 1,457

 $250,000 to $299,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,024 335 – 163 240 375 89 553 565 1,004 902

 $300,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,594 1,266 3 353 765 911 287 1,766 1,032 2,238 3,558

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,196 293 399 491 214 1,416 612 944 928 1,729 595

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107,500 240,000 27,000 78,000 110,000 49,000 50,000 115,000 89,900 91,500 165,000

Received as inheritance or gift . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,388 16 292 526 235 1,032 676 729 683 1,411 564

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,163 108 50 117 56 189 197 303 186 475 200

Down Payment

 Home purchased or built . . . . . . . . . . 71,877 3,706 5,076 5,904 6,148 17,250 5,532 12,346 17,380 27,307 14,843

Percent of purchase price

 No down payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,346 602 893 883 797 1,785 889 871 2,049 3,808 1,619

 Less than 3 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,034 239 274 663 606 967 437 622 1,185 2,232 996

 3–5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,289 401 295 961 972 858 427 1,031 1,703 2,985 1,570

 6–10 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,895 504 566 1,017 1,057 1,547 531 1,617 2,427 3,762 2,088

 11–15 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,946 173 294 305 389 750 243 796 910 1,393 846

 16–20 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,200 452 258 347 549 1,332 304 1,521 2,038 2,645 1,995

 21–40 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,999 384 402 272 450 1,847 433 1,682 2,006 2,405 1,906

 41–99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,478 227 260 130 222 1,569 280 1,007 1,167 1,336 969

 Bought outright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,377 257 1,081 297 393 3,199 827 990 1,503 2,682 1,201

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,308 467 754 1,031 712 3,395 1,158 2,209 2,391 4,055 1,653

Major Source of Down Payment

 Home purchased or built . . . . . . . . . . 71,877 3,706 5,076 5,904 6,148 17,250 5,532 12,346 17,380 27,307 14,843

Sale of previous home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,946 1,330 962 711 1,203 6,381 1,133 3,387 5,861 7,760 4,938

Savings or cash on hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,437 1,193 2,152 3,357 3,299 6,894 2,399 6,474 7,094 11,680 6,189

Sale of other investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 42 53 22 61 219 59 106 150 247 246

Borrowing, other than mortgage on this 

property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,409 88 264 247 262 590 263 385 589 959 477

Inheritance or gift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,358 44 72 77 92 226 133 271 355 390 343

Land where building built used for 

financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639 83 93 57 37 131 39 64 142 378 55

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,125 145 383 344 293 573 337 430 786 1,279 630

No down payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,346 602 893 883 797 1,785 889 871 2,049 3,808 1,619

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,867 181 205 205 104 451 281 359 354 808 347

How Acquired

 First occupant in single-family 

 unit built 1990 or later . . . . . . . . . . . 8,811 2,627 (X) 679 720 1,326 364 891 2,080 4,089 1,751

Already built . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,022 1,015 (X) 323 307 396 87 240 595 1,396 791

Sales agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,395 731 (X) 216 241 356 76 272 513 1,107 502

Contractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,113 481 (X) 87 118 413 88 248 653 974 238

Built it yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,176 337 (X) 43 54 150 113 123 301 555 198

Received as inheritance or gift . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3 (X) 3 – 1 – 1 6 3 –

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 61 (X) 8 – 10 1 8 12 53 21

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 65

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-15. 

Mortgage Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,428 3,830 5,418 6,547 6,439 18,472 6,405 13,378 18,249 29,193 15,607

Mortgages Currently on Property1

None, owned free and clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,206 499 3,237 2,073 1,752 12,071 3,466 4,122 5,566 10,502 4,015

Reverse mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 3 11 17 24 241 36 33 33 106 80

Regular and/or home-equity mortgage2 . . . . . 50,300 3,251 2,107 4,338 4,525 5,804 2,710 8,839 12,357 17,900 11,203

 Regular mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,703 3,174 2,002 4,153 4,325 4,604 2,509 7,848 11,461 16,753 10,640

 Home-equity lump-sum mortgage . . . . . . . . 4,022 154 57 241 300 522 156 984 1,139 1,084 816

 Home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,184 297 106 426 579 1,527 334 1,935 2,408 2,681 2,160

Line of credit not reported, no regular or lump 

sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,670 78 64 120 139 356 193 384 294 684 308

Number of Regular Mortgages and HomeEquity Mortgages

1 mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,274 2,391 1,830 3,329 3,307 4,322 1,940 6,067 8,650 12,984 7,573

2 mortgages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,896 621 98 646 928 833 321 2,003 2,835 3,288 2,770

3 mortgages or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 20 2 43 67 76 25 121 255 192 233

Number not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,000 297 240 440 361 928 617 1,033 910 2,121 936

Types of Mortgages

Regular and home-equity lump sum . . . . . . . . 2,779 131 20 152 215 189 76 595 825 719 640

 With home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . 429 11 2 16 40 52 10 71 151 99 108

 No home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,341 120 17 135 173 137 65 519 672 620 530

 Home-equity line of credit not reported . . . . 10 – – 2 2 – 1 5 2 – 2

Regular, no home-equity lump sum . . . . . . . . . 43,923 3,043 1,982 4,001 4,110 4,415 2,433 7,253 10,637 16,034 10,000

 With home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . 6,153 230 36 294 407 527 189 1,178 1,615 1,733 1,627

 No home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,513 2,594 1,773 3,390 3,486 3,330 1,835 5,453 8,422 12,882 7,757

 Home-equity line of credit not reported . . . . 3,258 219 173 317 217 558 409 622 600 1,419 616

Home-equity lump sum, no regular . . . . . . . . . 1,243 22 37 89 85 333 80 389 314 365 175

 With home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . 248 2 – 20 17 80 14 84 61 65 37

 No home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . . 989 20 37 69 68 252 67 301 251 299 138

 Home-equity line of credit not reported . . . . 6 – – – – – – 4 2 – –

No regular or home-equity lump sum . . . . . . . 28,483 634 3,379 2,305 2,029 13,535 3,816 5,141 6,474 12,076 4,792

 With home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . 2,355 54 68 96 115 867 121 602 581 783 388

 No home-equity line of credit . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,458 501 3,247 2,089 1,776 12,312 3,502 4,155 5,599 10,609 4,096

 Home-equity line of credit not reported . . . . 1,670 78 64 120 139 356 193 384 294 684 308

OWNERS WITH ONE OR MORE REGULAR 

OR LUMP-SUM HOME–EQUITY 

MORTGAGES

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,945 3,197 2,039 4,242 4,410 4,936 2,589 8,237 11,775 17,118 10,815

Land Contract 

 Units with one regular mortgage 

 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,024 2,316 1,725 3,165 3,127 3,232 1,767 5,195 7,842 11,926 7,060

Mortgage is a land contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,488 309 250 367 542 351 185 528 400 1,646 915

Not a land contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,694 1,930 1,423 2,711 2,521 2,781 1,510 4,467 7,297 9,987 5,942

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842 78 52 86 65 100 71 200 146 293 204

Type of Primary Mortgage 

FHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,272 457 112 1,038 801 443 352 645 1,300 2,897 1,430

VA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,660 273 207 316 312 356 140 554 858 1,442 805

RHS/RD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 63 36 51 51 49 41 43 138 153 101

Other types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,021 2,161 1,490 2,449 3,001 3,463 1,603 6,332 8,851 11,049 7,789

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 8 18 26 10 18 12 10 23 47 19

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,460 235 176 363 236 608 441 653 606 1,530 671

Lower Cost State and Local Mortgages

State or local program used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,709 219 123 428 382 176 203 430 637 1,131 512

Not used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,789 2,744 1,724 3,440 3,765 4,164 1,937 7,171 10,490 14,481 9,648

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,447 233 192 374 263 597 449 637 649 1,506 656

Mortgage Origination

Placed new mortgage(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,616 3,188 2,007 4,212 4,344 4,891 2,556 8,205 11,710 16,986 10,716

 Primary obtained when property acquired . . 35,884 3,005 1,744 3,436 3,570 3,010 2,075 6,188 8,436 13,745 7,515

 Obtained later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,733 183 263 776 773 1,881 481 2,017 3,274 3,241 3,201

Assumed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 8 28 19 51 40 25 24 58 110 67

Wrap-around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 – 4 4 8 – 3 4 4 9 10

Combination of the above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 – – 7 8 5 6 4 4 14 22

 See footnotes at end of table.
66 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-15. 

Mortgage Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Payment Plan of Primary Mortgage

Fixed payment, self-amortizing . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,055 2,664 1,713 3,472 3,686 3,820 1,861 6,935 10,048 14,259 8,813

Adjustable rate mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,942 80 58 201 238 187 97 271 464 634 573

Adjustable term mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 14 3 3 5 26 15 14 31 28 7

Graduated payment mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 48 – 48 62 26 17 62 126 86 249

Balloon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 10 14 5 16 21 13 22 86 49 64

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – 3 – – 3 – – – 3 4

Combination of the above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 9 – 9 14 21 5 11 30 47 81

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,950 373 248 504 390 832 581 923 991 2,012 1,024

Payment Plan of Secondary Mortgage

 Units with two or more mortgages . . 5,520 418 67 404 601 309 159 883 1,467 1,744 1,427

Fixed payment, self-amortizing . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,514 359 58 342 482 221 117 756 1,171 1,482 1,104

Adjustable rate mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 15 – 32 53 32 16 39 135 100 119

Adjustable term mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 1 – 1 3 15 3 12 24 26 9

Graduated payment mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 10 – 3 16 6 – 9 14 13 35

Balloon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 20 4 6 8 12 4 11 39 38 55

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – – – – – – 2 – –

Combination of the above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 9 – – 4 1 6 19 24 22 35

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 4 5 20 34 22 13 37 57 63 69

Lenders of Primary and Secondary 

Mortgages

Only borrowed from firm(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,467 2,897 1,707 3,762 4,023 4,231 2,063 7,475 10,941 15,158 9,894

Only borrowed from seller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 4 73 19 41 15 19 29 90 128 36

Only borrowed from other individual(s) . . . . . . 238 28 48 28 33 41 16 23 50 85 80

Borrowed from a firm and seller . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – – – – – – 3 3 8 3

Borrowed from a firm and other individual . . . . 36 – – – 9 – – – 16 9 12

Borrowed from seller and other individual . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

One or both sources not reported . . . . . . . . . . 3,904 267 211 434 306 649 492 707 676 1,731 790

Items Included in Primary Mortgage 

Payment2

Principal and interest only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,050 758 894 950 1,066 1,948 710 2,171 3,337 4,110 3,431

Property taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,542 1,986 558 2,538 2,829 2,029 1,230 4,874 7,265 10,201 6,202

Property insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,595 1,855 820 2,453 2,674 1,809 1,183 4,037 6,671 10,119 5,769

Private mortgage insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,205 599 137 795 604 297 258 982 1,629 2,430 1,164

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 52 12 33 36 30 14 86 82 143 66

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,224 347 268 530 434 830 599 1,021 994 2,135 1,074

Year Primary Mortgage Originated

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,064 3,192 779 1,671 1,878 1,393 939 3,147 5,145 7,558 5,213

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,175 5 545 1,105 1,459 1,286 762 2,444 3,631 4,868 3,233

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,152 (X) 544 651 516 715 396 1,200 1,457 2,328 1,167

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,953 (X) 83 326 302 414 169 651 676 1,057 569

1985 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,808 (X) 41 191 150 389 139 401 431 629 347

1980 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767 (X) 27 119 52 239 53 183 174 307 103

1975 to 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564 (X) 15 83 30 188 56 115 153 201 94

1970 to 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 (X) 6 93 18 292 73 83 103 165 83

1969 or earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 (X) – 2 5 20 1 13 5 6 5

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2004 2007 2002 2003 2004 2000 2003 2003 2004 2004 2004

Term of Primary Mortgage at Origination 

or Assumption

Less than 8 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695 32 120 52 66 101 58 91 182 231 191

8 to 12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,159 42 167 62 111 182 101 242 327 425 165

13 to 17 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,501 217 370 243 340 629 254 953 1,517 2,024 1,007

18 to 22 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,421 89 289 209 144 333 181 485 666 908 362

23 to 27 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929 33 114 89 37 134 52 166 262 409 91

28 to 32 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,845 2,743 940 3,363 3,562 3,023 1,760 6,031 8,491 12,645 8,677

33 years or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,251 19 35 216 145 490 167 246 294 431 280

Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 22 3 8 6 45 15 23 36 43 43

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 30 25 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 67

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-15. 

Mortgage Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Remaining Years Mortgaged 

Less than 8 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,160 53 535 607 431 1,363 496 1,276 1,506 2,378 1,001

8 to 12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,188 97 312 348 368 813 313 974 1,404 1,831 978

13 to 17 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,077 162 277 463 436 630 285 998 1,291 1,787 1,001

18 to 22 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,568 63 393 755 699 640 373 1,186 1,590 2,427 1,366

23 to 27 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,948 971 310 1,201 1,632 974 703 2,369 3,732 5,187 3,660

28 to 32 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,569 1,808 200 837 778 448 380 1,369 2,137 3,393 2,670

33 years or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 16 8 22 57 8 21 21 37 30 76

Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 26 3 9 10 62 19 44 78 85 64

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 28 16 22 24 14 21 21 23 23 24

Current Interest Rate

Less than 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,220 470 225 341 440 719 246 1,090 1,596 2,021 1,512

5 to 5.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,659 1,070 393 1,170 1,341 1,604 804 3,248 4,295 5,632 4,484

6 to 6.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,940 1,228 504 1,502 1,571 1,601 854 2,678 4,008 5,860 3,394

7 to 7.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,619 269 318 584 595 537 341 704 1,098 1,930 887

8 to 8.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,772 80 228 312 251 230 125 243 427 801 302

9 percent or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735 80 371 332 212 244 219 274 351 873 236

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 .0 6 .0 6 .5 6 .2 6 .0 6 .0 6 .0 5 .9 5 .9 6 .0 5 .8

Total Outstanding Principal Amount 

Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,797 24 423 382 217 813 320 525 701 1,218 353

$10,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,972 95 327 210 128 410 158 386 522 838 226

$20,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,877 32 246 236 148 394 162 354 566 732 225

$30,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,978 32 191 249 185 345 241 343 536 854 245

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,338 37 171 224 189 315 174 424 734 864 316

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,328 39 73 266 228 307 171 334 733 967 294

$60,000 to $69,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,504 73 140 257 298 259 201 350 756 1,027 370

$70,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,484 124 140 228 202 213 127 371 785 979 349

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,420 161 165 426 389 433 217 719 1,343 1,662 696

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,751 212 64 349 315 243 146 604 1,096 1,440 611

$120,000 to $149,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,029 314 48 320 427 335 168 741 1,332 1,879 1,076

$150,000 to $199,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,926 587 42 440 547 325 185 1,090 1,319 1,950 1,567

$200,000 to $249,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,575 447 3 248 377 177 121 714 664 965 1,232

$250,000 to $299,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,267 273 – 123 234 131 69 428 238 657 944

$300,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,700 745 8 284 525 239 128 855 450 1,085 2,310

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,909 189,805 31,214 83,099 114,364 55,911 63,675 110,806 88,069 93,171 170,531

Current Total Loan as Percent of Value

Less than 20 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,174 94 240 647 413 1,629 474 1,489 1,316 2,072 1,297

20 to 39 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,478 167 219 616 618 1,032 383 1,669 1,488 2,557 1,763

40 to 59 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,524 330 229 634 672 859 478 1,635 2,090 2,973 1,826

60 to 79 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,924 647 295 740 836 601 439 1,536 2,684 3,713 1,991

80 to 89 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,128 521 195 451 433 266 248 732 1,453 1,956 987

90 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,928 671 170 504 516 226 212 556 1,346 1,873 1,154

100 percent or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,789 766 691 650 922 324 355 620 1,398 1,974 1,797

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 .0 86 .0 82 .0 66 .0 72 .0 35 .0 58 .0 51 .0 67 .0 65 .0 65 .0

Reason Primary Mortgage Refinanced

 Units with a refinanced primary 

 mortgage2

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,220 224 269 792 947 1,337 429 1,950 3,337 3,321 3,613

To get lower interest rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,228 174 172 563 666 832 246 1,505 2,595 2,490 2,638

To reduce the monthly payment. . . . . . . . . . . . 1,552 32 43 99 142 177 59 215 413 469 456

To increase payment period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 4 9 4 16 6 11 32 47 27 74

To reduce payment period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573 5 9 25 40 37 19 67 158 188 160

To renew or extend a loan that has fallen due . 123 3 2 7 15 20 8 21 38 35 29

To receive cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,587 16 32 147 153 265 72 265 333 443 546

Other reason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,655 32 58 96 170 211 65 234 466 403 551

 See footnotes at end of table.

—Con.
68 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-15. 

Mortgage Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Cash Received in Primary Mortgage 

Refinance

 Received refinance cash . . . . . . . . . . 1,587 16 32 147 153 265 72 265 333 443 546

Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 – 8 30 6 23 9 12 23 61 29

$10,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 3 15 25 26 25 9 13 90 75 53

$20,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 3 – 15 12 22 14 34 51 52 89

$30,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 – – 16 22 20 8 32 20 46 59

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 – 4 2 7 8 – 11 20 23 39

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 – – 5 8 23 2 22 15 22 41

$60,000 to $69,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 – – – 9 14 – 3 10 8 25

$70,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2 – – 8 1 – 8 3 6 8

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 4 – 3 5 15 6 12 16 25 40

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 – – 4 12 16 5 11 5 18 57

$120,000 to $149,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 – – – 3 8 8 6 5 10 10

$150,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 4 – 5 21 24 – 19 10 34 32

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 – 5 41 15 65 10 82 65 63 65

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,000 (Z) (Z) 18,000 40,000 50,000 25,000 37,500 20,000 30,000 40,000

Percent of Primary Mortgage Refinanced 

Cash Used for Home Additions, 

Improvements, or Repairs

 Received refinance cash . . . . . . . . . . 1,587 16 32 147 153 265 72 265 333 443 546

Zero percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 10 21 56 63 113 34 85 116 242 204

1 to 9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 – 3 10 5 8 8 9 13 13 17

10 to 19 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 – 3 4 6 16 3 14 5 19 31

20 to 29 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 – – 3 13 6 5 7 3 16 27

30 to 39 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 – – 3 3 5 – 1 8 6 3

40 to 49 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 – – 3 5 7 – 2 2 3 8

50 to 59 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 – – 5 6 13 7 16 17 27 39

60 to 69 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 – – – 2 3 – 5 4 – 2

70 to 79 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 – – 8 11 6 3 11 6 11 24

80 to 89 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 – – 4 10 7 – 1 8 5 7

90 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 – – 4 2 5 – 21 8 6 11

100 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 6 6 31 24 55 3 74 124 67 161

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 – – 15 2 21 8 18 17 27 11

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 .0 (Z) (Z) 7 .0 20 .0 10 .0 – 50 .0 50 .0 – 25 .0

Percent of Nonrefinanced Primary 

Mortgage, Including Home-Equity Lump 

Sum, Used for Home Purchase and 

Improvement

 Units with a nonrefinanced primary 

 mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,898 2,739 1,555 3,062 3,153 2,916 1,682 5,579 7,729 12,165 6,425

Zero percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,901 468 341 681 687 765 381 927 1,162 2,378 1,435

1 to 9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748 80 82 89 110 96 42 131 134 277 207

10 to 19 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 10 5 29 31 31 5 37 34 95 40

20 to 29 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 6 9 8 10 33 10 29 39 51 33

30 to 39 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 11 15 – 4 35 – 21 13 18 23

40 to 49 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 6 – 11 3 9 3 9 5 31 5

50 to 59 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 5 7 8 21 25 23 44 28 66 21

60 to 69 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 5 8 1 10 18 5 11 4 24 17

70 to 79 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 7 13 7 6 20 13 15 29 39 38

80 to 89 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 22 4 14 32 19 10 42 31 67 84

90 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 14 3 15 20 7 7 49 68 69 35

100 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,611 2,031 1,016 1,975 2,040 1,663 1,039 3,960 5,944 8,512 4,195

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,376 75 52 223 177 196 144 304 239 539 293

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 69

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3-15. 

Mortgage Characteristics—Owner-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

OWNERS WITH ONE OR MORE HOME–

EQUITY LINE-OF-CREDIT MORTGAGES

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,184 297 106 426 579 1,527 334 1,935 2,408 2,681 2,160

Total Home-Equity Line-of-Credit Limit

Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 11 7 18 25 40 19 55 76 105 59

$10,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766 15 10 42 56 115 23 141 266 241 119

$20,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,014 28 11 66 43 126 34 210 329 288 187

$30,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794 45 7 41 39 122 26 129 269 248 148

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 16 23 15 49 54 6 86 155 141 109

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915 30 8 53 52 163 30 204 207 320 184

$60,000 to $69,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 10 2 27 20 48 10 93 114 94 104

$70,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 11 – – 25 45 16 77 63 81 106

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 14 4 13 30 62 2 84 69 102 81

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836 14 – 24 48 183 30 181 167 243 244

$120,000 to $149,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 10 – 9 13 50 6 62 54 67 71

$150,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,013 40 – 16 39 193 34 257 158 203 394

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,739 54 33 103 140 325 98 358 481 547 354

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 50,000 40,000 39,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 40,000 50,000 68,000

Total Outstanding Line-of-Credit Loans

 Outstanding loan(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,306 148 37 185 277 789 171 1,179 1,395 1,431 1,301

Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837 16 10 31 36 160 28 174 289 265 109

$10,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982 9 5 27 45 166 23 199 312 287 183

$20,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748 19 5 22 28 87 10 162 195 222 168

$30,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 15 – 29 16 63 6 106 137 99 117

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 14 – 16 23 47 17 70 100 88 96

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 14 7 3 22 38 8 61 42 62 62

$60,000 to $69,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 7 4 8 24 26 2 44 43 63 87

$70,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 1 3 5 10 29 3 36 29 30 56

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 9 2 13 20 49 10 44 44 74 102

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 3 – 2 9 21 3 48 17 40 54

$120,000 to $149,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 2 – 2 14 12 6 17 9 39 45

$150,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 12 – 3 13 24 19 61 47 35 102

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 25 – 24 17 68 34 152 132 124 115

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,000 40,000 (Z) 30,000 40,000 21,659 40,000 27,000 20,000 23,000 40,000

Current Line-of-Credit Interest Rate

 Outstanding loan(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,306 148 37 185 277 789 171 1,179 1,395 1,431 1,301

Less than 3 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 4 3 20 30 81 5 145 92 138 99

3 to 3.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940 22 2 12 44 180 23 261 223 223 233

4 to 4.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760 32 7 15 43 114 28 136 192 201 231

5 to 5.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650 9 5 39 33 104 21 132 217 181 120

6 to 6.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 17 2 14 44 75 31 90 125 164 137

7 to 7.9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356 17 3 15 13 34 3 52 106 115 83

8 percent or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 11 6 18 21 24 7 34 120 96 90

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,271 35 9 52 48 179 53 329 320 314 307

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .5 4 .5 (Z) 5 .5 4 .8 4 .3 5 .0 4 .0 5 .0 4 .9 4 .5

Line-of-Credit Monthly Payment

 Outstanding loan(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,306 148 37 185 277 789 171 1,179 1,395 1,431 1,301

Less than $100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532 16 – 17 21 100 9 128 156 138 110

$100 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,010 34 5 48 68 163 53 176 303 297 234

$200 to $249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635 25 12 16 32 80 13 96 196 194 150

$250 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 5 – 12 6 53 7 75 78 91 86

$300 to $349 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 10 4 9 19 56 17 89 101 109 115

$350 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 5 – 9 18 23 7 45 26 53 55

$400 to $449 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 3 – 10 18 26 3 41 61 84 52

$450 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 – 5 3 10 12 2 29 30 19 33

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 – – 12 17 43 12 97 97 125 96

$600 to $699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 6 – 3 17 38 2 37 35 42 69

$700 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 3 3 7 10 16 7 20 27 27 35

$800 to $999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 10 – 6 4 22 8 29 41 30 46

$1,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 9 – 18 21 80 10 126 127 101 103

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 22 7 16 17 76 20 190 117 122 118

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 220 (Z) 250 300 250 255 300 240 250 300

Line-of-Credit Amount Used for Home 

Additions, Improvements, or Repairs

 Outstanding loan(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,306 148 37 185 277 789 171 1,179 1,395 1,431 1,301

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,695 28 20 69 137 328 79 637 692 646 720

No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,569 117 17 111 140 449 92 529 696 770 574

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 4 – 6 – 12 – 13 7 15 6

1

Regular mortgages include all mortgages not classified as home-equity or reverse.

2

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

—Con.
70 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

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American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 71

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-1. 

Introductory Characteristics—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Race and Hispanic Origin

White alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,202 667 1,207 (X) 5,775 3,555 5,814 5,067 5,212 8,137 6,787

Non-Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,427 576 987 (X) (X) 3,104 4,062 3,886 4,797 6,208 4,537

Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,775 91 221 (X) 5,775 451 1,751 1,181 415 1,929 2,250

Black alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,446 198 140 7,446 252 786 2,841 1,525 1,413 3,706 802

Non-Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,195 192 135 7,195 (X) 765 2,749 1,398 1,402 3,635 760

Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 6 5 252 252 20 91 127 11 71 42

American Indian or Alaska Native alone. . . . 466 7 39 (X) 130 21 143 43 131 82 209

Asian alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,487 46 14 (X) 31 176 340 333 181 269 704

Pacific Islander alone1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 8 – (X) 26 15 24 7 15 31 87

Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637 16 20 (X) 87 70 172 98 168 168 203

Hispanic or Latino (any race)2

. . . . . . . . . . . . 6,300 98 232 252 6,300 487 1,906 1,358 468 2,062 2,412

Units in Structure

1, detached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,755 244 (X) 1,750 1,558 923 2,217 992 1,980 4,140 2,644

1, attached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,021 93 (X) 501 299 228 498 516 374 670 461

2 to 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,998 116 (X) 1,533 1,271 782 2,057 1,964 1,541 1,874 1,619

5 to 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,637 78 (X) 1,141 993 522 1,318 830 940 1,632 1,235

10 to 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,178 118 (X) 962 774 352 969 666 860 1,653 999

20 to 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,131 119 (X) 674 679 460 823 781 609 872 870

50 or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,237 145 (X) 745 495 1,198 968 1,220 614 707 696

Manufactured/mobile home or trailer. . . . . . . 1,421 28 1,421 140 232 158 483 104 201 845 270

Cooperatives and Condominiums

Cooperatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 3 – 42 38 51 43 135 28 18 41

Condominiums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,181 105 – 356 413 324 374 468 355 778 579

Year Structure Built3, 5

2005 to 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,283 941 77 268 144 106 224 146 160 579 397

2000 to 2004. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,731 (X) 118 279 227 254 365 165 324 743 500

1995 to 1999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,603 (X) 187 273 206 259 367 84 335 753 433

1990 to 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,280 (X) 204 270 159 201 273 113 271 539 358

1985 to 1989. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,489 (X) 158 499 398 369 488 248 388 982 872

1980 to 1984. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,179 (X) 153 437 421 325 606 179 296 1,187 517

1975 to 1979. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,364 (X) 169 931 892 623 1,342 570 984 1,688 1,121

1970 to 1974. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,718 (X) 200 857 677 567 1,037 597 729 1,499 893

1960 to 1969. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,409 (X) 138 1,005 817 583 1,225 787 824 1,555 1,242

1950 to 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,243 (X) 7 822 652 362 837 641 696 1,031 876

1940 to 1949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,322 (X) 6 533 579 275 719 581 380 740 621

1930 to 1939. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,924 (X) 3 383 378 208 552 624 433 459 409

1920 to 1929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,811 (X) (X) 372 287 195 459 749 470 307 285

1919 or earlier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,021 (X) (X) 519 463 297 839 1,590 830 331 270

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1971 2007 1986 1971 1970 1973 1970 1950 1969 1976 1974

Metropolitan/Nonmetropolitan Areas

Inside metropolitan statistical areas. . . . . . . 29,846 815 846 6,838 5,854 3,807 7,524 6,454 5,548 10,036 7,808

In central cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,837 442 132 4,070 3,104 1,829 4,381 3,513 2,869 4,714 3,740

Suburbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,009 373 714 2,768 2,750 1,978 3,143 2,941 2,679 5,322 4,068

Outside metropolitan statistical areas. . . . . . 5,532 126 575 608 446 816 1,809 619 1,571 2,357 985

Regions

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,073 95 104 1,525 1,358 1,270 1,757 7,073 (X) (X) (X)

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,119 121 201 1,413 468 1,088 2,075 (X) 7,119 (X) (X)

South. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,392 442 845 3,706 2,062 1,267 3,605 (X) (X) 12,392 (X)

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,794 282 270 802 2,412 999 1,896 (X) (X) (X) 8,794

Place Size4

Less than 2,500 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,271 35 79 104 73 188 336 145 504 457 165

2,500 to 9,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,795 86 179 592 559 520 982 618 838 1,570 770

10,000 to 19,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,173 68 102 599 396 465 869 598 721 1,281 574

20,000 to 49,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,204 114 68 1,122 993 705 1,384 820 1,157 1,779 1,448

50,000 to 99,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,235 91 64 793 987 486 1,045 753 911 1,160 1,411

100,000 to 249,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,685 106 21 940 715 441 917 570 588 1,276 1,252

250,000 to 499,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,781 81 2 884 466 316 878 198 496 1,065 1,023

500,000 to 999,999 persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,644 52 7 487 313 189 457 148 432 615 449

1,000,000 persons or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,978 60 3 1,185 1,211 570 1,220 2,090 565 473 851

1

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

2

Because Hispanics may be any race, data may overlap slightly with other groups. Most Hispanics report themselves as White, but some report themselves as Black or in other categories.

3

For manufactured/mobile homes, oldest category is 1939 or earlier.

4

Does not add up to total because not all populations reside in a place; see Appendix A.

5

Median is estimated from the printed distribution; see Appendix A.
72 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Stories in Structure1

1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,148 186 (X) 1,828 1,828 1,258 2,600 302 1,189 4,648 3,010

2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,657 295 (X) 2,777 2,408 1,169 3,122 1,887 2,559 4,393 3,818

3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,787 251 (X) 1,691 1,033 921 1,899 2,356 2,458 1,765 1,209

4 to 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,785 111 (X) 553 584 563 734 1,621 415 397 353

7 or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,580 68 (X) 458 216 554 495 804 297 345 134

Stories Between Main and Apartment Entrances

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,503 532 (X) 4,451 3,694 2,745 5,182 5,333 4,010 5,567 4,593

None (on same floor). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,429 155 (X) 1,408 1,214 968 1,759 1,522 1,289 1,985 1,633

1 (up or down). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,536 116 (X) 1,239 1,105 486 1,422 1,310 1,261 1,607 1,358

2 or more (up or down). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,538 261 (X) 1,804 1,376 1,290 2,000 2,500 1,460 1,976 1,602

Elevator on Floor

 Multiunits, 2 or more floors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,503 532 (X) 4,451 3,694 2,745 5,182 5,333 4,010 5,567 4,593

With 1 or more elevators working. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,303 156 (X) 755 508 1,220 916 1,387 645 607 664

With elevator, none in working condition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 – (X) 7 14 7 15 11 2 5 17

No elevator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,165 375 (X) 3,689 3,173 1,518 4,251 3,935 3,363 4,955 3,912

Units, 3 or more floors from main entrance. . . . . . . . . . . . 1,302 49 (X) 307 232 116 305 598 253 295 156

Foundation

 1-unit building, excluding manufactured/mobile 

 homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,776 337 (X) 2,251 1,857 1,151 2,715 1,508 2,353 4,810 3,105

With basement under all of building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,892 51 (X) 576 275 273 620 966 1,210 464 252

With basement under part of building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858 5 (X) 75 72 113 183 209 339 166 144

With crawl space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,240 48 (X) 614 525 315 771 85 400 1,801 952

On concrete slab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,486 229 (X) 920 921 427 1,059 219 387 2,183 1,697

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 3 (X) 66 64 24 83 28 17 195 60

External Building Conditions2

Sagging roof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 3 93 96 56 23 192 62 149 214 91

Missing roofing material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 958 19 89 158 168 89 259 110 239 360 249

Hole in roof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 3 87 102 68 23 160 61 99 175 95

Missing bricks, siding, or other outside wall material. . . . . . . 661 5 59 138 112 40 235 87 192 237 146

Sloping outside walls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 3 37 69 50 22 135 52 101 161 72

Boarded up windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 3 46 56 48 18 116 39 79 107 38

Broken windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872 3 141 135 166 45 290 79 238 362 193

Bars on windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702 3 6 215 276 60 237 81 72 234 316

Foundation crumbling or has open crack or hole. . . . . . . . . . 540 2 23 115 54 36 164 66 189 182 102

None of the above. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,730 338 1,059 1,660 1,432 1,065 2,164 1,207 1,774 4,307 2,442

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 6 42 104 32 24 92 50 63 161 67

Previous Occupancy

 Unit built 1990 or later. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,897 941 587 1,090 736 819 1,230 507 1,089 2,613 1,688

Not previously occupied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708 342 75 148 115 204 187 89 134 306 179

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 7 8 17 3 10 30 5 7 42 1

Site Placement

 Manufactured/mobile homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,421 28 1,421 140 232 158 483 104 201 845 270

First site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598 17 598 58 99 93 178 43 85 350 120

Moved from another site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 4 254 35 14 40 92 36 29 155 34

Don’t know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 3 265 28 31 12 81 19 42 154 51

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 4 304 19 88 13 132 6 46 186 66

Manufactured/Mobile Home Size

 Manufactured/mobile homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,421 28 1,421 140 232 158 483 104 201 845 270

Single-wide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,056 11 1,056 121 162 127 395 88 167 676 125

Double-wide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 17 358 19 67 31 87 15 31 169 143

Triple-wide or larger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – 3 – 3 – – – – – 3

Size not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 – 4 – – – 1 1 3 – –

Manufactured/Mobile Home Tiedowns

 Manufactured/mobile homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,421 28 1,421 140 232 158 483 104 201 845 270

Anchored by tiedowns, bolts, or other means. . . . . . . . . . . . 1,222 20 1,222 135 197 137 412 73 160 768 221

Not anchored. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 – 119 5 23 14 52 11 23 61 24

Anchoring not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 8 79 – 12 6 19 20 18 16 25

See footnotes at end of table.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 73

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-2. 

Height and Condition of Building—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Manufactured/Mobile Home Setup

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,421 28 1,421 140 232 158 483 104 201 845 270

Set on permanent masonry foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 17 209 8 29 23 35 16 43 84 65

Resting on concrete pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 4 206 6 37 18 83 25 63 77 40

Up on blocks, but not on concrete pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943 4 943 122 151 111 352 52 87 656 149

Setup in some other way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 – 14 – 2 2 5 6 – 8 –

Setup not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 4 50 4 12 4 8 5 9 20 16

1

Figures exclude manufactured/mobile homes.

2

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit. Figures do not include multiunit structures.

—Con.
74 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Rooms

1 room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 2 – 45 54 79 134 106 53 30 137

2 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879 10 2 147 125 160 297 248 128 186 317

3 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,675 160 55 1,479 1,282 1,763 2,378 1,932 1,670 2,231 1,841

4 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,354 237 539 2,363 2,262 1,340 2,968 2,130 2,312 3,997 2,915

5 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,212 260 550 1,984 1,551 779 2,041 1,423 1,608 3,303 1,878

6 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,232 161 170 954 691 312 1,007 791 817 1,685 939

7 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735 75 96 285 247 116 355 265 352 613 505

8 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622 18 4 129 65 55 89 110 121 229 162

9 rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 10 5 41 18 7 51 37 38 64 74

10 rooms or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 8 – 18 6 12 14 31 19 55 25

Rooms Used for Business

Business only

 1 or more rooms with direct access . . . . 2,398 78 100 553 468 318 718 419 417 996 565

 1 or more rooms, no direct access . . . . . 1,359 52 33 272 177 148 221 261 258 461 379

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 – 2 40 10 27 44 59 22 45 26

Business and other use

 1 or more rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,283 116 119 771 615 359 783 649 836 1,501 1,297

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 4 3 44 19 25 54 74 34 47 26

Bedrooms

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744 12 2 100 113 149 273 209 132 92 311

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,720 185 60 1,927 1,626 2,123 2,900 2,447 2,026 2,883 2,364

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,200 314 642 2,989 2,762 1,586 3,450 2,684 3,055 4,993 3,468

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,359 341 634 1,963 1,460 598 2,081 1,327 1,472 3,561 1,999

4 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,354 88 83 467 339 167 630 406 434 863 652

Complete Bathrooms

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 – 3 42 42 22 90 73 42 43 70

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,894 284 612 4,984 4,288 3,469 6,794 5,713 5,093 6,893 5,196

1 1/2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,575 36 136 853 509 383 872 654 895 1,261 765

2 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,680 621 670 1,567 1,461 749 1,577 632 1,090 4,196 2,762

Square Footage of Unit

 Single detached and 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . 11,176 272 1,421 1,890 1,790 1,081 2,700 1,096 2,181 4,985 2,914

Less than 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 – 47 21 70 27 84 28 18 101 73

500 to 749 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686 4 186 115 164 101 209 67 150 318 151

750 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,495 – 449 298 251 145 464 122 354 695 324

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,441 44 359 537 575 323 850 219 647 1,641 934

1,500 to 1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,235 74 166 353 279 203 484 211 367 979 679

2,000 to 2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,134 79 19 149 118 87 164 104 228 487 314

2,500 to 2,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 25 4 102 34 45 55 49 65 196 118

3,000 to 3,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 9 3 38 41 41 52 49 83 88 81

4,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 8 17 19 40 23 36 54 43 77 68

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992 29 171 257 218 86 302 193 225 403 171

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1300 1904 980 1280 1200 1205 1200 1500 1248 1280 1400

Lot Size

 1-unit structures1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,823 342 1,421 2,338 2,040 1,255 3,135 1,554 2,482 5,510 3,276

Less than 1/8 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,717 78 287 577 600 269 707 435 503 859 920

1/8 up to 1/4 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,022 112 318 796 766 368 1,067 320 863 1,548 1,291

1/4 up to 1/2 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,084 75 154 437 317 198 471 207 390 1,030 457

1/2 up to 1 acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,162 23 156 194 92 100 223 171 146 683 162

1 up to 5 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,120 26 399 291 202 241 503 301 388 1,106 325

5 up to 10 acres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 7 43 9 18 29 43 39 44 94 28

10 acres or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 21 64 34 46 50 122 82 149 190 93

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .22 0 .21 0 .32 0 .14 0 .13 0 .23 0 .15 0 .25 0 .20 0 .25 0 .13

Persons Per Room

0.50 or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,394 631 768 4,595 2,455 4,123 5,375 4,537 4,923 7,858 5,076

0.51 to 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,484 296 576 2,595 2,982 486 3,260 2,264 2,047 4,104 3,069

1.01 to 1.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,220 14 71 225 684 7 553 211 125 387 498

1.51 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 – 6 31 179 7 146 60 25 43 151

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 75

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-3. 

Size of Unit and Lot—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Persons per Bedroom

0.50 or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,097 184 341 1,251 497 1,293 1,488 1,052 1,405 2,392 1,248

0.51 to 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,951 459 555 3,600 2,069 2,780 4,165 3,524 3,633 5,868 3,926

1.01 to 1.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,863 162 284 1,155 1,071 112 1,258 865 918 1,853 1,227

1.51 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,722 123 239 1,341 2,550 290 2,150 1,423 1,031 2,187 2,082

No bedrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744 12 2 100 113 149 273 209 132 92 311

Square Feet per Person

 Single detached and 

 manufactured/mobile homes . . . . 11,176 272 1,421 1,890 1,790 1,081 2,700 1,096 2,181 4,985 2,914

Less than 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548 3 102 117 251 16 256 56 64 278 149

200 to 299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,331 10 275 262 401 34 426 83 185 658 405

300 to 399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,394 25 206 231 244 46 333 110 281 634 369

400 to 499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,272 32 191 192 193 84 274 88 245 531 407

500 to 599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,097 39 92 170 133 107 220 66 215 525 292

600 to 699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894 16 59 133 62 63 174 83 219 378 213

700 to 799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591 25 77 90 56 79 107 48 133 249 162

800 to 899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509 30 70 119 43 60 107 62 88 228 131

900 to 999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 4 60 39 23 35 73 38 102 171 47

1,000 to 1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,293 34 79 165 110 250 227 127 228 594 344

1,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899 25 39 114 58 220 201 143 196 336 224

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992 29 171 257 218 86 302 193 225 403 171

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 625 400 500 340 900 450 625 567 500 500

1

Does not include cooperatives or condominiums.

—Con.
76 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Equipment1

Lacking complete kitchen facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,374 26 6 286 276 144 396 381 302 286 404

With complete kitchen (sink, refrigerator, and oven or 

burners) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,004 915 1,415 7,161 6,024 4,479 8,937 6,692 6,817 12,106 8,389

Kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,180 939 1,421 7,417 6,273 4,582 9,251 6,994 7,087 12,374 8,725

Refrigerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,193 941 1,415 7,401 6,267 4,598 9,255 7,007 7,097 12,351 8,738

Cooking stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,886 937 1,409 7,357 6,213 4,504 9,121 6,985 7,013 12,263 8,625

Burners, no stove or range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 3 3 26 18 12 41 14 21 29 34

Microwave oven only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 1 6 42 50 74 112 24 73 64 91

Dishwasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,393 874 413 2,851 2,340 1,621 2,953 2,016 2,783 6,813 4,782

Washing machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,545 819 1,225 3,741 2,862 2,056 4,407 2,751 3,775 8,211 4,808

Clothes dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,343 791 1,153 3,297 2,425 1,791 3,855 2,291 3,707 7,720 4,625

Disposal in kitchen sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,933 739 155 3,034 2,847 1,983 3,276 1,222 3,137 5,711 5,863

Trash compactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730 54 15 199 124 86 145 137 110 304 180

Air conditioning:

2

 Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,161 797 817 4,186 2,812 2,302 4,377 1,229 3,519 9,923 3,490

 Additional central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920 60 48 249 162 102 235 33 84 658 145

 1 room unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,229 22 202 1,190 1,173 1,036 1,936 2,075 1,862 946 1,346

 2 room units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,332 26 172 719 707 362 828 1,596 647 770 319

 3 room units or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,314 6 73 237 323 93 286 649 153 421 92

Safety Equipment1

Working smoke detector 

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,565 926 1,231 6,942 5,467 4,307 8,398 6,659 6,742 11,109 8,055

 Powered by: 

 Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,528 97 89 459 390 623 670 577 453 921 577

 Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,326 440 881 5,266 4,276 2,733 6,241 4,892 4,986 7,671 5,777

 Both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,960 353 257 1,073 723 785 1,272 1,107 1,119 2,244 1,491

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 36 4 145 78 166 216 83 184 273 210

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,472 10 168 426 799 256 842 350 314 1,137 669

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 5 21 78 34 59 93 64 62 146 69

 Batteries replaced in last 6 months3

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,432 510 807 4,777 3,761 2,741 5,603 4,643 4,656 7,093 5,040

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,788 250 301 1,405 1,091 705 1,568 1,171 1,235 2,442 1,940

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,066 34 31 158 146 72 341 184 214 380 288

Fire extinguisher purchased or recharged in the last 

2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,980 385 513 2,423 1,738 1,296 2,719 2,259 2,323 4,684 2,715

Sprinkler system inside home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,081 415 23 611 353 857 726 643 570 1,078 790

Working carbon monoxide detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,007 254 242 1,943 1,393 1,230 2,084 3,726 2,268 1,797 1,216

Main Heating Equipment 

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,450 639 1,054 4,289 2,930 2,243 4,983 2,466 5,017 7,406 4,560

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,012 29 – 1,129 1,036 827 1,264 3,547 943 204 318

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,500 218 178 890 561 447 795 75 160 2,790 474

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,641 33 21 336 338 488 725 614 674 325 1,029

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air units without ducts . . . . . 2,760 15 39 420 952 349 838 235 211 476 1,838

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 3 11 69 51 63 133 54 34 176 107

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 – 31 142 87 53 157 11 23 358 22

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 – 55 102 241 81 266 22 22 405 184

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 – 12 2 16 36 57 14 25 76 76

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 – – – 2 1 – 3 – 6 9

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – – – – – – – – 7

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 2 12 45 29 14 57 16 8 106 24

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 – 3 9 11 5 11 18 – 24 8

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 3 5 14 47 14 47 – 3 39 138

 See footnotes at end of table.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 77

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-4. 

Selected Equipment and Plumbing—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Other Heating Equipment1

Warm-air furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2 – – – 4 5 3 7 11 4

Steam or hot water system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 – – – 3 – 2 – – 3 2

Electric heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – 3 – 3 – – – – 6 –

Built-in electric units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 8 15 71 60 83 119 60 66 148 180

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air units without ducts . . . . . 12 – – 3 3 3 7 3 3 – 7

Room heaters with flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 – 6 11 19 20 30 15 9 37 46

Room heaters without flue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 – 29 43 24 46 71 34 55 134 41

Portable electric heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,832 42 179 747 559 458 882 655 952 1,166 1,059

Stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 13 69 34 43 33 102 89 57 119 160

Fireplaces with inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464 41 54 68 44 35 83 32 72 191 169

Fireplaces without inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896 25 15 109 121 32 121 56 99 329 412

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 4 4 11 7 15 18 20 22 20 21

Cooking stove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – – 4 4 – 9 2 4 3 6

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,863 813 1,072 6,329 5,369 3,899 7,843 6,094 5,800 10,281 6,688

—Con.

Plumbing

With all plumbing facilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,722 938 1,400 7,302 6,160 4,530 9,135 6,814 7,005 12,254 8,648

Lacking some or all plumbing facilities1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 3 21 145 140 93 198 259 114 138 146

No hot piped water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 – 3 19 7 8 32 35 11 13 –

No bathtub and no shower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 – – 19 22 12 32 30 10 9 26

No flush toilet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 – – 13 21 7 24 27 7 4 26

No exclusive use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558 3 17 121 119 83 153 217 95 120 125

Primary Source of Water

Public system or private company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,655 879 1,106 7,318 6,174 4,388 8,990 6,685 6,715 11,702 8,552

Well serving 1 to 5 units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,660 62 306 121 123 229 318 371 399 657 234

Drilled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,404 58 279 105 99 209 265 324 332 541 206

Dug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 2 15 8 8 18 30 25 30 59 8

Not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 3 12 8 16 2 23 22 36 56 20

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 – 9 7 4 5 26 17 5 34 8

Safety of Primary Source of Water

 Selected primary water sources4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,366 941 1,421 7,442 6,300 4,623 9,329 7,070 7,119 12,386 8,791

Safe to drink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,095 855 1,249 6,576 4,927 4,191 8,029 6,342 6,582 10,959 7,212

Not safe to drink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,882 77 156 795 1,320 387 1,173 643 470 1,276 1,492

Safety not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 8 16 71 53 46 128 85 67 150 87

Source of Drinking Water

 Primary source not safe to drink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,882 77 156 795 1,320 387 1,173 643 470 1,276 1,492

Drinking and primary water source the same. . . . . . . . . . . . 509 3 17 100 148 49 161 95 100 186 128

Public or private system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 3 17 100 148 49 161 93 100 183 128

Individual well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 – – – – – – 2 – 3 –

Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Cistern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Stream or lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Drinking and primary water source different. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,372 75 139 695 1,172 338 1,012 548 370 1,091 1,364

Public or private system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – – – – 2 – 2 – –

Individual well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 – 4 6 6 3 6 2 – 13 –

Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 – 4 13 13 11 18 40 3 11 6

Cistern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 – – – 6 2 – – – – 9

Stream or lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – – – – – – – – 3 3

Commercial bottled water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,801 69 122 591 1,016 276 849 397 302 907 1,195

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 6 9 84 132 45 137 108 62 157 151

Source of drinking water not reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Means of Sewage Disposal

Public sewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,732 858 790 7,259 6,094 4,287 8,765 6,602 6,635 11,114 8,381

Septic tank, cesspool, or chemical toilet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,640 83 631 184 203 336 566 468 483 1,276 413

Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – – 3 3 – 3 3 1 2 –

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Includes only those who responded they had some type of air conditioning.

3

Restricted to units with smoke detector powered by both electricity and batteries, or batteries only.

4

Excludes units where primary source of drinking water is commercial bottled water.
78 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-5. 

Fuels—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Main House Heating Fuel

 Housing units with heating fuel . . . 35,198 938 1,416 7,432 6,253 4,609 9,286 7,073 7,116 12,353 8,655

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,632 619 712 3,477 2,749 2,129 4,311 1,307 2,250 8,637 3,438

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,573 265 362 3,293 2,834 1,845 4,022 3,344 4,367 2,969 4,893

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929 28 226 139 84 122 247 138 282 390 119

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 9 31 474 525 444 556 2,197 126 148 50

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 3 50 39 30 10 56 36 3 103 11

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – – – – 4 5 – 2 –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 13 35 2 19 39 67 38 33 96 110

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – – 3 – 3 – – – – 3

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 – – 5 11 18 24 8 54 8 31

Cooking Fuel 

 With cooking fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,235 941 1,417 7,425 6,281 4,589 9,273 7,024 7,107 12,355 8,750

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,567 706 853 4,203 3,025 2,976 5,589 2,624 4,579 9,566 4,798

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,923 214 348 3,102 3,160 1,480 3,476 4,162 2,384 2,510 3,867

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726 21 217 117 94 124 194 230 138 275 83

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – 3 – – 1 4 – 4 –

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 – – – 3 9 12 4 6 – 3

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Water Heating Fuel 

 With hot piped water . . . . . . . . . . . 35,319 941 1,417 7,427 6,293 4,616 9,301 7,038 7,108 12,379 8,794

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,095 605 1,059 3,400 2,383 2,223 4,401 1,558 2,760 8,892 2,885

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,865 305 263 3,620 3,387 1,989 4,354 3,732 4,151 3,247 5,734

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692 19 95 88 91 81 164 167 186 204 134

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,604 11 – 314 424 302 374 1,573 – 28 4

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – – – – 3 – – – 3 –

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 – – – – 3 – 6 – – 3

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 – – 3 3 2 3 – – 2 12

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 – – 1 6 12 6 2 11 4 22

Central Air Conditioning Fuel 

 With central air conditioning . . . . . 18,161 797 817 4,186 2,812 2,302 4,377 1,229 3,519 9,923 3,490

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,765 778 811 4,093 2,762 2,238 4,313 1,143 3,407 9,819 3,396

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 19 4 85 47 57 57 86 105 89 89

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 – 3 8 2 8 7 – 8 14 5

Other Central Air Fuel 

 With other central air . . . . . . . . . . . 920 60 48 249 162 102 235 33 84 658 145

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903 60 48 248 160 102 235 29 80 651 143

Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 – – 1 2 1 – 4 1 7 2

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – – – – – – – 3 – –

Clothes Dryer Fuel

 With clothes dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,343 791 1,153 3,297 2,425 1,791 3,855 2,291 3,707 7,720 4,625

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,438 682 1,074 2,780 1,854 1,572 3,328 1,699 2,956 7,405 3,378

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,785 107 51 502 560 202 505 568 715 283 1,219

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 2 28 15 11 17 22 24 36 32 28

Units Using Each Fuel1

Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,368 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,330 7,067 7,119 12,389 8,794

Piped gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,186 381 417 4,575 4,215 2,610 5,497 5,230 5,046 4,444 6,466

Bottled gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,425 32 304 200 167 189 382 318 336 595 175

Fuel oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,800 19 37 539 589 482 659 2,428 144 174 55

Kerosene or other liquid fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 3 50 42 30 13 57 40 3 110 11

Coal or coke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – – – – 4 5 – 2 –

Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 13 35 2 19 40 67 38 33 96 110

Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – – 6 3 5 3 – – 2 15

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 – 3 8 23 27 38 11 65 22 52

All electric units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,216 531 637 2,711 1,952 1,694 3,394 836 1,740 7,385 2,254

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 79

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-6. 

Failures in Equipment—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Water Supply Stoppage 

 With hot and cold piped water . . . . . . . . . 35,319 941 1,417 7,427 6,293 4,616 9,301 7,038 7,108 12,379 8,794

No stoppage in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,370 908 1,294 7,088 5,989 4,397 8,763 6,694 6,768 11,722 8,187

With stoppage in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,601 18 103 251 264 182 418 275 306 475 545

 No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . 394 5 43 51 63 61 80 71 77 108 139

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760 10 36 109 111 79 190 124 173 231 232

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 – 12 39 53 22 69 31 28 63 99

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 – 3 24 15 8 17 20 14 24 34

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 3 10 22 23 12 48 27 9 41 35

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 – – 6 – 1 15 2 6 8 6

Stoppage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 15 20 89 40 36 120 69 34 183 62

Flush Toilet Breakdowns 

 With one or more flush toilets . . . . . . . . . 35,313 941 1,421 7,434 6,279 4,616 9,310 7,046 7,112 12,388 8,768

With at least one working toilet at all times in 

last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,766 923 1,366 7,008 5,992 4,445 8,742 6,741 6,823 11,788 8,415

None working some time in last 3 months . . . . . . . 1,210 3 34 336 249 134 452 237 258 427 288

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . 371 3 11 90 74 57 118 71 102 100 98

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549 – 16 167 101 57 208 122 117 198 113

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 – 1 47 33 16 67 26 22 69 50

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 – 3 2 12 – 12 4 2 15 9

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 – 4 30 25 2 44 10 13 45 16

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 – – – 4 2 1 3 4 – 3

Breakdowns not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 15 20 89 38 37 116 68 31 173 65

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns 

 With public sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,732 858 790 7,259 6,094 4,287 8,765 6,602 6,635 11,114 8,381

No breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,211 851 783 7,108 5,951 4,231 8,573 6,520 6,515 10,941 8,236

With breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521 7 6 151 143 55 192 81 120 174 145

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . 94 – – 20 34 5 34 15 22 18 38

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 3 6 72 66 39 102 49 65 98 71

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 – – 35 20 8 23 8 19 29 22

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3 – 11 6 – 19 4 6 20 3

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 – – 13 16 4 14 5 8 10 10

 With septic tank or cesspool . . . . . . . . . . 2,640 83 631 184 203 336 566 468 483 1,276 413

No breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,591 81 626 184 193 336 552 463 481 1,249 399

With breakdowns in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 2 5 – 10 – 13 6 2 27 14

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . 3 – – – – – 3 – – 3 –

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 – 5 – 10 – 10 6 2 18 14

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – – – – – – – – 3 –

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 – – – – – – – 2 –

Heating Problems 

 With heating equipment and occupied 

 last winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,244 749 1,261 6,670 5,467 4,457 8,177 6,541 6,352 10,802 7,550

Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more 

last winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,957 689 1,016 5,612 4,828 4,091 6,801 5,452 5,388 9,516 6,601

Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more 

last winter1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,622 43 212 883 573 260 1,179 881 873 1,014 853

 Equipment breakdowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,144 9 46 349 208 62 415 338 292 313 201

 No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . 12 – – – 5 1 4 3 4 2 2

 1 time lasting 6 hours or more . . . . . . . . . . . . 600 9 14 161 78 23 200 160 154 177 108

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 – 4 59 42 17 59 68 58 38 27

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 – 9 28 12 3 38 29 31 20 6

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 – 19 77 61 18 92 71 37 60 46

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 – – 22 10 – 21 7 7 16 11

 Other causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,581 34 169 574 388 196 815 592 602 730 657

 Utility interruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 18 81 78 46 49 126 123 113 200 60

 Inadequate heating capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675 5 8 196 121 59 280 153 141 176 205

 Inadequate insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 6 37 134 65 43 189 96 142 141 144

 Cost of heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 – 19 68 63 28 111 85 102 92 142

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677 3 38 153 122 45 183 163 172 173 169

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3 – 2 – – 2 3 2 – 3

 Reason for discomfort not reported . . . . . . . . . . 24 – – 8 7 6 4 15 3 3 3

Discomfort not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666 17 33 175 66 105 198 207 91 272 96

 See footnotes at end of table. 
80 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-6. 

Failures in Equipment—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers 

 With electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,351 938 1,421 7,444 6,293 4,621 9,330 7,065 7,119 12,381 8,787

No fuses or breakers blown in last 3 months . . . . . 31,879 867 1,271 6,762 5,876 4,391 8,422 6,455 6,349 11,156 7,919

With fuses or breakers blown in last 3 months . . . . . 3,082 61 124 606 368 191 796 552 719 1,019 792

 1 time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,540 23 62 278 162 135 356 249 364 538 388

 2 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701 17 26 141 84 29 169 139 179 198 185

 3 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 19 9 71 40 8 94 67 59 98 79

 4 times or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507 3 27 97 74 17 155 86 112 172 137

 Number of times not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 – – 19 8 1 23 11 6 12 3

Problem not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . 391 11 26 76 49 39 112 58 51 206 77

1

Other causes and equipment breakdowns may not add to the total as both may be reported.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 81

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Selected Amenities1

Porch, deck, balcony, or patio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,984 740 1,181 5,049 4,066 2,836 6,164 3,325 5,055 10,024 6,580

Telephone available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,196 861 1,369 7,114 6,123 4,498 8,933 6,685 6,877 12,044 8,590

Usable fireplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,540 151 123 659 625 314 626 335 550 1,789 1,866

Separate dining room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,959 273 287 2,298 1,780 1,012 2,163 2,103 1,963 3,620 2,274

With 2 or more living rooms or recreation rooms, etc. . . 2,934 143 89 421 298 250 350 390 618 1,060 866

Garage or carport included with home . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,258 497 281 1,937 2,382 1,563 2,592 1,385 2,748 3,612 5,513

Not included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,105 444 1,139 5,505 3,918 3,053 6,739 5,685 4,367 8,778 3,276

 Off-street parking included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,676 380 1,048 4,326 2,790 2,439 5,287 3,188 3,717 8,030 2,742

 Off-street parking not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – 1 1 – 1 1 1 – –

Garage or carport not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 – – 4 – 7 2 3 5 3 5

Cars and Trucks Available1

No cars, trucks, or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,669 94 130 2,141 1,238 1,834 3,203 2,531 1,267 1,734 1,136

Other households without cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,415 98 348 674 974 340 1,082 564 979 1,804 1,068

1 car with or without trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,418 528 712 3,523 2,824 2,095 4,121 2,978 3,588 6,447 4,405

2 cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,719 186 155 951 1,027 320 791 862 1,091 2,047 1,718

3 or more cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,157 35 75 156 236 35 136 138 194 360 465

With cars, no trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,009 569 550 3,772 2,880 2,005 3,970 3,213 3,645 6,383 4,768

1 truck or van with or without cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,925 206 480 1,214 1,581 561 1,619 968 1,695 3,107 2,155

2 or more trucks or vans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,775 72 260 319 601 223 541 362 512 1,168 734

Owner or Manager on Property 

 Rental, multiunit2

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,181 576 (X) 5,056 4,212 3,314 6,136 5,461 4,564 6,737 5,419

Owner or manager lives on property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,461 198 (X) 1,419 1,568 1,182 1,838 1,615 1,176 1,966 2,704

Neither owner nor manager lives on property . . . . . . . . 14,720 378 (X) 3,636 2,644 2,132 4,298 3,846 3,388 4,771 2,715

Selected Deficiencies1

Signs of rats in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 – 18 87 82 15 90 55 26 114 63

Signs of mice in last 3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,138 13 190 549 464 225 689 707 415 674 342

Signs of rodents, not sure which kind in last 

3 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 – 6 75 24 8 81 57 31 85 16

Holes in floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560 – 38 177 116 42 223 134 80 244 103

Open cracks or holes (interior) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,416 18 123 617 402 149 862 545 524 861 487

Broken plaster or peeling paint (interior) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,132 3 48 306 210 74 423 269 270 375 219

No electrical wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3 – 2 7 2 4 8 – 12 6

Exposed wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 4 5 31 27 27 46 40 23 43 28

Rooms without electric outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624 11 28 187 121 56 232 99 144 272 109

Special Living3

 Services available to residents1

. . . . . . . . . . . . 976 26 (X) 165 76 802 331 229 307 271 168

Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 17 (X) 63 38 537 178 110 221 166 114

Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686 17 (X) 115 51 587 215 148 227 200 110

Housekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 10 (X) 60 19 466 135 71 195 132 105

Financial management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 6 (X) 35 9 198 91 66 71 69 41

Aid with telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 11 (X) 23 15 211 71 45 76 79 51

Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 9 (X) 47 13 369 106 75 144 124 68

 Services and assistance available to 

 residents1, 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 8 (X) 25 8 284 81 51 118 85 54

Bathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 5 (X) 17 7 247 69 41 105 70 45

Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 4 (X) 20 4 218 56 34 95 63 42

Moving about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 2 (X) 24 6 236 65 44 104 64 47

Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 5 (X) 19 5 227 59 34 97 65 49

Toilet use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 2 (X) 18 5 206 53 34 89 57 43

Access to Structure

 Entering building from outside5

 . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,181 576 – 5,056 4,212 3,314 6,136 5,461 4,564 6,737 5,419

Use of steps not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,239 292 – 1,915 1,519 1,780 2,386 1,650 1,438 2,972 2,180

Use of steps required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,935 284 – 3,141 2,690 1,529 3,750 3,809 3,122 3,766 3,239

Use of steps not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – – – 2 5 – 2 5 – –

 Entering home from outside6

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,197 365 1,421 2,391 2,089 1,309 3,198 1,612 2,555 5,655 3,375

Use of steps not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,357 230 196 951 950 551 1,231 491 754 2,380 1,732

Use of steps required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,824 135 1,225 1,439 1,139 751 1,956 1,121 1,798 3,262 1,643

Use of steps not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 – – – – 7 11 – 4 13 –

 See footnotes at end of table. 
82 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Selected Physical Problems 

Severe physical problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994 3 51 267 216 118 348 363 188 236 207

 Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 3 21 145 140 93 198 259 114 138 146

 Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 – 28 105 73 22 130 100 68 79 53

 Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 – 3 3 1 – 6 7 – 7 –

 Upkeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 – 3 17 7 2 21 10 9 15 10

Moderate physical problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,269 26 64 551 443 206 731 466 435 856 511

 Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 – 7 26 33 – 45 14 10 53 24

 Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 – 31 142 82 53 152 7 23 356 18

 Upkeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560 – 28 155 90 27 222 131 122 206 101

 Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,293 26 3 265 261 135 358 339 291 278 386

Overall Opinion of Structure

1 (worst) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 – 21 117 98 29 178 86 51 127 62

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 5 16 73 29 16 74 31 54 78 45

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 2 9 129 59 26 203 100 69 138 129

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708 5 42 181 81 27 238 138 151 239 180

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,910 20 196 698 524 257 969 482 603 1,124 701

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,553 27 156 598 446 235 695 484 551 852 665

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,146 116 183 1,246 981 490 1,400 1,140 1,236 2,144 1,625

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,625 212 330 1,922 1,695 1,091 2,217 1,933 1,956 3,296 2,439

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,217 196 130 645 794 688 844 899 805 1,371 1,143

10 (best) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,941 328 282 1,454 1,424 1,628 2,120 1,432 1,443 2,471 1,596

Not Reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,306 30 56 383 170 136 396 348 200 551 208

Water Leakage During Last 12 Months 

No leakage from inside structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,184 884 1,234 6,404 5,643 4,312 8,166 6,204 6,287 10,864 7,829

With leakage from inside structure1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,836 42 168 958 620 262 1,059 786 792 1,354 904

 Fixtures backed up or overflowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952 4 28 251 143 44 271 164 223 335 231

 Pipes leaked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,664 22 100 430 282 124 460 395 304 552 413

 Broken water heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 2 22 72 37 29 93 60 50 153 64

 Other or unknown (includes not reported) . . . . . . . . . 1,088 14 20 256 181 70 291 193 243 395 256

Interior leakage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 15 18 84 38 49 108 83 40 174 60

No leakage from outside structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,906 891 1,195 6,696 5,830 4,352 8,352 6,369 6,126 11,206 8,205

With leakage from outside structure1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,121 35 208 667 434 230 874 625 945 1,019 533

 Roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,579 10 140 360 259 109 418 306 386 631 257

 Basement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538 8 2 92 32 41 129 157 314 38 29

 Walls, closed windows, or doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795 6 56 163 89 54 262 128 247 258 162

 Other or unknown (includes not reported) . . . . . . . . . 410 11 20 86 72 32 117 80 80 142 108

Exterior leakage not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 15 18 84 36 41 107 79 48 168 56

Renter Maintenance Quality

Major repairs needed7

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,554 514 938 5,512 4,577 3,664 6,744 5,225 5,281 8,814 6,234

 Work usually started quickly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,183 455 837 4,495 3,831 3,412 5,634 4,544 4,692 7,548 5,398

 Management solved problem quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,246 484 865 4,849 4,078 3,484 5,976 4,750 4,865 7,929 5,702

 Management polite and considerate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,967 505 926 5,338 4,473 3,596 6,568 5,107 5,168 8,613 6,079

Minor repairs needed7

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,123 590 956 5,761 4,839 3,897 7,084 5,565 5,605 9,261 6,693

 Started quickly enough usually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,940 541 868 4,897 4,214 3,649 6,078 4,829 5,008 8,209 5,894

 Solved the problem quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,190 563 907 5,268 4,410 3,731 6,437 5,084 5,310 8,596 6,200

 Polite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,624 586 935 5,611 4,731 3,854 6,922 5,482 5,495 9,081 6,566

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 83

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-7. 

Additional Indicators of Housing Quality—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Building and Ground Maintenance

Building Maintenance Quality 

 Completely satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,026 781 956 4,791 4,411 3,822 6,163 4,839 5,054 8,799 6,334

 Partly satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,809 105 212 1,795 1,266 504 2,003 1,485 1,445 2,200 1,679

 Dissatisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,939 11 63 580 392 119 735 475 381 628 455

 Landlord not responsible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967 28 161 107 157 98 226 101 170 464 233

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637 16 29 173 74 79 207 173 69 302 92

Ground Maintenance Quality 

 Completely satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,997 695 884 4,612 4,252 3,695 6,111 4,931 4,829 8,192 6,044

 Partly satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,392 100 129 1,424 1,055 445 1,529 1,226 1,130 1,625 1,412

 Dissatisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,813 16 77 607 395 137 657 427 339 618 429

 Landlord not responsible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,564 113 301 646 531 268 830 313 772 1,659 819

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 16 29 158 67 78 205 176 48 298 90

Building and Ground Maintenance Quality 

 Completely satisfied with both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,201 648 790 3,951 3,789 3,463 5,294 4,379 4,232 7,236 5,354

 Completely dissatisfied with both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994 5 38 350 247 67 419 284 168 295 247

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Two or more units of any tenure in structure.

3

Restricted to multiunits with five or more apartments with a resident 55 years of age or older.

4

Limited to units that reported meals, transportation, housekeeping, financial management, aid with telephone, or shopping. 

5

Restricted to multiunits.

6

Restricted to single units.

7

When landlord responsible for repairs and when at least 1 condition answered.

—Con.
84 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-8. 

Neighborhood—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Overall Opinion of Neighborhood

1 (worst) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 13 31 240 118 24 276 124 124 163 88

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 5 8 136 66 16 142 65 78 148 56

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543 3 33 124 74 27 215 123 98 179 144

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867 23 32 214 121 41 317 133 199 289 246

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,976 32 106 812 618 290 1,089 503 555 1,155 763

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,465 60 108 571 413 205 680 490 494 798 683

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,164 118 180 1,097 784 478 1,126 984 1,073 1,773 1,334

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,986 265 341 1,670 1,627 1,048 1,989 1,828 1,785 3,015 2,359

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,563 149 130 772 818 684 973 957 912 1,527 1,167

10 (best) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,575 244 395 1,414 1,475 1,642 2,090 1,503 1,586 2,752 1,733

No neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 – – 3 2 4 15 9 10 6 5

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,362 30 56 393 184 164 420 355 205 586 217

Street Noise or Traffic

Bothersome street noise or heavy traffic 

present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,158 234 326 2,460 1,725 1,077 3,110 2,277 2,213 3,123 2,546

No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,858 696 1,081 4,895 4,545 3,498 6,119 4,736 4,863 9,084 6,174

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 11 14 91 30 48 104 60 42 185 74

Neighborhood Crime 

Serious crime in past 12 months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,650 179 205 2,045 1,403 658 2,254 1,345 1,639 2,702 1,963

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,886 740 1,190 5,146 4,814 3,853 6,813 5,578 5,333 9,351 6,623

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842 21 25 255 83 112 267 149 147 338 208

Odors

Bothersome smoke, gas, or bad smells . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

 Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,156 34 74 614 359 164 727 490 484 661 522

 No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,847 894 1,331 6,749 5,907 4,408 8,505 6,521 6,600 11,543 8,184

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 13 16 83 35 51 102 63 35 189 88

Other Bothersome Neighborhood Conditions

No other problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,404 759 1,181 5,963 5,357 4,159 7,505 5,903 5,993 10,255 7,253

With other problems1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,517 172 219 1,360 903 411 1,694 1,083 1,085 1,896 1,453

 Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,217 22 43 296 217 95 340 302 195 424 296

 Litter or housing deterioration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590 8 19 203 127 43 213 140 109 215 127

 Poor city or county services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 – 7 101 37 21 89 52 64 93 46

 Undesirable commercial, institutional, or 

 industrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 6 3 37 36 8 53 39 35 56 38

 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,815 49 90 460 297 115 630 307 403 636 468

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,791 108 81 710 444 217 782 521 499 1,001 770

 No problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 – 3 12 11 8 24 19 13 17 12

 Type of problem not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 – – 5 – 3 2 3 2 – –

Other problems not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 11 21 124 40 53 135 88 41 241 87

Public Elementary School1

Households with children aged 5 through 15 . . . . 8,127 249 408 2,214 2,319 74 2,807 1,413 1,438 3,066 2,210

 Attend public school (K–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,208 220 368 2,011 2,103 69 2,531 1,187 1,279 2,746 1,996

 Attend private school (K–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 16 10 96 79 3 88 96 58 131 95

 Attend ungraded school, preschool, etc. . . . . . . 111 5 1 27 26 – 55 25 20 32 34

 Home schooled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 2 9 5 4 – 17 6 24 41 16

 Not in school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 7 14 43 50 – 58 49 31 56 44

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 4 9 77 78 2 84 76 47 110 53

Households with children aged 0 through 13 . . . . 10,486 303 547 2,681 2,899 73 3,668 1,766 1,935 4,079 2,706

 Satisfactory public elementary school . . . . . . . . 8,331 248 460 2,121 2,413 64 2,863 1,380 1,516 3,258 2,177

 Unsatisfactory public elementary school . . . . . . 724 26 31 259 132 4 322 113 157 275 179

 Not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,431 29 55 300 354 5 483 273 262 546 350

 Public elementary school less than 1 mile . . . . . 7,096 170 187 1,957 2,267 50 2,536 1,292 1,308 2,402 2,094

Public elementary school 1 mile or more . . . . . . 2,741 127 314 590 454 17 896 355 496 1,428 463

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649 7 46 134 178 5 236 119 131 249 149

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 85

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-8. 

Neighborhood—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Academic Comparison to Other Area 

Elementary Schools

Households with children aged 0 through 13 

dissatisfied with local elementary school . . . . . . 724 26 31 259 132 4 322 113 157 275 179

 Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 – – 38 16 3 40 11 9 27 16

 About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 4 13 62 39 – 93 36 47 86 55

 Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 13 18 146 71 1 175 60 92 141 93

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 9 – 13 6 – 15 6 9 21 15

Building Neighbor Noise2

Neighbor noise present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,655 398 (X) 3,410 2,494 1,584 3,939 3,563 3,219 4,283 3,590

 Loudness bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,472 102 (X) 1,163 889 305 1,396 936 983 1,364 1,189

 Loudness not bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,180 296 (X) 2,246 1,604 1,278 2,542 2,625 2,236 2,919 2,400

 Loudness bothersome not reported . . . . . . . . . . 3 – (X) – – 1 1 2 – – 1

 Time of noise bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,483 96 (X) 1,214 880 320 1,416 936 1,000 1,415 1,132

 Time of noise not bothersome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,159 302 (X) 2,190 1,614 1,261 2,519 2,626 2,219 2,859 2,454

 Time bothersome not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 – (X) 5 – 3 4 1 – 9 4

Neighbor noise not present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,334 227 (X) 1,865 1,809 1,731 2,314 2,104 1,501 2,695 2,035

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,213 45 (X) 282 208 227 381 310 218 430 255

Public Transportation 

With public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,641 507 285 5,856 4,996 3,245 6,562 5,832 4,703 6,909 7,196

 Travel time to nearest bus stop, train station, or 

 subway stop

 Less than 5 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,328 191 93 2,468 1,978 1,218 2,783 2,403 2,340 2,622 2,964

 5–9 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,869 149 108 2,116 1,925 1,162 2,296 2,072 1,486 2,580 2,732

 10–14 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,753 95 30 738 574 380 704 772 382 825 774

 15–29 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,099 29 22 237 275 172 288 267 123 348 360

 30 minutes or longer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 5 16 46 17 20 87 37 37 66 29

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,422 38 16 251 227 293 404 281 336 468 337

 Household uses public transportation regularly 

 for commuting to school or work . . . . . . . . . . . 6,395 100 39 1,959 1,682 564 2,089 2,378 1,012 1,221 1,783

 Household does not use public transportation 

 regularly for commuting to school or work . . . . 18,075 392 246 3,838 3,285 2,670 4,427 3,366 3,672 5,644 5,394

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 15 – 59 28 11 46 88 19 44 19

No public transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,684 399 1,081 1,438 1,217 1,236 2,522 1,060 2,182 5,040 1,401

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,053 35 54 152 88 142 250 181 234 443 196

Neighborhood Shopping

Grocery stores or drug stores within 15 minutes 

of your home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,189 896 1,282 7,120 6,106 4,434 8,888 6,887 6,907 11,866 8,530

 Satisfactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,082 880 1,244 6,736 5,941 4,294 8,481 6,634 6,677 11,511 8,259

 Not satisfactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 964 16 31 334 153 104 371 216 210 289 249

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 – 8 50 11 36 37 36 20 65 22

No grocery stores or drug stores within 15 

minutes of your home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 20 98 226 146 148 319 110 162 330 174

Not reported or don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 25 41 100 49 41 126 76 50 197 90

Police Protection

Satisfactory police protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,740 846 1,240 6,325 5,623 4,294 8,025 6,311 6,479 11,049 7,900

Unsatisfactory police protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,556 58 134 835 543 193 990 518 501 931 606

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,082 36 47 286 135 135 319 244 139 412 287

Secured Communities 

Community access secured with walls or 

fences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,422 277 79 1,371 1,336 827 1,392 749 403 2,065 2,205

 Special entry system present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,410 245 13 790 788 576 739 374 207 1,370 1,459

 Special entry system not present . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,005 32 67 577 547 251 653 375 195 692 743

 Special entry system not reported . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – – 4 – – – – – 4 3

Community access not secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,714 657 1,329 6,028 4,930 3,758 7,865 6,284 6,693 10,207 6,530

Community access not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 7 12 48 35 38 76 40 23 121 58

Secured Multiunits 

Multiunit access secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,854 249 (X) 1,301 998 1,426 1,503 1,677 1,356 1,354 1,467

Multiunit access not secured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,590 290 (X) 3,406 2,749 1,567 4,129 3,414 2,943 4,790 3,444

Multiunit access not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,737 37 (X) 349 465 321 504 370 266 593 508

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
86 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-8. 

Neighborhood—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Senior Citizen Communities

 Households with person 55 and over . . . 9,093 186 320 1,842 1,255 4,623 2,645 2,362 1,895 2,757 2,080

Community age restricted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,624 51 35 300 169 1,374 588 377 440 422 384

No age restriction or restriction not reported . . . . . 7,469 135 285 1,542 1,086 3,249 2,057 1,984 1,455 2,334 1,695

 Community age specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,435 14 63 265 137 800 414 351 386 480 218

 Community not age specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,583 119 193 1,168 906 2,265 1,509 1,497 1,006 1,710 1,371

 Community age specific not reported . . . . . . . . 451 3 29 109 43 184 134 137 63 144 106

Community Quality

Some or all community activities present1

 . . . . . . . 16,845 592 418 3,392 2,647 2,731 4,197 3,206 4,151 5,294 4,193

 Community center or clubhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,703 479 192 2,078 1,347 1,888 2,346 1,660 2,245 3,354 2,445

 Golf in community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,947 55 82 471 499 604 880 751 1,466 826 904

 Trails in community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,309 175 113 1,017 876 826 1,369 1,196 1,865 1,797 1,451

 Shuttle bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,215 79 72 702 713 1,258 1,161 1,005 1,075 1,080 1,055

 Daycare center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,249 70 102 1,297 934 546 1,568 1,416 1,602 1,205 1,026

 Private or restricted beach, park, or shoreline . . 6,308 149 168 1,053 1,145 731 1,466 1,445 1,916 1,399 1,548

Description of Area Within 300 Feet1

Single-family detached houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,007 552 1,060 5,471 4,789 3,451 7,099 5,112 5,540 9,258 7,097

Single-family attached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,860 289 81 2,541 1,961 1,336 2,609 2,640 1,977 3,300 2,942

Multiunit residential buildings3

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,121 566 140 5,067 4,326 2,974 6,055 4,948 4,510 6,777 5,887

 1- to 3-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,130 405 127 3,592 3,060 1,853 4,428 2,271 3,583 5,452 4,823

 4- to 6-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,473 73 6 793 744 552 883 1,435 493 816 728

 7-or-more-story multiunit is tallest . . . . . . . . . . . 2,243 88 4 615 452 476 644 1,138 369 463 272

Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,112 78 1,096 448 484 329 1,007 236 392 1,633 851

Commercial or institutional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,657 348 313 4,324 3,726 2,363 5,345 4,442 3,608 5,909 4,699

Industrial or factories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,856 29 72 746 642 295 972 865 622 798 571

Open space, park, woods, farm, or ranch . . . . . . . 12,706 441 851 2,369 1,770 1,606 3,165 2,522 2,864 4,456 2,863

4-or-more-lane highway, railroad, or airport . . . . . 9,232 242 273 2,236 1,636 1,121 2,524 1,425 1,955 3,628 2,224

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 15 42 222 101 59 215 145 126 357 159

Bodies of Water Within 300 Feet 

Water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,832 191 247 834 605 626 990 973 1,044 2,062 754

 With waterfront property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678 28 34 93 55 145 116 131 177 273 96

 Waterfront property not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 3 8 16 15 21 23 20 19 47 8

 With flood plain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692 36 53 117 96 74 132 128 82 369 114

 Flood plain not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 10 – 11 18 10 15 11 11 45 7

Water not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 7 5 42 11 5 40 42 24 40 49

No water in area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,390 743 1,169 6,570 5,684 3,992 8,304 6,059 6,051 10,290 7,990

Age of Other Residential Buildings Within 300 

Feet

Older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,928 14 245 989 831 566 1,421 1,040 968 1,648 1,273

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,313 459 694 5,092 4,283 2,696 5,826 4,510 4,795 8,259 5,750

Newer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,648 405 166 501 358 521 781 623 549 851 625

Very mixed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,120 22 177 365 374 423 611 410 361 742 606

No other residential buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891 26 85 131 156 194 266 171 184 346 191

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,478 15 52 368 299 223 428 320 262 547 348

Other Buildings Vandalized or With Interior 

Exposed Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,533 842 1,190 5,864 5,485 4,117 7,566 6,091 6,105 10,582 7,755

1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,211 20 50 365 231 112 422 224 237 453 297

More than 1 building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,825 37 50 838 310 138 802 392 441 652 339

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626 18 84 65 104 128 163 105 139 248 134

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,182 24 47 314 170 129 380 261 196 457 268

Bars on Windows of Buildings Within 300 Feet

No bars on windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,024 840 1,215 5,046 4,172 3,515 6,703 4,715 6,041 10,041 6,227

1 building with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851 12 42 196 178 98 267 133 158 330 230

2 or more buildings with bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,174 44 29 1,663 1,562 631 1,676 1,773 485 1,162 1,754

No buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626 18 84 65 104 128 163 105 139 248 134

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,703 27 50 477 284 251 524 347 296 612 448

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 87

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-8. 

Neighborhood—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics

Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Condition of Streets Within 300 Feet 

No repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,782 656 633 3,406 3,492 2,721 4,476 3,205 3,353 6,892 5,333

Minor repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,843 194 588 2,985 2,169 1,421 3,568 3,032 2,948 4,107 2,757

Major repairs needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,228 57 115 676 394 257 807 487 575 823 344

No streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 18 33 78 93 76 126 89 58 135 136

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,106 15 53 300 153 148 357 260 185 436 225

Trash, Litter, or Junk on Streets or Any 

Properties Within 300 Feet

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,595 864 1,205 5,764 5,211 4,172 7,264 5,765 5,975 10,512 7,344

Minor accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,759 43 107 1,064 738 283 1,366 883 769 1,112 994

Major accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,093 19 64 351 235 72 437 230 224 373 266

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931 15 45 268 116 96 267 195 151 395 190

Parking Lots 

With parking lots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,981 492 308 4,136 3,160 2,684 5,199 3,578 4,533 6,488 4,382

No parking lots within 300 feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,563 433 1,071 3,075 3,038 1,861 3,903 3,326 2,454 5,541 4,242

Parking lots not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833 15 42 236 103 78 232 169 132 363 169

Manufactured/Mobile Homes in Group

 Manufactured/mobile homes . . . . . . . . . . 1,421 28 1,421 140 232 158 483 104 201 845 270

1 to 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 966 17 966 107 130 107 337 57 135 577 197

7 to 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 – 153 11 25 15 58 17 14 109 14

21 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 11 301 22 77 36 88 30 53 159 59

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Limited to single attached and multiunits.

3

Figures do not add up because of nonrespondents.

—Con.
88 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-9. 

Household Composition—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Population in housing units . . . . . . . 82,753 2,247 3,889 17,919 19,608 6,424 23,299 15,666 15,319 29,546 22,223

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Persons 

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,331 323 385 2,774 1,280 3,264 3,908 2,884 3,029 4,463 2,954

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,453 271 365 1,805 1,426 1,082 1,669 1,935 1,938 3,259 2,321

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,345 145 222 1,261 1,170 195 1,329 1,001 986 2,062 1,296

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,016 121 260 868 1,160 49 1,130 751 689 1,418 1,157

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,910 50 105 403 694 22 702 284 291 725 611

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780 13 50 183 322 6 326 125 102 292 261

7 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543 17 33 151 248 5 269 92 84 173 194

Number of Single Children Under 18 Years Old

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,026 580 798 4,232 3,020 4,498 5,029 4,937 4,857 7,656 5,575

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,349 136 236 1,345 1,163 81 1,558 953 1,007 2,109 1,280

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,106 135 225 992 1,194 32 1,308 756 782 1,471 1,097

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,928 60 120 571 581 7 900 293 298 773 565

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632 15 29 186 219 – 323 91 116 255 170

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 5 11 78 85 2 139 28 37 79 77

6 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 10 3 42 40 2 77 15 22 49 29

Persons 65 Years Old and Over

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,223 842 1,244 6,533 5,685 (X) 7,761 5,673 5,958 10,937 7,655

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,453 73 148 842 516 3,952 1,476 1,202 1,031 1,252 968

2 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701 26 28 71 100 671 97 199 130 203 170

Age of Householder 

Under 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,799 171 216 874 819 (X) 1,760 628 1,143 1,883 1,145

25 to 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,072 154 170 1,005 993 (X) 1,106 827 1,068 1,959 1,219

30 to 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,561 137 188 934 1,044 (X) 1,016 871 796 1,653 1,240

35 to 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,976 187 323 1,606 1,446 (X) 1,598 1,420 1,202 2,482 1,872

45 to 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,762 124 258 1,379 954 (X) 1,390 1,181 1,139 1,974 1,469

55 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,585 81 107 861 558 (X) 1,001 875 685 1,175 850

65 to 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,120 53 95 487 271 2,120 662 569 435 641 475

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,503 35 63 298 216 2,503 799 701 652 626 524

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 35 38 40 36 75 39 43 39 37 38

Household Composition by Age of Householder

2-or-more-person households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,047 618 1,036 4,672 5,020 1,359 5,426 4,189 4,090 7,929 5,839

 Married-couple families, no nonrelatives . . . . . . . . 8,808 285 484 1,115 2,269 793 1,369 1,716 1,397 3,109 2,587

 Under 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707 26 58 52 205 (X) 160 64 110 305 228

 25 to 29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,313 52 53 141 386 (X) 243 198 225 517 373

 30 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,497 43 87 188 433 (X) 217 239 229 564 465

 35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,168 75 130 291 634 (X) 334 436 299 753 681

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,329 63 119 362 496 (X) 316 546 383 750 650

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793 25 38 80 114 793 99 234 150 220 189

 Other male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,673 108 210 756 1,131 150 786 803 930 1,642 1,299

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,629 97 150 502 893 (X) 570 568 743 1,301 1,018

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895 8 54 210 217 (X) 185 196 156 298 246

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 2 6 44 22 150 31 39 31 44 36

 Other female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,565 225 341 2,801 1,620 417 3,271 1,670 1,764 3,178 1,953

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,119 178 255 1,964 1,089 (X) 2,520 1,106 1,378 2,282 1,353

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,030 42 73 725 435 (X) 623 452 315 750 513

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417 5 13 112 95 417 128 113 71 146 87

1-person households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,331 323 385 2,774 1,280 3,264 3,908 2,884 3,029 4,463 2,954

 Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,588 165 198 1,280 715 936 1,641 1,330 1,457 2,234 1,566

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,540 102 101 698 427 (X) 787 653 756 1,297 835

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,112 37 57 406 198 (X) 570 427 491 696 498

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936 26 40 175 91 936 285 251 211 241 234

 Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,743 158 187 1,495 565 2,328 2,267 1,554 1,571 2,230 1,388

 Under 45 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,434 75 62 583 234 (X) 650 484 468 959 523

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,981 55 63 537 166 (X) 698 436 479 654 412

 65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,328 29 62 375 165 2,328 919 634 624 616 453

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 89

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-9. 

Household Composition—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Adults and Single Children Under 18 Years Old

Total households with children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,352 361 623 3,214 3,281 125 4,304 2,136 2,262 4,736 3,218

 Married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,084 166 291 644 1,677 34 1,057 853 734 1,847 1,650

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926 30 40 97 259 5 115 173 107 399 247

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . . 1,037 22 70 123 441 5 284 175 131 354 376

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677 27 41 87 211 – 187 113 104 265 196

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . 401 15 29 57 159 – 144 55 59 150 137

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,043 71 110 280 607 24 327 338 332 680 694

 Other households with two or more adults . . . . . . . 3,083 51 132 955 914 52 1,109 543 577 1,186 778

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686 10 53 144 188 9 206 108 151 291 137

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . . 483 13 10 144 180 2 199 87 101 162 133

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 3 20 115 88 – 162 60 57 138 71

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . 190 2 8 80 80 2 106 27 36 82 45

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,398 23 41 473 378 38 435 261 232 513 392

 Households with one adult or none . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,185 144 200 1,615 689 39 2,139 740 951 1,703 790

 One child under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687 8 31 253 93 – 360 87 197 296 107

 One under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . . 609 18 42 276 117 – 366 141 153 215 100

 Two or more under 6 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 9 12 122 67 – 247 40 77 129 57

 Two or more under 6, one or more 6 to 17 . . . . . 221 14 16 116 45 – 177 27 31 133 31

 One or more 6 to 17 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,365 95 98 847 367 39 988 445 495 931 496

Total households with no children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,026 580 798 4,232 3,020 4,498 5,029 4,937 4,857 7,656 5,575

 Married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,934 121 204 480 702 764 350 894 702 1,329 1,009

 Other households with two or more adults . . . . . . . 5,984 146 224 1,060 1,048 470 918 1,204 1,154 1,972 1,654

 Households with one adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,108 313 371 2,692 1,270 3,264 3,761 2,840 3,001 4,355 2,912

Own Never-Married Children Under 18 Years Old

No own children under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,429 615 854 4,707 3,347 4,596 5,598 5,211 5,097 8,248 5,874

With own children under 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,949 326 567 2,739 2,953 27 3,735 1,862 2,022 4,145 2,920

 Under 6 years only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,375 87 190 748 847 3 1,174 540 667 1,383 786

 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,174 52 117 469 508 3 626 351 435 908 480

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974 27 54 212 285 – 407 165 185 369 255

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 8 19 67 54 – 141 24 47 106 51

 6 to 17 years only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,093 159 237 1,355 1,254 22 1,489 885 936 1,858 1,414

 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,613 71 107 673 584 13 690 482 472 960 699

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,703 57 85 428 468 8 455 297 323 581 503

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 32 46 253 202 – 344 107 141 318 212

 Both age groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,480 79 139 637 852 2 1,072 437 419 904 720

 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,043 38 60 243 346 – 333 213 201 376 253

 3 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,438 42 80 393 506 2 739 224 219 527 467

Persons Other Than Spouse or Children1

 With other relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,202 108 323 1,709 1,837 550 1,619 1,353 962 2,168 1,718

Single adult offspring 18 to 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,030 65 158 886 792 64 847 717 450 1,025 839

Single adult offspring 30 years of age or over . . . . . . 714 10 19 205 208 310 147 169 106 251 188

Households with three generations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 958 14 41 337 313 63 371 189 133 405 231

Households with 1 subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784 13 36 263 322 37 311 137 111 310 225

 Subfamily householder age under 30 . . . . . . . . . . 459 5 25 175 165 3 211 68 74 204 114

 30 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 7 11 86 152 33 97 67 37 104 106

 65 and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – – 3 5 – 3 3 – 3 6

Households with 2 or more subfamilies . . . . . . . . . . . 37 – – 13 18 4 13 14 8 6 10

Households with other types of relatives . . . . . . . . . . 2,622 34 161 708 865 214 685 532 402 961 728

 With nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,901 149 247 805 1,214 122 1,131 1,025 1,222 2,016 1,638

Co-owners or co-renters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,427 84 74 236 330 41 433 309 624 730 764

Lodgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674 17 26 67 227 13 107 117 91 242 224

Unrelated children, under 18 years old . . . . . . . . . . . 486 11 21 78 110 9 132 73 108 210 94

Other nonrelatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,889 46 173 497 707 70 597 602 500 1,065 722

One or more secondary families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 6 10 49 87 3 56 32 60 102 74

2-person households, none related to each other . . . . . 2,963 93 78 347 386 90 347 569 618 961 814

3-to-8-person households, none related to each 

other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672 20 36 54 113 7 155 102 139 233 198

Educational Attainment of the Householder

Less than 9th grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,232 21 164 279 1,294 742 1,050 451 277 795 709

9th to 12th grade, no diploma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,455 80 285 1,247 1,294 842 1,981 946 817 1,744 947

High school graduate (includes equivalency) . . . . . . 11,724 291 647 2,801 2,029 1,527 3,335 2,315 2,576 4,255 2,578

 Additional vocational training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,144 24 66 273 142 144 284 195 260 399 290

Some college, no degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,924 214 208 1,624 807 607 1,699 1,069 1,575 2,418 1,862

Associate’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,522 69 61 539 286 145 444 516 524 815 667

Bachelor’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,183 189 49 728 433 427 599 1,209 959 1,634 1,382

Graduate or professional degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,338 77 7 228 155 333 226 567 391 732 648

Percent high school graduate or higher . . . . . . . . . . . 81.1 89.3 68.4 79.5 58.9 65.7 67.5 80.2 84.6 79.5 81.2

Percent bachelor’s degree or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3 28.3 4.0 12.8 9.3 16.4 8.8 25.1 19.0 19.1 23.1

 See footnotes at end of table. 

—Con.
90 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-9. 

Household Composition—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Citizenship of Householder

Citizen of the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,022 885 1,267 6,978 3,688 4,417 8,085 6,096 6,659 10,962 7,305

 Naturalized citizen of the United States . . . . . . . . . 2,129 38 43 308 795 461 616 648 198 534 749

Year Householder Immigrated to the 

United States

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973 12 52 124 387 20 293 221 152 342 257

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,402 13 46 150 766 42 339 355 159 481 407

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,058 23 37 133 630 46 312 243 112 393 309

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889 17 24 110 529 58 308 197 83 257 353

1980 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,167 20 33 158 595 133 331 303 86 280 497

1979 or before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996 8 5 102 501 369 282 305 66 210 414

Year Householder Moved Into Unit

2005 to 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,982 924 1,063 5,401 4,649 1,829 6,731 4,286 5,359 9,892 6,444

2000 to 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,970 13 231 1,076 896 1,052 1,347 1,216 1,004 1,396 1,354

1995 to 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,914 – 56 382 324 606 512 544 342 511 517

1990 to 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,057 3 38 272 178 356 307 367 186 254 249

1985 to 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482 – 14 98 91 204 160 168 84 131 98

1980 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 – 16 87 69 166 93 145 56 58 53

1975 to 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 – 3 66 54 108 67 139 30 53 22

1970 to 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 – – 24 22 88 39 64 19 42 25

1960 to 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 – – 28 7 124 52 94 15 34 15

1950 to 1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 – – 6 11 55 19 31 11 16 11

1940 to 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 – – 5 1 18 7 6 7 4 6

1939 or earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – – – – 17 – 12 5 – –

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2007 2008 2007 2007 2007 2003 2007 2006 2007 2007 2007

Household Moves and Formation in Last Year

 Total with a move in last year . . . . . . . . . . . 14,332 598 653 2,905 2,754 626 3,920 2,013 3,038 5,584 3,698

Household all moved here from one unit . . . . . . . . . . 11,014 500 470 2,343 2,000 555 3,152 1,493 2,332 4,419 2,770

 Householder of previous unit did not move here . . . . 2,349 73 97 562 447 51 860 327 522 956 544

 Householder of previous unit moved here . . . . . . . 7,733 390 347 1,630 1,385 474 1,987 1,003 1,625 3,102 2,003

 Householder of previous unit not reported . . . . . . . 932 37 25 150 168 30 304 163 186 361 222

Household moved here from two or more units . . . . . 1,387 51 64 185 272 19 225 135 368 474 409

 No previous householder moved here . . . . . . . . . . 282 11 11 44 56 – 45 27 76 89 90

 1 previous householder moved here . . . . . . . . . . . 359 15 12 41 77 6 55 27 108 148 75

 2 or more previous householders moved here. . . . . . 523 19 35 71 94 6 81 57 129 177 160

 Previous householder(s) not reported . . . . . . . . . . 223 7 6 29 45 8 45 25 55 60 83

Some already here, rest moved in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,928 48 120 378 482 52 543 385 337 686 519

 No previous householder moved here . . . . . . . . . . 1,006 19 81 221 254 25 320 212 171 342 280

 1 or more previous householders moved here. . . . . . 703 26 23 123 157 24 164 103 122 276 202

 Previous householder(s) not reported . . . . . . . . . . 220 2 15 34 72 2 60 70 44 69 37

Number of previous units not reported . . . . . . . . . . . 4 – – – – – – – – 4 –

Households With Disabled Persons

Households without a disabled person . . . . . . . . . . . 28,856 810 1,106 6,080 5,469 2,467 6,693 5,649 5,657 10,184 7,367

Households with a disabled person1, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,234 117 302 1,264 813 2,124 2,537 1,317 1,427 2,078 1,411

 Hearing disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,578 34 81 195 222 755 537 327 310 563 378

 Vision disability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,053 23 49 247 179 387 465 216 214 377 246

 Mental disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,320 60 154 478 267 465 1,073 473 549 773 525

 Physical disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,771 76 170 804 452 1,581 1,560 822 904 1,246 800

 Self-care disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931 10 28 207 150 373 433 189 215 295 232

 Go-outside-home disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,065 44 100 431 259 870 925 452 484 660 470

Disability not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 15 13 102 19 32 104 107 35 131 16

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

2

Mental, physical, and self-care disabilities are limited to household members at least 5 years of age. Go-outside-home disabilities are limited to household members at least 15 years of age.

—Con.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 91

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-10. 

Previous Unit of Recent Movers—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

HOUSEHOLDER MOVED DURING PAST YEAR FROM 

WITHIN THE UNITED STATES

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,422 555 538 2,565 2,273 574 3,341 1,608 2,720 4,920 3,173

Structure Type of Previous Residence

 Moved from within the United States. . . . . . . . . . 12,422 555 538 2,565 2,273 574 3,341 1,608 2,720 4,920 3,173

House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,936 266 250 1,101 996 261 1,518 652 1,341 2,406 1,538

Apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,228 229 96 1,232 1,109 233 1,403 848 1,129 1,914 1,337

Manufactured/mobile home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 23 175 56 79 44 208 23 97 311 114

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 28 5 63 46 26 125 47 99 123 111

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 10 11 114 43 10 87 38 53 167 72

Tenure of Previous Residence

 House, apartment, manufactured/mobile home 

 in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,710 518 522 2,388 2,184 537 3,129 1,523 2,568 4,630 2,990

Owner occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,991 163 136 456 392 208 681 344 691 1,215 740

Renter occupied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,719 355 385 1,932 1,793 329 2,449 1,179 1,877 3,415 2,249

Persons—Previous Residence

 House, apartment, manufactured/mobile home 

 in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,710 518 522 2,388 2,184 537 3,129 1,523 2,568 4,630 2,990

1 person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,835 107 47 371 201 297 457 272 463 699 402

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,970 133 102 486 386 170 522 442 611 1,174 743

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,480 96 116 520 454 40 689 321 569 949 640

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,080 102 118 446 466 9 595 227 463 854 536

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,055 29 79 246 253 6 373 114 221 433 287

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589 28 26 133 188 7 256 58 111 238 182

7 persons or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 12 24 132 184 1 198 47 103 182 137

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 10 10 56 53 8 39 41 27 101 63

Previous Home Owned or Rented by Someone Who 

Moved Here

 House, apartment, manufactured/mobile home 

 in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,710 518 522 2,388 2,184 537 3,129 1,523 2,568 4,630 2,990

Owned or rented by a mover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,513 411 389 1,700 1,567 482 2,115 1,084 1,841 3,380 2,208

Owned or rented by other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,923 102 116 639 566 51 959 380 684 1,126 733

 By a relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,773 54 66 424 306 32 588 201 420 705 446

 By a nonrelative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,149 48 49 214 260 19 371 177 264 421 287

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 – – 1 – – – 1 – – –

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 5 17 49 52 4 55 60 42 124 48

Change in Housing Costs

 House, apartment, manufactured/mobile home 

 in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,710 518 522 2,388 2,184 537 3,129 1,523 2,568 4,630 2,990

Increased with move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,135 265 141 1,046 927 198 1,290 696 1,161 1,922 1,356

Decreased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,719 125 187 738 703 184 990 463 796 1,453 1,008

Stayed about the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,444 118 161 523 496 135 745 274 541 1,065 564

Don’t know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 3 28 38 47 14 66 59 49 96 47

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 7 5 44 11 7 39 32 21 94 14
92 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-11. 

Reasons for Move and Choice of Current Residence—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

RESPONDENT MOVED DURING PAST YEAR

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,840 564 551 2,613 2,381 577 3,469 1,690 2,780 5,056 3,314

Reasons for Leaving Previous Unit1

Private displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 16 10 49 72 17 111 67 44 150 133

 Owner to move into unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 8 4 9 24 – 33 14 17 56 43

 To be converted to condominium or cooperative . . . 20 – – – – – 14 14 – 3 3

 Closed for repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 – – 1 6 4 5 1 2 2 12

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 9 6 36 42 11 59 38 25 87 75

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 – – 2 – 2 – – – 2 –

Government displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 8 4 22 38 7 49 13 36 36 54

 Government wanted building or land . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 – 7 10 2 12 1 4 3 13

 Unit unfit for occupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 – 4 3 – – 7 – 3 8 2

 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 3 – 12 28 5 30 11 29 26 39

 Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . – – – – – – – – – – –

Disaster loss (fire, flood, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 – 13 38 20 10 64 11 20 91 10

New job or job transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,326 111 20 187 211 12 122 130 238 590 367

To be closer to work/school/other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,711 56 70 261 308 24 466 238 363 633 477

Other, financial/employment related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690 23 53 151 166 25 186 102 142 210 235

To establish own household. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,445 46 81 313 234 27 440 159 372 568 346

Needed larger house or apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,362 69 53 335 340 25 347 192 289 561 320

Married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 3 3 21 33 – 18 18 23 46 54

Widowed, divorced, or separated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 5 17 46 31 37 77 42 83 111 56

Other, family/person related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,218 45 59 196 196 133 351 179 295 472 272

Wanted better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,279 71 37 317 226 63 373 172 322 489 296

Change from owner to renter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 12 7 27 35 10 15 21 32 86 41

Change from renter to owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)

Wanted lower rent or maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,120 25 45 235 235 59 324 143 245 447 285

Other housing related reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828 45 34 197 129 58 256 107 184 305 233

Evicted from residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 3 22 37 42 13 79 15 37 76 40

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,831 93 65 351 342 156 509 270 389 630 543

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472 12 15 152 68 15 131 74 70 245 83

Main Reason for Leaving Previous Unit

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450 22 24 73 94 24 107 85 120 141 104

Private displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 5 6 18 27 – 27 28 9 33 48

Government displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 5 – 5 13 2 17 1 10 12 21

Disaster loss (fire, flood, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 – 9 37 19 10 59 11 18 87 10

New job or job transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,220 106 17 173 188 12 110 122 220 542 336

To be closer to work/school/other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,416 56 60 217 249 21 404 193 290 535 398

Other, financial/employment related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 19 46 117 124 18 148 74 113 156 184

To establish own household. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,282 35 81 294 216 19 409 134 337 503 309

Needed larger house or apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,103 56 41 293 287 18 286 170 222 452 259

Married, widowed, divorced, or separated . . . . . . . . . . 628 18 24 93 78 31 119 82 144 228 174

Other, family/personal related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,004 41 47 174 168 117 310 154 243 396 212

Wanted better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881 37 25 238 155 44 258 119 230 342 190

Change from owner to renter or renter to owner . . . . . 120 10 3 16 20 6 11 16 22 52 30

Wanted lower rent or maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867 19 36 187 185 44 263 104 174 366 223

Other housing related reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614 30 34 147 96 37 210 80 140 230 163

Evicted from residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 3 22 18 32 8 50 10 24 41 37

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,548 74 54 315 293 131 449 208 341 564 436

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779 26 23 196 136 36 231 100 123 377 179

Choice of Present Neighborhood1

Convenient to job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,069 213 133 698 752 45 609 542 775 1,706 1,046

Convenient to friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,009 99 198 600 617 230 913 427 753 1,104 725

Convenient to leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972 67 21 151 121 28 172 149 199 328 296

Convenient to public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753 29 13 182 164 31 218 148 140 231 234

Good schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,370 56 31 295 310 5 468 179 265 521 405

Other public services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544 32 5 126 114 51 168 72 107 214 151

Looks/design of neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,046 124 52 419 368 98 458 221 477 815 533

House was most important consideration . . . . . . . . . . 1,523 92 63 314 269 58 402 172 343 577 431

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,931 102 122 598 449 166 992 381 644 1,135 771

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493 18 25 146 76 16 142 82 80 251 80

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 93

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-11. 

Reasons for Move and Choice of Current Residence—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Main Reason for Choice of Present Neighborhood

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,354 74 40 262 219 66 317 213 289 493 359

Convenient to job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,924 159 101 477 573 29 386 362 551 1,231 781

Convenient to friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,915 52 168 396 398 176 714 235 509 714 457

Convenient to leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 14 12 18 23 1 42 42 60 69 72

Convenient to public transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 6 3 69 57 10 91 48 50 67 73

Good schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 31 18 166 179 5 278 124 153 295 226

Other public services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 7 – 63 43 32 70 30 47 74 34

Looks/design of neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,163 70 38 260 224 53 254 117 255 501 290

House was most important consideration . . . . . . . . . . 964 50 41 210 208 47 285 100 230 346 288

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,563 82 106 546 381 143 889 339 555 1,016 653

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493 18 25 146 76 16 142 82 80 251 80

Neighborhood Search

Looked at just this neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,900 206 392 1,093 1,219 361 1,705 832 1,242 2,304 1,522

Looked at other neighborhood(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,533 347 148 1,380 1,097 194 1,658 795 1,474 2,546 1,718

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 12 10 140 65 22 106 64 63 206 74

Choice of Present Home1

Financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,817 146 285 946 926 159 1,390 606 1,120 1,835 1,256

Room layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,015 200 55 649 524 163 684 455 669 1,117 774

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 37 18 75 93 20 119 78 123 137 99

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,586 120 78 566 530 97 648 354 611 977 644

Exterior appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 963 70 35 189 176 55 210 123 189 376 275

Yard/trees/view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,131 41 34 163 148 59 215 134 266 442 290

Quality of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671 88 12 102 100 40 108 97 172 220 183

Only one available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764 10 54 169 129 57 266 107 155 315 187

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,545 115 109 412 421 161 655 338 485 964 757

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540 14 25 169 84 22 151 82 95 276 87

Main Reason for Choice of Present Home

All reported reasons equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,448 80 55 259 240 89 355 244 343 510 351

Financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,846 105 241 770 771 115 1,160 479 902 1,470 995

Room layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,743 129 27 404 304 81 418 247 367 682 448

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 5 – 15 15 6 21 9 16 16 24

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,398 55 35 328 328 36 359 184 317 577 320

Exterior appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 27 13 76 71 20 82 43 60 150 97

Yard/trees/view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 13 20 53 54 24 83 30 104 170 108

Quality of construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 27 – 41 43 2 47 29 51 82 68

Only one available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608 5 42 135 108 46 214 78 117 253 161

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,198 104 92 363 364 137 578 266 407 871 655

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540 14 25 169 84 22 151 82 95 276 87

Home Search

Now in house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,200 191 (X) 829 704 119 963 429 838 1,845 1,087

 Did not look at apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,888 138 (X) 543 473 98 638 235 561 1,302 790

 Looked at apartments too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,162 50 (X) 235 213 20 295 162 250 486 263

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 3 (X) 51 17 1 29 32 27 57 34

Now in manufactured/mobile home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551 4 551 58 112 9 229 19 89 332 111

 Did not look at apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 – 360 41 85 6 143 9 37 234 80

 Looked at apartments too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 4 181 17 27 3 86 10 52 88 32

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 – 10 – – – – – – 10 –

Now in apartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,090 369 (X) 1,725 1,565 449 2,277 1,242 1,853 2,879 2,116

 Did not look at houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,726 233 (X) 1,177 1,123 391 1,614 911 1,405 1,983 1,427

 Looked at houses too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,056 127 (X) 451 392 35 566 287 400 754 616

 Search not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 9 (X) 96 51 23 97 44 48 142 73

Recent Mover Comparison to Previous Home

Better home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,192 365 235 1,330 1,228 276 1,718 810 1,359 2,460 1,563

Worse home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,676 63 129 466 394 90 718 371 597 961 746

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,498 120 171 683 699 189 909 442 743 1,398 915

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474 16 16 134 61 23 124 67 79 237 90

Recent Mover Comparison to Previous 

Neighborhood

Better neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,953 246 260 1,067 994 226 1,372 601 1,053 2,001 1,298

Worse neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,955 62 49 389 280 46 568 275 431 731 519

About the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,916 228 207 922 921 243 1,260 650 1,112 1,885 1,268

Same neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 14 18 92 127 34 134 88 94 189 149

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 15 16 142 60 28 134 76 89 250 81

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

—Con.
94 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-12. 

Income Characteristics—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Household Income

Less than $5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,310 85 119 1,148 492 603 3,310 711 729 1,283 586

$5,000 to $9,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,799 57 164 829 438 701 2,799 557 763 993 486

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,175 42 168 719 570 875 1,795 580 721 1,115 760

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,940 56 153 715 590 558 742 532 603 1,188 616

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,850 55 182 677 572 442 409 495 617 1,080 658

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,131 72 126 734 710 351 239 626 574 1,198 733

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,366 73 92 488 453 216 26 450 483 823 610

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,111 57 79 325 379 204 5 389 415 793 513

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,438 96 96 610 672 257 9 679 710 1,111 939

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,326 55 96 342 412 115 – 448 449 737 693

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,244 93 68 444 515 145 – 684 581 1,022 958

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,663 84 26 226 270 68 – 374 260 501 528

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833 51 21 113 98 34 – 231 120 209 272

$120,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,192 66 32 76 129 55 – 315 94 340 442

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,400 37,000 23,000 21,280 27,000 15,744 8,000 30,000 25,200 25,670 34,000

 As percent of poverty level: 

Less than 50 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,361 107 190 1,543 791 630 4,361 916 920 1,709 816

50 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,973 80 294 1,298 1,115 832 4,973 841 1,155 1,896 1,081

100 to 149 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,993 109 269 1,149 1,114 969 (X) 920 975 1,833 1,264

150 to 199 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,262 95 183 919 909 662 (X) 843 865 1,588 965

200 percent or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,790 549 486 2,538 2,371 1,531 (X) 3,553 3,203 5,366 4,668

Income of Families and Primary 

Individuals

Less than $5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,014 101 141 1,254 652 606 3,618 808 864 1,534 808

$5,000 to $9,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,152 56 199 865 526 714 2,832 601 863 1,097 591

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,436 38 198 740 587 879 1,647 606 788 1,211 832

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,053 51 157 730 629 574 654 570 612 1,240 630

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,106 63 193 683 653 435 345 550 687 1,155 714

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,218 82 123 739 701 346 204 641 606 1,212 759

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,396 82 88 511 427 209 23 477 506 814 599

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,011 56 53 326 352 201 2 398 374 748 491

$40,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,146 87 67 552 587 255 9 647 636 990 873

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,089 54 90 289 372 113 – 432 353 654 651

$60,000 to $79,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,751 92 54 388 417 145 – 578 456 889 828

$80,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,409 94 27 212 221 75 – 321 204 419 465

$100,000 to $119,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668 41 11 91 80 27 – 194 92 156 226

$120,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929 42 20 67 96 46 – 251 77 273 328

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,030 34,000 20,000 20,000 25,000 15,600 7,378 26,100 22,800 24,400 30,000

Income Sources of Families and 

Primary Individuals1

Wages and salaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,683 755 1,002 5,073 5,035 928 4,002 4,827 4,944 9,255 6,656

 Wages and salaries were majority of 

 income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,023 712 951 4,728 4,817 571 3,542 4,504 4,606 8,674 6,239

 2 or more people each earned over 

 20 percent of wages and salaries . . . . . . 3,191 66 141 538 777 200 213 649 560 1,118 864

Self-employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,578 85 79 380 418 127 436 436 434 870 838

Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,517 105 35 285 230 873 357 792 759 1,015 952

Dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,100 27 14 69 42 329 75 259 200 339 303

Rental income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487 15 5 49 56 78 43 100 65 160 162

Social Security or Railroad Retirement . . . . 5,843 121 281 1,093 605 3,929 1,866 1,444 1,413 1,808 1,179

Retirement or survivor pensions . . . . . . . . . 2,122 55 54 357 137 1,430 262 568 501 629 425

Supplementary Security Income (SSI) . . . . . . 2,350 27 133 705 400 615 1,513 518 466 800 565

Child support or alimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,922 69 78 532 319 22 695 281 465 800 376

Public assistance or public welfare . . . . . . . 1,490 13 79 555 314 121 1,056 348 333 377 433

Food stamp benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,050 94 320 1,827 992 594 3,966 1,010 1,289 1,952 798

Disability payments, workers’ 

compensation, veterans’ disability, other 

disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,606 34 67 434 202 195 530 358 319 564 365

Other income (VA payments, unemployment, royalty, estates, and more) . . . . . . . 2,370 64 143 460 319 134 470 433 572 667 698

Food Stamps

 Income of $25,000 or less . . . . . . . 17,650 341 926 4,486 3,284 3,248 9,201 3,329 3,946 6,608 3,767

Family members received food stamps . . . . 5,050 94 320 1,827 992 594 3,966 1,010 1,289 1,952 798

Did not receive food stamps . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,592 219 574 2,353 2,174 2,497 4,647 2,059 2,492 4,223 2,818

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,009 28 33 306 119 156 588 261 165 432 150

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 95

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-12. 

Income Characteristics—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000. (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

Rent Reductions

No subsidy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,706 758 1,311 5,055 5,231 3,097 5,911 5,288 5,734 10,171 7,514

 Rent control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 9 – 75 136 101 99 193 – 25 310

 No rent control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,067 746 1,307 4,967 5,079 2,986 5,796 5,081 5,713 10,096 7,177

 Reduced by owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,996 38 221 208 250 375 505 401 389 751 455

 Not reduced by owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,063 708 1,086 4,756 4,827 2,609 5,287 4,674 5,324 9,345 6,720

 Owner reduction not reported . . . . . . . 8 – – 2 2 2 4 6 – – 2

 Rent control not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 4 5 13 17 10 16 14 20 49 26

Owned by public housing authority . . . . . . . 1,679 20 – 659 250 476 1,005 499 432 499 250

Government subsidy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,185 117 41 1,233 520 808 1,947 800 677 1,007 700

Other income verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988 30 22 260 208 163 248 269 162 352 205

Subsidy not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820 15 46 240 91 78 223 217 114 363 125

1

Figures may not add to total because more than one category may apply to a unit.

—Con.
96 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Renter-Occupied Units

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Characteristics Total 

occupied 

units

Housing unit 

characteristics Household characteristics Regions

New 

construction 

4 years

Manufactured/

mobile 

homes

Black 

alone Hispanic

Elderly 

(65 years 

and over)

Below 

poverty 

level Northeast Midwest South West

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,378 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,334 7,073 7,119 12,392 8,794

Monthly Housing Costs

Less than $100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 5 3 91 41 42 186 56 56 83 52

$100 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728 24 8 279 91 219 573 134 211 268 116

$200 to $249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738 17 24 218 122 289 505 235 189 187 126

$250 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 2 19 204 78 172 390 122 143 221 156

$300 to $349 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 10 26 166 76 166 282 159 151 185 86

$350 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 6 80 191 96 197 317 193 220 256 109

$400 to $449 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993 14 61 198 157 216 393 160 267 370 195

$450 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,101 21 83 222 176 192 430 175 348 413 164

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,985 49 200 696 487 389 906 477 800 1,214 493

$600 to $699 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,808 43 219 874 678 438 1,023 578 1,044 1,498 688

$700 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,709 89 195 770 644 366 877 558 895 1,477 779

$800 to $999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,060 151 183 1,337 1,257 517 1,180 1,170 1,187 2,218 1,486

$1,000 to $1,249 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,777 174 40 1,041 985 379 833 1,154 668 1,537 1,417

$1,250 to $1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,631 100 22 430 523 154 333 664 272 734 960

$1,500 to $1,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,247 114 2 262 461 196 244 567 174 501 1,005

$2,000 to $2,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718 46 – 86 132 80 87 160 48 147 363

$2,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596 53 10 35 58 129 53 169 45 137 245

No cash rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,037 23 248 348 239 481 722 341 398 945 352

Median (excludes no cash rent) . . . . . . . . 808 1,045 623 746 854 640 629 877 691 764 956

Monthly Housing Costs as Percent of 

Current Income1

Less than 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 7 3 15 35 23 17 50 21 45 47

5 to 9 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721 22 55 105 83 79 21 176 126 256 163

10 to 14 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,964 60 102 295 256 170 47 428 470 615 451

15 to 19 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,224 77 77 553 450 235 87 632 738 1,133 720

20 to 24 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,682 93 105 697 603 329 159 733 736 1,234 979

25 to 29 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,608 138 114 708 615 494 366 722 783 1,170 932

30 to 34 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,956 82 92 651 606 370 360 638 609 992 717

35 to 39 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,317 71 69 525 388 312 322 426 531 828 532

40 to 49 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,322 91 126 689 704 394 561 650 513 1,196 963

50 to 59 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,210 62 75 542 493 298 658 401 422 800 587

60 to 69 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,423 32 65 316 308 227 519 247 245 487 444

70 to 99 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,415 42 89 544 540 383 1,245 495 437 830 653

100 percent or more2

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,076 102 159 1,089 762 761 3,156 908 871 1,325 971

Zero or negative income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,261 40 41 369 216 68 1,094 224 217 536 283

No cash rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,037 23 248 348 239 481 722 341 398 945 352

Median (excludes 2 previous lines) . . . . . 34 31 36 38 38 40 82 33 32 35 35

Median (excludes 3 lines before 

medians) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 29 31 33 33 34 53 30 29 31 31

Rent Paid by Lodgers

 Lodgers in housing units . . . . . . . . 606 17 26 50 211 10 97 106 84 211 205

Less than $200 per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 5 12 17 51 – 19 11 24 49 19

$200 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 – 7 9 32 7 10 1 11 46 26

$300 to $399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 3 5 7 38 – 18 16 15 30 32

$400 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 3 – – 26 – 12 16 5 35 42

$500 to $599 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 – 3 3 18 – 16 9 15 15 28

$600 to $799 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 – – – 22 – 3 13 6 20 19

$800 or more per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 6 – 8 20 3 9 27 1 7 38

Not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 – – 5 5 – 11 11 5 9 2

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 (Z) (Z) (Z) 332 (Z) 350 500 300 300 450

Monthly Cost Paid for Electricity

 Electricity used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,368 941 1,421 7,446 6,300 4,623 9,330 7,067 7,119 12,389 8,794

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,259 22 9 181 259 260 330 129 411 49 670

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,426 80 85 869 1,060 860 1,358 1,389 1,403 513 2,122

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,535 144 167 1,307 1,167 848 1,623 1,529 1,490 1,725 1,791

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,469 188 229 1,182 1,002 570 1,284 1,040 1,057 2,248 1,125

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,589 254 383 1,480 1,142 508 1,600 1,026 1,118 3,388 1,057

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,795 102 218 651 515 165 723 320 376 1,622 477

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,341 56 218 790 368 132 680 354 299 1,359 329

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 98 118 94 82 64 84 71 70 111 62

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained 

free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,954 94 112 986 787 1,280 1,732 1,279 966 1,485 1,224

 See footnotes at end of table. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 97

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4-13. 

Selected Housing Costs—Renter-Occupied Units—Con.

[Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with Census 2000 . (X) means not applicable; (Z) means sample too small; – means zero or rounds to zero]

Housing unit Household characteristics Regions characteristics

New Manu- Characteristics Total con- factured/ Elderly Below 

occupied struction mobile Black (65 years poverty 

units 4 years homes alone Hispanic and over) level Northeast Midwest South West

Monthly Cost Paid for Piped Gas

 Piped gas used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,186 381 417 4,575 4,215 2,610 5,497 5,230 5,046 4,444 6,466

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,447 36 54 350 732 349 612 466 176 373 1,432

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,469 103 107 847 1,083 462 1,067 531 725 1,060 2,153

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,581 90 116 771 679 309 803 722 898 867 1,094

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,054 28 41 490 277 211 490 513 667 550 324

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,884 43 41 421 268 197 483 673 701 342 168

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 10 4 213 83 48 163 225 234 127 57

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 7 6 238 78 51 187 174 191 130 23

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 54 54 64 44 50 56 71 74 56 37

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained 

free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,588 64 48 1,245 1,014 982 1,693 1,927 1,454 993 1,215

Average Monthly Cost Paid for Fuel Oil

 Fuel oil used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,800 19 37 539 589 482 659 2,428 144 174 55

Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 – 2 2 2 3 17 11 25 10 6

$25 to $49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 – 4 11 13 5 16 40 5 23 3

$50 to $74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 3 6 9 17 3 15 68 3 17 4

$75 to $99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 – – 12 6 15 25 66 9 19 6

$100 to $149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 – 5 12 21 20 30 127 19 8 10

$150 to $199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 – 5 9 16 19 16 79 8 22 –

$200 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 – 4 14 21 28 15 131 7 8 –

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 (Z) (Z) 100 125 150 83 125 75 83 (Z)

Included in rent, other fee, or obtained 

free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,068 17 11 471 493 389 525 1,905 69 67 27

Property Insurance

Property insurance paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,397 367 157 1,512 757 1,478 1,333 1,532 2,476 3,250 2,138

Median per month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 17 17 17 17 14 15 17 13 16 17

Monthly Costs Paid for Selected Utilities 

and Fuels

Water paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,237 321 545 1,857 1,389 762 2,148 640 1,877 4,807 1,913

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 25 27 29 29 25 25 33 28 26 33

Trash paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,551 228 414 1,258 1,129 669 1,675 436 1,627 3,451 2,037

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 20 17 21 20 19 19 18 17 20 23

Bottled gas paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730 27 173 74 106 90 163 119 147 350 115

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 (Z) 44 54 44 43 53 48 64 54 41

Other fuel paid separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 6 96 83 71 58 160 90 109 252 218

 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 (Z) 25 19 15 33 (Z) 67 29 17 21

1

Beginning with 1989, this item uses current income in its calculation; see Appendix A.

2

May reflect a temporary situation, living off savings, or response error.
98 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

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American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Appendix A A-1

Appendix A. 

Definitions

The definitions and explanations given here are, to a considerable extent, drawn from the AHS questionnaire and 

the AHS Field Representative Manual. The definitions are 

alphabetized by the titles used in summary tables. Some 

cross-references are provided. If a specific definition is not 

located, try related definitions. The definitions apply to 

summary tables and to the computer files (“microdata”), 

unless they are marked “not applicable.”

Academic comparison to other area elementary 

schools. The respondents were asked to rate the public 

elementary school attended by the child or children of the 

household. This rating was made in comparison to other 

elementary schools in the area.

Access to structure. The purpose for asking members of 

the household if they enter or exit their home by climbing 

up or down steps or stairs is to find out if they have wheelchair accessibility. Respondents were asked, “Is it possible 

to enter [your/this] home/apartment from the outside without climbing up or down any steps or stairs?”

Additional central air. See the definition “Equipment.”

Additions, alterations, remodeling, repairs, and 

replacements.

Publications. Internet tables only. Tables are available at 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/ahs/nationaldata

.html>. 

Microdata. The statistics are restricted to owner-occupied 

units. The respondents were first asked if, in the last 2 

years, a major disaster, such as an earthquake, tornado, 

hurricane, landslide, fire, or flood, required them to make 

extensive repairs to their homes. Replacements and additions were counted as disaster-required repairs only if the 

damage involved at least two rooms or a majority of the 

home.

The microdata file also shows the total number of replacements/additions reported by all households, and the total 

cost of these replacements/additions. Each household 

could name as many as 47 jobs done in their home.

Questions were asked about where the work was done, if 

any rooms were created or attached and if the bathroom or 

kitchen had been remodeled within the last 2 years.

Respondents also were asked if they added or replaced 

their roofs, siding, interior water pipes; electrical wiring, fuse boxes, or breaker switches; doors or windows; 

plumbing fixtures, such as sinks or bath tubs; insulation; 

wall-to-wall carpeting, flooring; paneling or ceiling tiles; 

air conditioning; built-in heating equipment; septic tanks; 

water heaters; dishwashers, garbage disposals; driveways or walkways; fencing or walls; patios, terraces, or 

detached decks; swimming pools, tennis courts, and other 

recreational structures; sheds, detached garages, or other 

buildings. Respondents also had the opportunity to report 

up to three miscellaneous inside and outside jobs not 

previously reported. For each job, respondents were asked 

for the cost of the job including the amount any insurance 

covered, and whether the job was performed by someone 

in the household.

The microdata file also includes information about whether 

the household got a low interest loan or grant to pay for 

the work and the amount spent in a typical year on routine 

repairs and maintenance.

Adults and single children under 18 years old. See 

the definition “Household composition.”

Age of householder. The classification refers to the 

age reported for the householder as of that person’s last 

birthday.

Age of other residential buildings within 300 feet. 

The respondent was asked to describe the age of other 

residential buildings within a half block. For this survey, 

a half a block is about 300 feet in length. The responses 

were then classified as “Older,” “Newer,” “About the same,” 

or “Very mixed.” “Very mixed” indicates that the ages vary. 

If there are no other residential buildings within 300 feet, 

“No other residential buildings” is indicated.

Air conditioning. See the definition “Equipment.”

Alterations. See the definition “Additions, alterations, 

remodeling, repairs, and replacements.”

Amenities. See the definition “Selected amenities.”

Annual taxes paid per $1,000 value.

Publications. Real estate taxes paid per $1,000 value of the 

house (and lot, except for manufactured/mobile homes) 

are presented. Medians for taxes per $1,000 value are 

rounded to the nearest dollar.

Microdata. Not applicable, can be calculated from taxes 

and value.

Bars on windows of buildings within 300 feet. The 

respondent was asked if any of the buildings within 300 

feet of the sample unit have metal bars on the windows. 

For this survey, a half a block is about 300 feet in length. 
A-2 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

The condition of the windows has no bearing on this item. 

The windows might be in perfect condition, but the bars 

might be there to protect against vandalism. Windows that 

are boarded up or covered with metal sheeting are not 

included in this category.

Bathrooms. See the definition “Complete bathrooms.”

Bedrooms. The number of bedrooms in a housing unit 

includes those rooms that are used mainly for sleeping or 

designed to be a bedroom, even if used for other purposes. 

A room reserved only for sleeping, such as a guest room, 

even if used infrequently, is considered a bedroom. A room 

built as a bedroom, although not used for that purpose, 

such as a room meant to be a bedroom but used as a sewing room, is counted as a bedroom. On the other hand, a 

room designed and used mainly for other purposes, such 

as a den with a sleep sofa used mainly for watching television, is not considered a bedroom. A housing unit consisting of only one room, such as a one-room efficiency apartment, is classified by definition as having no bedroom.

Bodies of water within 300 feet. These questions determine the proximity of the respondent’s property to bodies 

of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers, or ocean. Swimming 

pools and temporary pools of water are not included in this 

definition. The respondent was also asked if the property is 

waterfront property and whether the property is on a flood 

plain.

Building and ground maintenance. Renters were asked 

their level of satisfaction with the maintenance of the 

grounds and building in which they lived. The responses 

could have been “completely satisfied,” “partly satisfied,” 

“dissatisfied,” or “landlord not responsible for ground 

maintenance.”

Building neighbor noise. Respondents in multiunit 

buildings were asked about noise heard through floors, 

walls, or ceilings of their units. Respondents were also 

asked about the frequency of noise. The survey also asked 

the respondents’ opinions of the loudness of noise as well 

as whether it was bothersome or not bothersome.

Buildings. See the definitions “Bars on windows of buildings within 300 feet,” “External building conditions,” and 

“Year structure built.”

Business. See the definitions “Income,” “Other activities 

on property,” and “Rooms used for business.”

Cars and trucks available. Included are passenger cars 

and station wagons owned or regularly used by one or 

more household members and ordinarily kept at home. 

Company cars are counted (if used regularly for nonbusiness purposes and kept at home), as are taxicabs (if they 

are owned by a household member and kept at home). 

The total number of vehicles is not published, since 

cars are counted separately from “trucks or vans.” In the 

publications, to obtain a count of all units lacking cars 

specifically, the lines “no cars, trucks, or vans” and “other 

households without cars” must be added together.

Included are pickups and small panel trucks of one-ton 

capacity or less, and small vans that were owned or regularly used by one or more members of the household and 

ordinarily kept at home. Company trucks and vans are 

included if used regularly for nonbusiness purposes and 

kept at home. To obtain a count of all units lacking trucks 

or vans, the lines “no cars, trucks, or vans” and “with cars, 

no trucks or vans” must be added together. 

Except for units falling in the category “no cars, trucks, or 

vans,” all units will fall into two categories. For example, a 

unit with one car only would fall both in the category “1 car 

with or without trucks or vans” and “with cars, no trucks or 

vans.”

Cash received in primary mortgage refinance. An 

owner can receive cash from a mortgage lender by refinancing the primary mortgage. This increases the outstanding balance of the loan.

Census. See the definition “Comparability with Census 

2000 of Population and Housing data.”

Central cities. Since 1985, the National AHS has used the 

official list of central cities published on June 27, 1983, 

by the Office of Management and Budget as OMB Bulletin 

83-20. That list was developed from definitions published 

January 3, 1980, in the Federal Register, Volume 45, and 

pages 956–963. AHS still uses these 1983 boundaries for 

data in the microdata files to measure change consistently 

over time. However, AHS uses the 1990 census-based 

geography for the data in the 2009 national publication.

Most metropolitan statistical areas had at least one central 

city, which was usually its largest city. In addition, any city 

with at least 250,000 population or at least 100,000 people working within its corporate limits qualified as a central 

city. Smaller cities were also identified as central cities if 

they had at least 25,000 population and (1) had at least 75 

jobs for each 100 residents who were employed, and (2) 60 

percent or fewer of the city’s resident workers commuted 

to jobs outside the city. Finally, in certain smaller metropolitan statistical areas, there were places with between 

15,000 and 25,000 population that qualified as central 

cities because they were at least one-third the size of the 

metropolitan statistical area’s largest city and met the two 

commuting requirements.

See also the definitions “Place size” and “Urban and rural 

residence.”

Change in housing costs. For the householder and 

those who moved with the householder, a comparison is 

made between the share of the housing costs paid in the 

previous unit and the share paid in the present residence. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-3

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Housing costs include mortgage and rent payment, real center or clubhouse, golf course, walking/jogging trails, 

estate taxes, insurance, utilities, land rent, and mobile shuttle bus, day care center, private or restricted-access 

home park fees. beach, park, or shoreline.

Choice of present home and home search. Commuting. See the definitions “Journey to work” and 

Publications. These data are shown for units where the “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services.”

respondent moved during the 12 months prior to the inter- Comparability with Census 2000 Population and

view. The respondent was asked a four-part question on Housing data. The concepts and definitions are largely 

choice of present home: (1) whether the respondent looked the same for items that appeared in Census 2000 with the 

at both houses or manufactured/mobile homes, and apart- following main exceptions.

ments; (2) the reasons the respondent chose the present 

home; (3) the main reason the present home was chosen; 

and (4) how the respondent found their home. The distribution for choice of present home may not add to the total 

because the respondent was not limited to one response. 

See the definition “Reasons for leaving previous unit.”

In the AHS publications, recent movers are householders 

who moved into their unit during the 12 months prior to 

the interview. In Census 2000, mover households were 

those who moved between January 1, 1999, and March 31, 

2000, a period of 15 months or less.

Microdata. The statistics are shown for units where the 

respondent moved during the 24 months prior to the interview. Respondents are also asked for the number of houses 

involved in the search, why they stopped looking, and how 

they heard about the unit.

In the AHS, the number of bedrooms in the housing unit is 

the count of rooms used mainly for sleeping, even if they 

also are used for other purposes. In Census 2000, the number of bedrooms was the number that the owner would 

have listed if the house or apartment were on the market 

for sale or rent.

Choice of present neighborhood and neighborhood 

search. Data on poverty status in Census 2000 were compiled 

using the same approach as the official poverty measure. 

Publications. These data are shown for units where the Since poverty is a family-based measure, this means that 

respondent moved during the 12 months prior to the household members who were unrelated to the houseinterview. The respondent was asked a three-part ques- holder had a poverty status based on their own individual 

tion on choice of present neighborhood: (1) whether the incomes, whereas household members related to the 

respondent looked for a house/apartment in any other householder had a poverty status based on the combined 

neighborhood; (2) the reasons the respondent chose the family income. Furthermore, Census 2000 did not evaluate 

present neighborhood; and (3) the main reason the present the poverty status of unrelated individuals under the age 

neighborhood was chosen. The distribution for choice of of 15. In the AHS, data on poverty status are based on the 

present neighborhood may not add to the total because the household as a unit. As a result, the total income of the 

respondent was not limited to one response. household—the sum of the income of all household memMicrodata. The statistics are shown for units where the 

respondent moved during the 24 months prior to the 

interview.

bers whether or not they are related to the householder—is 

used to determine the poverty status of the household and 

all the members living in it. (See the definition “Poverty 

status” for additional details.)

Citizenship. Income data in the AHS are based on income for the 12 

Citizenship of householder. Place of birth was asked for months prior to interview for those household members 

each householder and every household member. There are 16 years and older. The Census 2000 income data are for 

five categories of citizenship status: (1) born in the United calendar year 1999 and for income of household members 

States, (2) born in Puerto Rico or another U.S. outlying area, 15 years and older.

(3) born abroad of U.S. citizen parents, (4) naturalized citizens, or (5) noncitizens. People born in the United States 

are citizens at birth.

Differences between the AHS and Census 2000 data also 

may be attributed to the method of data collection (mailed 

questionnaires in the census, personal and telephone interYear householder immigrated to the United States. The data views in the AHS); differences in processing procedures and 

are based on information reported for the householder and sample designs; the sampling variability associated with 

refer to the year the householder immigrated to the United the sample data from both the AHS and the census; and the 

States. nonsampling errors associated with the survey estimates 

Community quality. Data are shown for units in comand the census data.

munities that have one or more of the following amenities A variety of data on mortgages and owner-occupied propfor the use of its members and their guests: a community erties are presented in the Residential Finance Survey, a 
A-4 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

specialized study done as part of Census 2000. Differences Consolidated metropolitan statistical areas. A 

include the fact that the basic unit of tabulation in the AHS consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA) is made 

is the housing unit and in Residential Finance publications up of at least two primary metropolitan statistical areas. 

it is the property. Also, all the data in the AHS are provided The microdata identify specific CMSAs. See the definition 

by the occupant; in Residential Finance publications, mort- “Metropolitan areas.”

gage is reconciled with responses from the lender. Construction. See the definitions “Comparability 

Comparability with Current Construction Reports with Current Construction Reports from the Survey of 

from the Survey of Construction. The U.S. Census Construction” and “Year structure built.”

Bureau issues several publications under the series title, Cooling degree days. See the definition “Heating and Current Construction Reports. The data for these reports cooling degree days.” are primarily from the Survey of Construction.

Cooperatives and condominiums. A cooperative is a The major difference with the AHS is that the Survey of type of ownership whereby a group of housing units is Construction shows counts and characteristics of housing owned by a corporation of member-owners. Each individual units in various stages of construction through completion. member is entitled to occupy or rent out an individual The AHS shows only counts and characteristics of com- housing unit and is a shareholder in the corporation that pleted housing. Additional differences may be attributed to owns the property, but does not own the unit directly. The factors such as the sampling variability and nonsampling corporation may have a mortgage on the whole group of errors of the data from the two surveys, survey procedures units. The member may have a loan or mortgage to buy his and techniques, and processing procedures. or her shares in the corporation.

Complete bathrooms. A housing unit is classified as hav- A condominium is a type of ownership that enables a ing a complete bathroom if it has a room or adjoining areas person to own an apartment or house directly in a project with a flush toilet, bathtub or shower, sink, and hot and of similarly owned units. The owner’s name is on the deed, cold-piped water. A half bathroom has hot and cold piped and the owner may have a mortgage on the unit occupied. water and either a flush toilet or a bathtub or shower, but The owner also may hold common or joint ownership in does not have all the facilities for a complete bathroom. some or all-common areas such as grounds, hallways, 

Condition of streets within 300 feet. The respondent entrances, and elevators.

was asked if any of the streets within half a block of the Cooperative or condominium ownership may apply to sample unit need major repairs, minor repairs, or no repair various types of structures such as single-family houses, work. Major repairs include large potholes, badly crum- rowhouses, and townhouses, as well as apartment units. bling or deteriorating shoulders and roadsides, and deep 

ruts. Minor repairs include small cracks, shallow holes, or Cost. See the definitions “Annual taxes paid per $1,000 

missing minor surfacing. value,” “Change in housing costs,” “Monthly housing costs,” 

“Mortgages currently on property,” “Other housing costs Condominiums. See the definition for “Cooperatives and per month,” and “Real estate taxes.” condominiums.”

Cost and ownership sharing. This item is restricted to Condominium and cooperative fee. A condominium fee owner-occupied housing units. Shared ownership is two or is charged to the owners of the individual condominium more names on a deed or title. Shared costs include only unit on a regular basis. The fee covers operating and main- payments designated for mortgage or utility costs (not tenance costs of the common property; for example: halls, taxes or insurance), whether paid directly to a mortgage or lobby, parking areas, laundry room, swimming pool; as utility company, or to household members. Not living here well as related administrative costs, such as utilities billed means that one of the people sharing the ownership or communally and management fees. costs is not a household member.

A cooperative maintenance fee (also called carrying charge) Crime. See the definition “Neighborhood crime.” is a fee charged to the owners of the cooperative on a 

regular basis. It covers a share of the annual amount paid Crop sales.

by the cooperative for real estate taxes, mortgage inter- National microdata. Data on sales of $1,000 or more of est, and operating cost. In the publications, medians for agricultural products during the 12-month period prior to condominium fees and cooperative fees are rounded to the the interview were collected in rural areas. nearest dollar.

Metropolitan microdata. Not applicable.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-5

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Current income. Current income for families and primary Commercial or institutional refers to nonresidential buildindividuals for most respondents is defined as the total ings such as offices, stores, restaurants, hotels, banks, 

income of the family and any primary individuals in the churches, parking garages, hospitals, schools, and prisons.

past year. Industrial or factory refers to nonresidential buildings such 

Upon completion of the detailed income questions, as factories, barns, junkyards, water treatment plants, and 

respondents were asked, “Is your total family income THIS pumping stations.

MONTH about the same as it was a year ago?” “About the 

same” was defined as within 10 percent, or just cost of living adjustments. If the respondent answered “no,” a second 

question was asked, “What do you expect your total family 

income to be in the NEXT 12 MONTHS?” If the total income 

Open space refers to areas such as a park, woods, farm, or 

ranch within half a block of the home/building. It includes 

other areas such as cemeteries, golf courses, woods, forest 

preserves, vacant lots, undeveloped land, airport land, ball 

of the family and any primary individuals in the past year fields, and school fields.

is unknown, the estimate of the total family income in the 4-or-more-lane highway, railroad, airport, bodies of water 

next 12 months is used as the current income. include divided or undivided highways of at least four 

Current income is not published separately. It is used only 

in the calculation of “Ratio of value to current income” and 

lanes, railroad or streetcar tracks, public, private, or military airfields.

“Monthly housing costs as percent of current income.” Disability.

Current interest rate. This item refers to the annual Households with disabled persons. Disability status is colpercentage rate of the mortgage in effect as of the date of lected for each member of the household. There are six 

the interview, not the rate when the mortgage was made, categories of disabilities: hearing and vision disabilities are 

nor any future changes of variable rates of which the collected for all household members; mental, physical, and 

respondent may be aware. In the publications, medians for self-care disabilities are collected for household members 

current interest rate are rounded to the nearest tenth of a at least 5 years of age; and go-outside-home disabilities are 

percent. collected for members at least 15 years of age.

Current line-of-credit interest rate. This item refers Hearing disability. A person with a hearing disability is deaf 

to the annual percentage rate in effect on current line-of- or has a hearing impairment that makes it very difficult to 

credit outstanding balances. hear conversations, televisions, or radio broadcasts.

Current total loan as percent of value. Vision disability. A person with a vision disability is blind 

Publications. This percentage is computed by dividing the 

outstanding principal amount by the value of the housing 

or has serious difficulty reading or driving due to a visual 

impairment even when wearing glasses.

unit. These medians are rounded to the nearest tenth of a Mental disability. A person with a mental disability has 

percent. serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making 

Microdata. Not applicable. decisions. This includes Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and 

serious learning disabilities.

Dependent interviewing. Dependent interviewing is the 

process by which data from surveys conducted in previous years are used instead of, in addition to, or to verify 

data collected during the current interview. The first use 

of dependent interviewing in AHS was for the item “Year 

Physical disability. A person with a physical disability has 

serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. This is defined 

as difficulty walking up to three city blocks or climbing one 

flight of stairs.

structure built” in the year 1984. See Appendix C for Self-care disability. A person with a self-care disability has 

dependent interviewing items that were added in 2009. serious difficulty dressing or bathing oneself.

Description of area within 300 feet. The respondent Go-outside-home disability. A person with a go-outsidewas asked to describe the area within half a block of the home disability has difficulty doing errands such as visiting 

sample unit. The categories include: single-family detached a doctor’s office or shopping by oneself.

houses, single-family attached houses, low-rise (1–3 story) 

multiunit buildings, mid-rise (4–6 story) multiunit buildings, high-rise (7-or-more story) multiunit buildings, and 

manufactured/mobile homes. It also includes the following 

categories:

Down payment. This item refers to the total amount of 

money used for the down payment or outright purchase of 

the home. Respondents were allowed to answer by giving 

a total dollar amount or by giving a percent of the purchase price. See also the definition “Major source of down 

payment.”
Educational attainment. Data on educational attainment or the breaker switch reset. Blown fuses inside major 

are derived from a question that asks, “What is the highest pieces of installed equipment (such as some air condilevel of school . . . completed or the highest degree . . . has tioners) are counted as blown fuses or tripped breaker 

received?” The question on educational attainment applies switches. The item may identify inadequate wiring, but it 

only to progress in “regular” schools. Regular schools also happens commonly when people move into houses 

include public, private, and parochial elementary and high and are unfamiliar with which items can be turned on at 

schools (both junior and senior), colleges and universities, the same time.

professional, vocational, trade, and business schools. The Electricity. See the definition “Monthly costs paid for elec- credits obtained are regarded as transferable in the regular tricity and piped gas.” school system.

Elevator on floor. Statistics are shown for housing units Other schools include schools available for children 4 in structures with two or more floors that have one or more through 16 years of age that are not public or private passenger elevators in working condition on the same graded schools. Some examples are ungraded schools, spe- floor as the sample unit. Elevators used only for freight are cial schools, preschools, and early learning centers. excluded.

The category “high school graduate” includes people Equipment. This item refers to selected equipment that is who received either a high school diploma or the equiva- not shared with other households. Refrigerators, burners, lent; for example, passed the Test of General Educational ovens, and disposals are counted only if they were in work- Development (GED) and did not attend college. The cat- ing order or the household planned to have them repaired egory “Associate’s degree” includes people whose high- or replaced soon. est degree is an associate’s degree in (1) an occupational 

program that prepares them for a specific occupation and Complete kitchen facilities. A housing unit has complete 

the course work may or may not be creditable toward a kitchen facilities when it has all of the following: (1) 

bachelor’s degree or (2) an academic program primarily kitchen sink; (2) burners, cook stove, or microwave oven; 

in the arts and sciences, and the course work is transfer- and (3) refrigerator. These terms are further defined below. 

able to a bachelor’s degree. Some examples of professional The same criteria are used for occupied and vacant units 

degrees include medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law. in determining complete kitchen facilities. In some areas of 

the country it is common for the occupant to bring a refrig- In the publications, to obtain the total number of house- erator. In these cases, the vacant unit, lacking a refrigera- holders who are high school graduates, add (1) high school tor, has an incomplete kitchen. graduates only (includes equivalency), (2) graduates with 

some college, no degree, (3) with an associate’s degree, (4) Kitchen sink. Only a sink in the unit or on an enclosed 

with a bachelor’s degree, and (5) with a graduate or profes- porch is counted, but it does not matter whether it is in 

sional degree. To obtain the total number of householder the kitchen. However a bathroom sink does not count as a 

graduates with a bachelor’s degree, add (1) with a bache- kitchen sink.

lor’s degree and (2) with a graduate or professional degree. Refrigerator. It may or may not have a freezer. Kerosene The microdata have similar information on other household 

members aged 14 years and older. refrigerators are counted, but not ice boxes.

Cooking stove or range. The cook stove or range can be Elderly. mechanical or wood burning.

Publications. Data for the elderly include all households 

Burners. Data for burners were collected only if the respon- with householders 65 years and older. Note that this defini- dent did not report having a cooking stove with oven. tion is narrower than in Department of Housing and Urban Burners built into a stove or counter top are counted, as Development housing programs, which count as elderly all are burners on a wood burning stove. households where the householder or spouse is 62 or older 

or has a disability. Microwave oven. Data for microwave ovens were collected 

only if the respondent did not report having a cooking Microdata. Not applicable; data can be classified at any stove with oven or burners. Prior to 1997, the data col- age. lected included all types of ovens except toaster ovens.

Electric fuses and circuit breakers. These statistics 

Dishwasher. Counter top dishwashers are not counted. are presented for occupied housing units. The data show 

whether an electric fuse has blown or circuit breaker has Washing machine. Any kind with a motor is counted.

tripped in the home in the 3 months prior to the interview, 

or while the household was living in the unit if less than 3 Clothes dryer. Only clothes dryers with motors are counted, 

months. A blown fuse or tripped breaker switch results in not hand-operated wringers or hand-turned spin dryers.

the temporary loss of electricity until the fuse is replaced 

A-6 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-7

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Disposal in sink. A disposal is a motorized device that 

grinds waste so it can flow through the waste water pipe. 

Trash compactor. Only built-in motorized trash compactors 

are counted.

Air conditioning. Air conditioning is defined as the cooling 

of air by a refrigeration unit. This definition excludes evaporative coolers, fans, or blowers that are not connected to 

a refrigeration unit.

Central air conditioning refers to a central system, which 

air-conditions the entire housing unit or major portions of 

it. In an apartment building, a central system may cool all 

apartments in the building, each apartment may have its 

own central system, or there may be several systems that 

provide central air conditioning for a group of apartments. 

A central installation with individual room controls is a 

central air conditioning system.

Additional central refers to a second central air conditioning system (e.g., a dual zone heat pump system).

Room (air conditioning) unit refers to an individual air 

conditioner installed in a window or an outside wall and is 

generally intended to cool one room, although it may be 

used to cool several rooms.

External building conditions. The external condition of 

the building that contains the sample unit is determined by 

direct questions asked of the respondent. The categories 

were grouped into the following: roof, walls, windows, and 

foundation.

Roof. A “sagging roof” is a critical defect indicating continuous neglect, or deep or serious damage to the structure. 

Only roofs with substantial sagging are included. “Missing 

roofing material” includes rotted, broken, loose or missing 

shingles, tiles, slate, shake, and tin, caused by extensive 

damage from fire, storm, or serious neglect. “Hole in roof” 

occurs when the missing roof materials expose the interior 

of the unit directly to weather. Holes caused by construction activity are not counted unless the construction has 

been abandoned.

Walls. “Missing bricks, siding, other outside wall material” applies to the exterior wall (including chimney) of the 

structure. These defects may be caused by storm, fire, 

flood, extensive neglect, vandalism, and so forth. Materials 

may include clapboard siding, shingles, boards, brick, concrete, and stucco. The missing materials do not necessarily 

expose the interior of the unit directly to weather. Missing 

materials resulting from construction activity are not 

counted unless construction has been abandoned. “Sloping 

outside walls” is a critical defect indicating continuous 

neglect or serious damage to the structure. Only walls with 

substantial sagging are included.

Windows. “Boarded-up windows” have been sealed off to 

protect against weather or entry and include windows and/

or doors covered by board, brick, metal, or some other 

material. “Broken windows” indicate several broken or 

missing window panes. “Bars on windows” are to protect 

against unlawful entry. The condition of the windows has 

no bearing on this item. The bars can be vertical, horizontal, or a metal grating. Windows completely covered with 

metal sheeting are not included in this category.

Foundation crumbling or has open crack or hole. This 

category includes large cracks, holes, and rotted, loose, or 

missing foundation material.

Extra unit. Extra units include units classified as usual 

residence elsewhere (URE), vacant units designated as 

occasional use, and seasonal units (excluding migratory). A 

series of four questions was asked concerning these units.

Reasons for extra unit owned:

•  Previous usual residence—never sold the unit after moving from the unit into a new permanent residence.

•  Recreational purposes—used for vacations, weekends, 

sports, and holidays, but not anyone’s usual residence 

currently.

•  Investment purposes—kept currently for investment purposes regardless of why it was obtained originally.

•  Unable to sell the property—the owner is currently 

attempting to sell the unit but has not been successful.

•  Inherited property—received as an inheritance in the settling of an estate.

•  Other reasons—used if none of the other designations 

applied.

Location of extra unit. Designates how close the unit is to 

the owner’s current residence.

Nights owner spent at extra unit. Indicates how often the 

extra unit was used by the owner during the 12 months 

prior to the interview.

Nights owner rented extra unit. Determines how often the 

extra unit was used by people other than the owner during 

the 12 months prior to the interview.

Family or primary individual. While any occupant of a 

housing unit is called a household member, each household includes either one of the following:

•  A family, which is the householder and all (one or 

more) other people living in the same household who 

are related to the householder by blood, marriage, or 

adoption.
A-8 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

•  A primary individual, which is a householder who lives 

alone or with nonrelatives only. In any case, the household also may include one or more roommates, lodgers, resident employees, or other people unrelated to 

the householder. These are considered members of the 

household but not of the family.

Married couples related to the householder of a family are 

included in the family and are not considered as separate 

families unless they reside in separate living quarters. 

While they are part of the family, they are also usually a 

subfamily (see the definition “Persons other than spouse or 

children”).

By definition, families include the householder and at least 

one relative, so in the statistics on household composition, 

families are always included in the various categories of 

two-or-more-person households. Primary individuals with 

nonrelatives living with them also are tabulated as two-ormore-person households. Primary individuals living alone 

are tabulated as one-person households.

The definition of families and primary individuals is significant in that some income items are collected only for 

the family or primary individual; these are current income 

and food stamps. For other household members 16 years 

and older, who are not related to the householder, total 

income is collected for each person, but current changes in 

income are not identified, and their income is not included 

in comparisons with monthly housing costs or value. The 

distinction is meant to approximate whose income may 

be available for housing and other shared living expenses. 

However it is imperfect in the case of roommates who 

share more or less equally.

See also the definition “Household composition.”

Farm. See the definition “Crop sales.”

Fire extinguisher. See the definition “Safety equipment.”

First-time owners. If neither the owner nor any co-owner 

has ever owned or co-owned another home as a usual 

residence, then the housing unit is reported as the first 

home ever owned. Previous homes purchased solely as 

vacation homes or homes purchased for commercial rental 

purposes are not considered usual residences. However, 

if a previously owned home was originally purchased as a 

usual residence and later used as a vacation home or for 

commercial or rental purposes, the owner is not a first time 

owner.

Flush toilet and flush toilet breakdowns. A privy or 

chemical toilet is not considered a flush toilet. Flush toilets 

outside the unit are not counted. The statistics on breakdowns of flush toilet are shown for housing units with 

at least one flush toilet for the household’s use only. The 

flush toilet may be completely unusable because of a faulty 

flushing mechanism, broken pipes, stopped up sewer pipe, 

lack of water supplied to the flush toilet, or some other reason. For households with more than one toilet, the question asked about times when all toilets were unusable.

Food stamps. These data are restricted to families and 

primary individuals with total incomes of $25,000 per 

year or less. Housing units are counted in these data if 

the householder or any relative currently living in the unit 

received food stamps in the past year, even at another 

address. Throughout most of the United States, stamps 

have been replaced by the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) 

which is a system allowing transfer via debit card of government benefits from a federal account to a retail outlet’s 

account. The food stamp program is a joint federal-state 

program that is administered by the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture and state and local governments.

Foundation. This item is restricted to one-unit buildings 

and excludes mobile homes. A structure has a basement if 

there is an enclosed space at least partially underground 

in which a person can walk upright under all or part of 

the building. The basement is under all the building if it is 

under the entire main structure, excluding garages, carports, and porches. A crawl space is space between the 

ground and the first floor of the house, but it is not high 

enough for a person to walk upright. A house is built on a 

concrete slab if it is built on concrete that has been poured 

on the ground. The “other” category refers to boats, motor 

homes, or houses built on stilts or pilings (for example, 

beach houses).

Fuels.

Electricity may be supplied by above- or underground electric power lines or generated at the housing unit.

Piped gas is gas piped through underground pipes from a 

central system to serve the neighborhood.

Bottled gas is pressurized gas stored in tanks or bottles 

that are filled or exchanged when empty.

Fuel oil is heating oil normally supplied by truck to a storage tank for use by the heating system.

Kerosene or other liquid fuel includes kerosene, gasoline, 

alcohol, and other similar combustible liquids.

Coal or coke is usually delivered by truck.

Wood refers to the use of wood or wood charcoal as a fuel.

Solar energy refers to the use of energy available from 

sunlight as a heating fuel source.

Other includes briquettes made of pitch and sawdust, coal 

dust, waste material like corncobs, purchased steam, or 

any other fuel not listed.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-9

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Fuels, other house heating. These are the same types 

of fuels mentioned above but used in addition to and/or 

supplementing the main house heating fuel.

Gas. See the definition “Monthly costs paid for electricity 

and piped gas.”

Go-outside-home disability. See the definition 

“Disability.”

Government subsidy for repairs. “Government subsidy 

for repairs” refers to an assistance program provided by 

the federal, state, or local government for the purpose of 

obtaining or installing energy conservation products for 

low-income households. The money must be spent that 

way. The type of products include insulation, storm doors, 

storm windows, weather stripping, caulking, furnace tune 

ups, or for repair of broken doors and windows.

Ground anchors. See the definition “Manufactured/mobile 

home tiedowns.”

Group quarters. See the definition “Housing units.”

Hearing disability. See the definition “Disability.”

Heating and cooling degree days.

National publications. Not available.

Microdata. Each degree that the average temperature for a 

day is below 65 degrees Fahrenheit produces one heating 

degree day (HDD). For example, if the maximum temperature is 70 degrees F and the minimum temperature is 

52 degrees F, the average temperature for the day is 61 

degrees, resulting in four heating degree days. A day when 

the average temperature is 65 or more has zero heating 

degree days.

Each degree that the average temperature for a day is 

above 65 degrees Fahrenheit produces one cooling degree 

day (CDD). For example, if the maximum temperature is 80 

degrees F and the minimum temperature is 62 degrees F, 

the average temperature for the day is 71 degrees, resulting in six cooling degree days. A day when the average 

temperature is 65 or less has zero cooling degree days.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA) provided the information on degree days, based 

on averages for 1951–80. Each sample unit was assigned 

heating and cooling degree days using average NOAA data 

for counties.

Metropolitan publications and microdata. Not applicable.

Heating equipment. Data are shown for the main heating 

equipment and other heating equipment used in addition 

to the main heating equipment. More than one category of 

“Other heating equipment” could be reported for the same 

household. Only one type of equipment was shown as the 

“Main heating equipment.”

Warm-air furnace refers to a central system that provides 

warm air through ducts leading to various rooms.

Steam or hot water system refers to a central heating 

system in which heat from steam or hot water is delivered 

through radiators or other outlets. It also includes solar 

heated hot water that is circulated throughout the home.

Electric heat pump refers to a heating and cooling system 

that utilizes indoor and outdoor coils, a compressor, and 

a refrigerant to pump in heat during the winter and pump 

out heat during the summer. Only heat pumps that are centrally installed with ducts to the rooms are included in this 

category. Others are included in wall units.

Built-in electric units refer to units permanently installed in 

floors, walls, ceilings, or baseboards.

Floor, wall, or other built-in hot-air unit without ducts refers 

to a system that delivers warm air to the room right above 

the furnace or to the room(s) on one or both sides of the 

wall in which the furnace is installed.

Room heater with flue refers to nonportable room heaters 

in the wall or freestanding heaters that burn liquid fuel, 

and which are connected to a flue, vent, or chimney to 

remove smoke and fumes.

Room heater without flue refers to any room heater that 

burns kerosene, gas, or oil, and that does not connect to 

flue, vent, or chimney.

Portable electric heater refers to heaters that receive current from an electrical wall outlet.

Fireplace with inserts refers to a fan-forced air circulation 

system installed in the fireplace to force the heat into the 

room.

Fireplace without inserts refers to glass door fire screens or 

fire backs inserted in the back of the fireplace to passively 

reflect heat.

Cooking stove refers to gas or electric ranges or stoves 

originally manufactured to cook food.

Stove refers to any range or stove that burns solid fuel 

including wood burning, potbelly, and Franklin stoves.

Other includes any heating equipment that does not fit the 

definition for any of the previous definitions.

Heating problems. Statistics are shown for housing units 

occupied by the householder during the winter prior to the 

interview and refer only to the main heating equipment. 

The data are classified by whether the housing unit was 

uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more, the number of 

times equipment breakdowns lasted 6 hours or more, and 

causes for the breakdowns. The heating equipment is broken down if it is not providing heat at its normal heating 

capacity through some fault in the equipment.
A-10 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Utility interruptions occur when there is a cutoff in the gas, 

electricity, or other fuel supplying the heat.

Inadequate heating capacity refers to heating equipment 

that is providing heat at its normal capacity, but the housing unit is still too cold for the occupants.

Inadequate insulation refers to air drafts through window 

frames, electrical outlets, or walls that are cold.

Cost of heating refers to the occupants turning down their 

thermostat or turning the equipment off altogether to 

save money. This category includes utilities/fuels that are 

unavailable due to unpaid bills.

Hispanic. “Hispanic” refers to the origin of the householder, and was determined by asking respondents to identify people living in the unit who were Hispanic or SpanishAmerican. There is no intent to include people of Brazilian 

or Portuguese ancestry. Hispanics may be of any race.

Home-equity line-of-credit. This revolving home-equity 

loan allows the property owner to borrow against the 

equity up to a fixed limit set by the lender without reapplying for a loan.

Home-equity lump-sum loan. This home-equity loan 

is paid out in a one-time lump-sum amount and must be 

repaid over a set period.

Home-equity mortgage. See the definition “Mortgages 

currently on property.”

Homes currently for sale or rent. The data are presented in the publication for owner-occupied units, year 

round units temporarily occupied by people who have a 

usual residence elsewhere, and vacant units. The owner 

may offer the unit up for rent only, up for rent or for sale, 

or for sale only. In addition, the owner may have contracted to rent or sell the unit, but the transfer has not yet 

taken place. Finally, the housing unit may be not on the 

market at all.

Household. A household consists of all people who 

occupy a particular housing unit as their usual residence, 

or who live there at the time of the interview and have no 

usual residence elsewhere. The usual residence is the place 

where the person lives and sleeps most of the time. This 

place is not necessarily the same as a legal residence, voting residence, or domicile.

Households include not only occupants related to the 

householder but also any lodgers, roomers, boarders, partners, wards, foster children, and resident employees who 

share the living quarters of the householder. It includes 

people temporarily away for reasons such as visiting, 

traveling in connection with their jobs, attending school, 

in general hospitals, and in other temporary relocations. 

By definition, the count of households is the same as the 

count of occupied housing units.

Household composition.

Publications. The following categories are published:

Married-couple families. Each household in this group 

includes the householder and spouse, and other people, 

if any, who are related to the householder and live in the 

household. If the householder’s spouse is not present, but 

another married couple is present; for example, daughterand son-in-law or mother- and father-in-law, the household 

is not counted here as a married-couple family.

Other male householder. This category includes households with male householders who are widowed, divorced, 

separated, or single, or who are married with wife absent 

for other reasons.

Other female householder. This category includes households with female householders who are widowed, 

divorced, separated, or single, or who are married with 

husband absent for other reasons.

No nonrelatives. When this phrase modifies married-couple 

households, then households that include householder, 

spouse, nonrelatives, and other relatives, if any, are 

included with other male and other female householder, 

rather than with married-couples, no nonrelatives. The data 

are published both ways, in the data tables, so readers can 

see whether their findings are affected by the presence of 

nonrelatives with married couples.

Single children under 18 years old. This category includes 

all household members less than 18 years, whether related 

to the householder or not, who are not currently married 

(they have never been married, or are divorced, separated, 

or widowed). For example, it includes currently unmarried 

children of lodgers and foster children.

Own never-married children under 18 years old. This category includes any household member under 18 years old, 

if he or she has never been married, and is a son, daughter, 

stepchild, or adopted child of the householder. By definition, children of subfamilies are not children of the householder, so they are excluded from this count. The data 

are published for both this definition of children and the 

definition above (based on age and current marital status) 

in different tables (2–9, 3–9, and 4–9) so readers can see 

whether the definition of children affects their findings.

See also the definitions “Family or primary individual” and 

“Persons other than spouse or children.”

Microdata. Not applicable; researchers may calculate these 

and other categories from the data on each person. 

Household moves and formation.

Publications. Data are shown for households that moved 

into the present unit during the 12 months prior to the 

date of the interview. The distribution is further classified 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-11

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

by whether the household moved together from the same 

unit, from two or more units or moved at separate times.

The total does not measure net household formation, since 

it omits deaths, moves to institutions, and moves abroad, 

and it does not show whether all occupants of the previous 

unit moved here; some may have stayed there, or moved 

elsewhere.

The categories do indicate people moving out of units 

where they were not the householder (divorce or children 

setting out on their own), and people moving in with others (marriage, roommates, children moving from one parent to another, or to a grandparent).

Microdata. Data are shown for households that moved into 

the present unit during the 24 months prior to the date of 

the interview.

Householder. The householder is the first household 

member listed on the questionnaire who is an owner or 

renter of the sample unit and is 18 years or older. An 

owner is a person whose name is on the deed, mortgage, 

or contract to purchase. A renter is a person whose name 

is on the lease. If there is no lease, a renter is a person 

responsible for paying the rent. If no one meets the full 

criteria, the age requirement is relaxed to 14 years or older 

before the owner/renter requirement. Where the respondent is one of several unrelated people who all could meet 

the criteria, the interviewer will select one of them to be 

listed first who then becomes the householder. The householder is not necessarily the one answering the survey 

questions. See also the definition “Respondent.”

Housing units. A housing unit is a house, apartment, 

group of rooms, or single room occupied or intended for 

occupancy as separate living quarters.

Living quarters is a general term that includes both housing units and group quarters. Living quarters include 

structures intended for residential use (such as a house, 

apartment building, boarding house, or mobile home). 

Living quarters also include the following, but only if they 

are occupied as usual residences: (a) places such as tents, 

caves, boats, and railroad cars; and (b) structures intended 

for nonresidential use (such as rooms in a warehouse 

where a guard lives). Living quarters exclude quarters 

being used entirely for nonresidential purposes, such as a 

store, an office, or quarters used for storing business supplies, machinery, or agricultural products.

Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants 

live separately from any other people in the structure and 

that have direct access from the outside of the structure or 

through a common hall, lobby, or vestibule that is used or 

intended for use by the occupants of more than one unit 

or by the general public. This means that the hall, lobby, 

or vestibule is not part of any unit, and must be clearly 

separate from all units in the structure. For vacant units, 

the criteria of separateness and direct access are applied to 

the intended occupants whenever possible. If the information cannot be obtained, the criteria are applied to the 

previous occupants.

Group quarters. The following types of living quarters 

are not classified as housing units and are not covered 

by the AHS interviews (some are in the microdata as 

noninterviews):

Institutional group quarters are living quarters occupied 

by one or more people under care or custody, such as 

children in an orphanage, people in a nursing home, and 

prisoners in a penitentiary.

Noninstitutional group quarters do not involve skilled 

medical care or custody, and do not have separate living. 

They include college dormitories, fraternity and sorority 

houses, and nurse’s dormitories.

Note that institutional and commercial establishments 

that have single-family houses or individual apartments 

with direct access, where staff lives separately, such as 

some residential hotels, and units for college professors, 

are housing units. Military housing for singles is not 

covered, but housing where civilian family members live 

is, if it meets the definition of a housing unit.

Hotels. Occupied rooms or suites of rooms in hotels, 

motels, and similar places are classified as housing units 

only when occupied by permanent residents; that is, people who consider the hotel as their usual residence or have 

no usual residence elsewhere. Vacant rooms or suites of 

rooms are classified as housing units only in those hotels, 

motels, and similar places in which 75 percent or more of 

the accommodations are occupied by permanent residents.

Rooming houses. If any of the occupants in a rooming or 

boarding house live separately from everyone else in the 

building and have direct access, their quarters are classified as separate housing units. The remaining quarters 

are combined. If the combined quarters contain eight or 

fewer roomers unrelated to the householder, or a person 

in charge, they are counted as one housing unit. Otherwise 

they are noninstitutional group quarters.

New housing units. Units being built are classified as housing units (though they may be vacant) if construction has 

reached a point where all exterior windows and doors 

are installed and final usable floors are in place. Note this 

stage of construction is earlier than the one used in duration of vacancy (see the definition “Vacancy, seasonality”), 

which measures when construction was completed.

The occupants of each housing unit may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living 

together, or any other group of related or unrelated people 

who share living arrangements.
A-12 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Both occupied and vacant units are counted, except that 

the following are excluded if they are vacant: (a) tents, 

caves, boats, railroad cars, and the like; (b) structures 

intended for nonresidential use; (c) units used for business 

storage (storage of personal furniture does not disqualify a 

unit); and (d) units unfit for human habitation (roof, walls, 

windows, or doors no longer protect the interior from 

weather, or there is positive evidence, such as a sign on 

the house or block, that the unit is to be demolished or is 

condemned).

How the housing unit was acquired. The householder 

obtained the housing unit by one of several options: by 

buying a house already built; by signing a sales agreement 

that included the land as well as the cost of building a 

house; by having a contractor build it on the householder’s 

land; by the householder building it on the householder’s 

own land (this includes a person acting as own contractor and includes leased land); or by receiving it as a gift or 

inheritance.

Income. The survey covers total money income in the 

12 months before the interview. It covers people aged 16 

and older (aged 14 and older before 1999) currently living 

in the housing unit, even if they lived elsewhere during 

some of the previous 12 months. The figures represent the 

amount of income before any deductions such as taxes, 

social security, union dues, bonds, and insurance.

The figures exclude capital gains; lump-sum payments 

from inheritances or insurance; occasional gifts; other sporadic payments; money borrowed; tax refunds; withdrawal 

of bank deposits; accrued interest on un-cashed savings 

bonds; payments between household members except 

wages in a family business; income “in kind,” such as free 

living quarters, housing subsidies, food stamps, or food 

produced and consumed in the home; and money from the 

sale of property (unless the recipient was in the business 

of selling such property). Figures also exclude income of 

people who have died or moved out of the housing unit, 

even if they lived in it for part of the previous 12 months.

For household members related to the householder, the 

interview asks the respondent for the information. For 

people not related to the householder, the interviewer tries 

to ask them directly about their income, but if they are not 

available, the interviewer asks the respondent. Medians for 

income are rounded to the nearest dollars.

Figures are shown separately for household income and 

income of families and primary individuals (see the definition “Family or primary individual”). Each has its own 

advantages. Only household income includes the income 

of lodgers, roommates, employees, and other household 

members who are not related to the householder.

Wage or salary income includes total money earnings 

received for work performed as an employee during the 

past 12 months. It includes wages, salary, armed forces 

pay, commissions, tips, piece-rate payments, and cash 

bonuses earned before deductions were made for taxes, 

bonds, pensions, and union dues.

Self-employment income includes net money income (gross 

receipts minus expenses) from one’s own business, professional practice, partnership, farm, or ranch.

Interest is money received or credited to checking and savings accounts, money market funds, certificates of deposit 

(CDs), IRAs, KEOGHs, and government bonds.

Dividends are money received, credited, or reinvested from 

ownership of stocks or mutual funds.

Rental income is money (profits or losses) received from 

renting land, buildings, real estate, or from roomers or 

boarders.

Social security income or Railroad retirement. Social security income includes social security pensions and survivor 

benefits, permanent disability insurance payments made by 

the Social Security Administration prior to deductions for 

medical insurance. Railroad retirement insurance checks 

come from the U.S. Government. Medicare reimbursements 

are not included.

Supplemental security income (SSI) is a nationwide U.S. 

assistance program administered by the Social Security 

Administration that guarantees a minimum level of income 

for needy, aged, blind, or disabled individuals.

Public assistance income includes general assistance and 

temporary assistance for needy families (TANF). Separate 

payments received for hospital or other medical care (vendor payments) is excluded. This does not include SSI or 

noncash benefits such as food stamps.

Retirement pensions and survivor benefits include benefits 

from a former employer, companies, labor union, or federal, state, or local government, and the U.S. military. Also 

included are periodic receipts from annuities and insurance, and regular income from IRA and KEOGH plans. This 

does not include social security income.

Disability payments, workers’ compensation, veterans’ disability, other disability include payments from companies, 

unions, and the federal, state, or local government, such 

as payments from the Social Security Disability Insurance 

program. Workers’ compensation benefits are paid by state 

workers’ compensation programs, and veterans’ disability 

income is paid by the U.S. military.

Child support or alimony. Child support is money received 

for the support of children not living with their father or 

mother as a result of a legal separation. Respondents are 

asked if they received in the past 12 months alimony or 

child support. They then report the amount. Alimony is 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-13

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

money received periodically from a former spouse after a 

divorce or legal separation.

All other income. All other income includes unemployment 

compensation, Veterans Administration (VA) payments, 

royalties, contributions received periodically from people 

not living in the household, military family allotments, and 

other kinds of periodic income other than earnings.

There may be significant differences in the income data 

between the AHS and other surveys and censuses. For 

example, the time period for income data in the AHS is the 

12 months prior to the interview, while other income data 

generally refer to the calendar year prior to the date of the 

interview. Additional differences in the income data may 

be attributed to how income questions are asked, levels 

of missing data (usually high on questions about income), 

whether missing data are estimated or ignored, sampling 

variability, and nonsampling errors.

See also the definition “Current income.”

Insurance. See the definition “Property insurance.” 

Interest rate. See the definition “Current interest rate.”

Items included in primary mortgage payment. The 

respondent was asked to indicate which items were 

included in the monthly mortgage payment besides principal and interest. These items include property taxes, 

property insurance, private mortgage insurance, and other 

charges. Other charges may include disability insurance or 

life insurance.

Journey to work.

Publications. Not available.

Microdata. The publications report data on householders. 

The microdata have similar information on all workers.

Workers. This includes all people 16 years and older who 

held a job in the United States any time the week before 

the interview.

Householders who worked last week. This includes householders who reported having a job in the United States any 

time the week before the interview.

Principal means of transportation to work last week. This 

refers to the principal mode of travel used to get from 

home to work. People who use different means of transportation on different days of the week were asked to 

specify the one used most often. People who used more 

than one means of transportation to get to work each day 

were asked to specify the one used for the longest distance 

during the trip to work. “Mass transportation” refers to 

bus, streetcar, subway, or trains. “Other means” includes 

ferryboats, air transport, or motorized carts. See also the 

definition “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood 

services.”

Travel time from home to work. This refers to the total 

elapsed time in minutes to usually get from home to 

work during the week prior to interview. The elapsed 

time includes time spent waiting for public transportation 

and picking up members of carpools. Respondents were 

instructed to report travel time to the nearest minute.

No fixed place of work. Workers with no fixed place of work 

are those who did not usually work at the same location 

each day and do not usually report to a central location to 

begin work each day.

Distance from home to work. This is the usual one-way, 

“door-to-door” distance in miles from home to work during 

the week prior to interview. Respondents were instructed 

to report travel to the nearest mile.

Departure time to work. This refers to the time (hour and 

minutes) the respondent left for work. The categories begin 

with midnight and progress to 11:59 p.m.

Kitchen. See the definition “Equipment.”

Land contract. A land contract is an arrangement for the 

sale of real estate whereby the buyer may use, occupy, and 

enjoy land, but no deed is given by the seller (and no title 

passes) until all of the sale price has been paid.

Land rent. In some parts of the country people own their 

homes, but rent the land on which their homes sit. Mobile 

homes, cooperatives, and condominiums are not asked if 

land rent is paid.

Last used as a permanent residence. See the definition 

“Vacancy, seasonality.”

Lenders of primary and secondary mortgages. This 

item is presented for units with two or more mortgages. 

The data are classified by whether the money was borrowed from a firm (bank or other organization), the seller 

of the property, or from another individual. Other organizations consist of mortgage corporations, pension plans, 

credit unions, and savings and loan associations. Other 

individual(s) includes anyone who was not the most recent 

owner.

Line of credit. See the definition “Home-equity 

line-of-credit.”

Line-of-credit amount used for home additions, 

improvements, or repairs. This is the percentage of the 

dollar amount of home-equity loans used for home additions, improvements, or repairs.

Line-of-credit interest rate, current. See the definition 

“Current line-of-credit interest rate.”
A-14 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Line-of-credit monthly payment. This is the monthly 

payment on the line-of-credit paid to the bank at the present interest rate.

Living quarters. See the definition “Housing units.”

Lodgers. See the definitions “Household,” “Persons other 

than spouse or children,” and “Rent paid by lodgers.”

Lot size. Lot size includes all connecting land that is 

owned or rented with the home. Excluded are two-or moreunit buildings and two-or-more-unit mobile homes. In the 

publication, median lot size is shown to hundredths of an 

acre.

Lower cost state and local mortgages. Data are shown 

for owner-occupied units with one or more mortgages. 

These are loans generally 1 percent to 3 percent below 

the current mortgage interest rate at the time the loan 

was made. The loans are managed through state or local 

governments. Excluded are federally funded programs of 

the Veterans Administration and RHS/RD, formerly Farmers 

Home Administration.

Lump-sum loan. See the definition “Home-equity lumpsum loan.”

Maintenance cost. See the definition “Maintenance in last 

year.”

Maintenance in last year. Routine maintenance consists 

of regular maintenance activities necessary for the preventive care of the structure, property, and fixed equipment 

items. Included are such things as painting; papering; floor 

sanding; restoring of shingles; fixing water pipes; replacing parts of large equipment, such as a furnace; repairing fences, gutters, sidewalks, decks or patios; removing 

dangerous trees; or termite inspection. Housecleaning is 

not included. Routine maintenance does not include work 

reported under the section on replacements and alterations. Medians for routine maintenance are rounded to the 

nearest dollar.

Major source of down payment. This item refers to 

the source of the cash used for down payment or outright 

purchase of the property (house or lot). If more than one 

source applied, the one providing the largest amount was 

recorded.

Sale of previous home was reported only if the previous 

home was sold during the 12 months preceding the acquisition of the present home.

Savings, or cash on hand, includes money drawn as bank 

deposits, credit unions, share accounts, saving bonds, 

certificates of deposits (CDs), money market funds, and IRA 

or KEOGH accounts.

Sale of other investment includes the sale of other real 

property or real estate other than the previous home or 

from the sale of other investments such as stocks, municipal or corporate bonds, mutual funds, or dissolved business ventures.

Borrowing other than a mortgage on this property is 

shown if the present owner borrowed the down payment, 

even if the property was mortgaged.

Money received as a gift regardless of the source was categorized inheritance or gift.

Land where building built used for financing means the 

land on which the structure was built was used as the present owner’s equity in the property. 

Sources of down payment that do not fit any of the above 

categories were recorded in the other category.

Manager. See the definition “Owner or manager on 

property.”

Manufactured/mobile homes. A manufactured/mobile 

home is defined as a housing unit that was originally constructed to be towed on its own chassis (also called HUD 

Code homes). It may be built in one or more sections. Since 

the sections are attached side-by-side at the home site, 

the final home comprises the number of sections referring 

to as house “wide.” A unit composed of two sections is a 

double-wide; three sections is a triple-wide, etc. Singlewide units come from the factory as one section. It also 

may have permanent rooms attached at its present site or 

other structural modifications. The term does not include 

prefabricated buildings, modular homes, travel campers, 

boats, or self-propelled vehicles like motor homes. Some 

people use the terms trailer or manufactured housing in 

the same sense as mobile homes.

Manufactured/mobile home set up. Manufactured/

mobile homes are placed on a permanent masonry foundation; rest on concrete pads; or are up on blocks, but not on 

concrete pads.

Manufactured/mobile home tiedowns. Manufactured/

mobile home or trailer tiedowns are ground-anchor foundation systems that give physical stability to manufactured/

mobile homes.

Manufactured/mobile homes in group. Manufactured/

mobile homes or mobile home sites gathered close 

together are considered to be in a “group.” This may be a 

mobile home park or it may be a number grouped together 

on adjacent individually owned lots not in a mobile home 

park. See also the definition “Site placement.”

Means of sewage disposal. A public sewer is connected 

to a city, county, sanitary district, neighborhood, or subdivision sewer system, serving six or more units. A septic 

tank or cesspool is an underground tank or pit used for 

disposal of sewage (serving five or fewer units). A chemical toilet, which may be inside or outside the unit, uses 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-15

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

chemicals to break down or dissolve sewage. Housing 

units for which sewage is disposed of in some other way 

are included in the Other category. See also the definition 

“Sewage disposal breakdowns.”

Medians. 

Publications. Median is the 50th percentile and is often the 

better measure of “typical” than is the mean or average. 

It is found by ordering all values in a data set from lowest to highest and then finding the value that lies in the 

exact middle. If there is an even number of cases, then 

the average of the two values in the middle is considered 

the median. In other words, 50 percent of the values in 

the data set are lower than the median and 50 percent are 

higher. All medians, except the median for “Year Structure 

Built” are calculated in this way. As “Year Structure Built” 

is categorical for years prior to 2000, we estimate the 

median from the distribution (an interpolated median). 

For example, if there are 10 million homes built, then 

the median is the 5 millionth, or halfway point of these 

homes. Therefore, if 5 million homes were built before 

between 1975 and 1979, then the median is the halfway 

point between 1975 and 1979. Similarly, if one-third of 

the homes were built between 1980 and 1984, then the 

median is one-third of the way between 1980 and 1984, 

which would be 1981.

We do not show the median at all if the distribution is estimated to have fewer than 25 sample cases (50,000 homes 

in the national publications).

Microdata. Not applicable; no medians are shown in the 

public use file.

Median monthly housing costs for owners.

Publications. In addition to the median for “Monthly housing costs,” this item gives two additional medians for 

owner-occupied units. The first median includes maintenance costs in addition to those items included in “Monthly 

housing costs.” The second median excludes second and 

subsequent mortgages, installment loans or contracts, 

and maintenance costs, but includes all remaining items 

listed in “Monthly housing costs.” Because neither of these 

medians includes costs for renter-occupied units, they are 

not comparable to the median presented in “Monthly housing costs,” except in the “Owner column” and the “Owneroccupied chapter.”

Microdata. Not applicable.

Metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas are composed of 

whole counties (towns in New England) that have significant levels of commuting and contiguous urban areas in 

common. They may cross state lines, and usually include 

large amounts of rural land and farmland, provided the 

county or town as a whole qualifies.

See also the definitions “Central cities,” “Place size,” and 

“Urban and rural residence,” which is based on much 

higher population density than metropolitan areas.

National publications and microdata. Since 1985, the 

National AHS has used the official list of metropolitan areas 

published on June 27, 1983, by the Office of Management 

and Budget as OMB Bulletin 83–20. That list was developed 

from definitions published January 3, 1980, in the Federal 

Register, Volume 45, pages 956–963. AHS still uses these 

1983 boundaries for data in the microdata files to measure 

change consistently over time. However, AHS uses the 

1990 census-based geography for the data in the 2003 

national publication and beyond. The definitions do not 

conform with our 2003 OMB definitions.

National microdata identify parts of many metropolitan 

areas. The sample size is usually too small for analysis, 

but researchers may group the areas (by growth rate, 

turnover rate, or size for example) to have enough cases 

in each group to analyze. Metropolitan area codes are 

shown for (a) central cities of a metropolitan area where 

they had total 1980 population of 100,000 or more, and 

(b) urbanized suburbs of a metropolitan area where they 

had total 1980 population of 100,000 or more. In some 

areas, only central cities or only suburbs met the cutoff, so 

only those sample cases show metropolitan codes. Other 

sample cases show 9999 as their metropolitan code, which 

is a suppression for confidentiality that does not affect the 

printed publications.

Metropolitan publications and microdata. Since 1995, the 

metropolitan AHS has used HUD definitions of metropolitan areas. These start from the definitions of the Office of 

Management and Budget, but some outlying areas are omitted from the HUD definitions. Those counties have enough 

commuting to meet the OMB definition, but HUD believes 

they are not part of the same housing market as the rest of 

the area and need to be omitted for housing analysis. The 

areas for a given year included in and excluded from each 

metropolitan area are listed in the front of the publications 

for that year.

Monthly costs paid for electricity and piped gas. 

Three separate procedures are used to estimate monthly 

costs of electricity and piped gas. All respondents are 

asked if they have records available showing their costs 

for electricity (or piped gas) separate from other utilities. 

If they respond “yes,” they are asked the amount of their 

electric (or piped gas) bill for the most recent months of 

January, April, August, and December. These months are 

the best predictors of annual costs. On average, more than 

one-third of respondents provide answers for at least 1 of 
A-16 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

the 4 months. In some cases, respondents are also asked 

the amount of the most recent bill, the month that it covered, and the average monthly cost.

1. If the respondent provides data for only 1 month, the 

following procedure is used. The monthly data are 

adjusted using regression formulas to estimate yearly 

costs that are then divided by 12. These formulas are 

derived from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey 

(RECS) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. 

These formulas take into account the following characteristics of the unit: presence of both electricity and 

piped gas, the census division where it is located, electric heat, electric water heating, natural gas heat, natural 

gas water heating, year built, type of unit, number of 

rooms, number of bathrooms, number of appliances, 

and number of household members. The usage of the 

detailed characteristics of the unit varies according to 

the number of months provided by the respondent. 

 2. If the respondent provides data for 2, 3, 4, or 5 months, 

the second procedure is used. As with the first procedure, the monthly data are adjusted using regression 

formulas, derived from the RECS data, to estimate yearly 

costs that are then divided by 12. Because more than 1 

month’s worth of real costs are available, it is rarely necessary to take into account detailed characteristics of the 

unit as is done in procedure one. (In some cases where 2 

months of data are provided, detailed characteristics of 

the unit are taken into account.)

3. If the respondent answers “no,” that he or she does 

not have separate records for the electricity (or gas), 

the respondent is asked to provide an estimate of the 

average monthly costs. In this case, a procedure similar to the first is used. As in the case where 1 month 

of billing data is provided, the reported monthly average is adjusted using regression formulas derived from 

the RECS data, that take into account both the reported 

amount of electricity charges and detailed characteristics 

of the unit. 

Finally, a factor is applied to the electricity and gas costs to 

benchmark them to RECS averages.

Monthly expenses, additional help with.

Publications. Not applicable.

Microdata. Additional questions are asked of renters when 

the ratio of monthly housing costs as percent of current 

income is high. Rental households receiving housing assistance that report spending more than 35 percent of their 

incomes on housing, or rental households not receiving 

housing assistance with incomes less than $15,000 that 

report spending more than 50 percent of their incomes on 

housing were asked whether they received outside help 

to meet monthly housing expense for food, clothing, car 

payments, public transportation, child care, medical care or 

medicine, and utility bills. They were asked to specify the 

type of help they received.

Monthly housing costs. The data are presented for 

owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing units as well 

as vacant-for-rent units.

Monthly housing costs for owner-occupied units include 

the sum of monthly payments for all mortgages or installment loans or contracts, except reverse annuity mortgages 

and home-equity lines of credit. Costs also include real 

estate taxes (including taxes on manufactured/mobile 

homes, and manufactured/mobile home sites if the site is 

owned), property insurance, homeowner association fees, 

cooperative or condominium fees, mobile home park fees, 

land rent, and utilities. Costs do not include maintenance 

and repairs, but see the definition “Median monthly housing costs for owners.”

Monthly housing costs for renter-occupied housing units 

include the contract rent, utilities, property insurance, and 

mobile home park fee. Renter housing units occupied without payment of cash rent are shown separately as “No cash 

rent.” For rental units subsidized by a housing authority, 

the federal government, or state or local governments, the 

monthly rental costs reflect only the portion paid by the 

household and not the portion subsidized. The figures do 

not adjust for lost security deposits or the benefit of free 

rent offered by some owners.

Monthly housing costs for vacant-for-rent housing units 

include rent asked, but not utilities or other charges. The 

category, Depends on income of the occupants, means the 

rent charged will vary depending on the occupant’s income, 

such as in public housing or some military housing.

The term utilities here include electricity, gas, fuels (oil, 

coal, kerosene, or wood), water, sewage disposal, garbage 

and trash collection, but not telephones or cable television. 

Utility costs are counted if they are paid by the occupant 

or by someone else, such as a relative, welfare agency, or 

friend. They may be paid separately or included in rent, 

condominium fee, or mobile home park fee. The AHS 

questions take care to avoid double counting.

Monthly housing costs as percent of current income.

Publications. The yearly housing costs (monthly housing costs multiplied by 12) are expressed as a percentage 

of the total current income (see the definition “Current 

income”). The percentage was computed separately for 

each unit and rounded to the nearest percent, so 25 to 

29 percent means 24.5 to 29.49 percent. The percentage 

was not computed for units where occupants reported 

no income, a net loss, or no cash rent. The category 100 

percent or more counts units with housing costs exceeding income. This situation may mean inaccurate income or 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-17

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

housing costs data, or true but temporary situations. For 

most purposes, readers may wish to treat this line as missing or unreliable data.

Microdata. Not applicable; may be calculated as needed.

Monthly payment for principal and interest. The data 

present the monthly dollar amount paid on the mortgage 

for principal and interest only. They do not include that 

portion of the monthly payment used for property taxes, 

homeowner’s insurance, and/or other charges. In the publications, medians for monthly payment for principal and for 

interest are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Mortgage origination. Data are shown for owner occupied units with one or more mortgages.

Placed new mortgages data are classified by the date the 

new mortgage was obtained in relation to the date the 

property was acquired.

An assumed mortgage indicates that the current owner 

assumed the previous owner’s mortgage when the property 

was acquired and has not been refinanced.

A wrap-around mortgage is a mortgage with a face 

value that encompasses the unpaid balance of the first 

mortgage(s), plus the amount of any new funds extended 

by the wrap-around lender.

Combination of the above means that there was more than 

one method of origination for the outstanding mortgages 

on the property.

Mortgages.

Total amount of down payment. All sources of money are 

considered when determining the total amount of the down 

payment on the property. The amount of the purchasing 

price can be reported in dollars or percent.

Mortgages currently on property.

Publications. The owner or the owner’s spouse was asked 

the number of mortgages or similar loans (including home 

equity loans) currently in effect on the home. Data are 

shown for the number of units with the following mortgage 

categories: owned free and clear, reverse mortgages, regular, and home equity.

A mortgage or similar debt refers to all forms of debt for 

which the property is pledged as security for payment of 

the debt. It includes such debt instruments as deeds of 

trust, trust deeds, mortgage bonds, home-equity lines of 

credit, home-equity lump-sum loans, and vendors’ liens. 

In trust arrangements, usually a third party, known as 

the trustee, holds the title to the property until the debt 

is paid. In home-equity lines of credit, home-equity lump 

sum loans, and vendors’ lien arrangements, the title is 

kept by the buyer but the seller (vendor) reserves, in the 

deed to the buyer, a lien on the property to secure payment 

of the balance of the purchase price. Also included, as a 

mortgage or similar debts are contracts to purchase, land 

contracts, and lease-purchase agreements where the title to 

the property remains with the seller until the agreed upon 

payments have been made by the buyer.

See also the definitions “Cash received in primary mortgage refinance,” “Current interest rate,” “Current line-ofcredit interest rate,” “Items included in primary mortgage 

payment,” “Lenders of primary and secondary mortgage,” 

“Line-of-credit amount used for home additions, improvements, or repairs,” “Line-of-credit monthly payment,” 

“Lower cost state and local mortgages,” “Major source of 

down payment,” “Monthly payment for principal and interest,” “Percent of non refinanced primary mortgage, including home-equity lump-sum, used for home purchase and 

improvement,” “Percent of primary mortgage refinanced 

cash used for home additions, improvements, or repairs,” 

“Primary mortgage,” “Reason primary mortgage refinanced,” “Remaining years mortgaged,” “Term of primary 

mortgage at origination or assumption,” “Total home-equity 

line-of-credit limit,” “Total outstanding line-of-credit loans,” 

“Total outstanding principal amount,” “Type of primary 

mortgage,” and “Year primary mortgage originated.” 

Microdata. Not applicable.

Moves. See the definitions “Choice of present home 

and home search,” “Household moves and formation,” 

“Persons—previous residence,” “Present and previous 

units,” “Reasons for leaving previous unit,” “Recent mover 

comparison to previous home,” “Recent mover comparison 

to previous neighborhood,” “Structure type of previous residence,” “Tenure of previous unit,” and “Year householder 

moved into unit.”

Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services. The statistics are based on the respondent’s opinion. 

He or she may define the neighborhood as any size. Some 

topics are collected by an open-ended question on what, if 

anything bothers the respondent about the neighborhood. 

Others come from questions about specific topics.

Street noise or heavy street traffic. Street noise refers to 

noise in outdoor public areas made by children playing 

outdoors, noise from a factory or business, or any other 

sounds that the respondent considers street noise. Traffic 

refers to the amount of vehicular traffic that the respondent considers “heavy.”

Neighborhood crime. This category refers to any serious 

crimes that occurred in the respondent’s neighborhood in 

the past 12 months. For example, burglary, robbery, theft, 

rape, or murder.

Odors. This category refers to smoke, gas, or bad 

smells. These three specific questions are followed by 
A-18 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

an open-ended question about what (else) bothers the 

respondent. 

People includes such complaints as unfriendly neighbors, 

noisy children, other races, or specific neighbors.

Public transportation. The respondent answers (1) if service is available; (2) if any member of the household uses 

the service for commuting to work or school, and (3) how 

many minutes does it take to get to the nearest bus stop, 

train station, or subway stop.

Shopping. The respondent answers whether grocery stores 

or drug stores were satisfactory and were within 15 minutes of the housing unit.

Police protection. The respondent was asked if police protection was satisfactory.

Elementary schools. Respondents were asked (1) if young 

children in the household attended public school, private 

school, ungraded school, special schools, preschools, early 

learning centers, were schooled at home, or not in school; 

and (2) if the public elementary school for this address was 

satisfactory. If at least one child in the household is 13 or 

younger and there is a child in the household, the respondent was asked (1) how the public elementary school compares academically to other public elementary schools in 

the area; and (2) if that public elementary school is within 

one mile from their home. If the household was previously 

interviewed in prior enumeration and a child lives in the 

household, then respondents were asked to verify what 

was recorded previously that the public elementary school 

is within one mile of household, is correct.

See also the definitions “Bars on windows of buildings within 300 feet,” “Condition of streets within 300 

feet,” “Description of area within 300 feet,” “Educational 

attainment,” “Other buildings vandalized or with interior 

exposed,” “Overall opinion of neighborhood,” and “Trash, 

litter, or junk on streets or any properties within 300 feet.”

Neighborhood crime. This category refers to any serious 

crimes that occurred in the respondent’s neighborhood in 

the past 12 months. For example, burglary, robbery, theft, 

rape, or murder.

Neighborhood odors. This category refers to smoke, 

gas, fumes from motor vehicles, industrial, commercial 

operations, odors from sewers, septic tanks, aerial spraying, or bad smells the respondent finds bothersome in the 

neighborhood.

Neighborhood shopping. Satisfactory neighborhood shopping could reflect the availability of goods 

offered, hours of service, prices, or the service available. 

Respondent are asked only about the quality of grocery 

stores and drug stores and if the stores are within 15 

minutes of their home. A convenience store, such as a 

7-Eleven, is not a grocery store. Shopping at other types of 

neighborhood businesses do not count as neighborhood 

shopping.

Noise inside building. Respondents were asked (1) if 

they hear neighbors through floors, walls, or ceilings, (2) if 

the loudness of neighbor’s noise is bothersome, and (3) if 

the time of neighbor’s noise is bothersome. The question 

was only asked of respondents in one unit attached or 2 or 

more unit buildings.

Noninterview.

Publications. Not applicable.

Microdata. Noninterview cases are classified as Type A, 

Type B, or Type C.

Type A noninterviews are units occupied by people eligible 

for interview who were not interviewed. A noninterview 

means that valuable information was lost and the sample 

returns may not be representative of the population. It is 

very important to keep noninterviews to a minimum. Type 

A noninterview categories include (1) no one home, (2) 

temporarily absent, (3) refused, (4) unable to locate, (5) 

language problems, and (6) other occupied—specify.

Type B noninterviews are units not eligible for interview at 

present, but which could become eligible for interviews in 

the future. Type B noninterview categories include (1) permit granted, construction not started, (2) under construction, not ready, (3) permanent or temporary business or 

commercial storage, (4) unoccupied site for mobile home 

or tent, (5) other unit or converted to institutional unit, (6) 

occupancy prohibited, (7) interior exposed to the elements, 

and (8) Type B, not classified.

Type C noninterviews are units ineligible for sample, either 

because they no longer exist or because of sampling reasons. Type C noninterview categories include: (1) demolished or disaster loss, (2) house or mobile home moved, (3) 

unit eliminated in structural conversion, (4) merged, not in 

current sample, (5) permit abandoned, (6) Type C not classified elsewhere, and (7) unit eliminated in sub sampling.

Number of regular mortgages and home-equity 

mortgages. See the definition “Mortgages currently on 

property.”

Number of single children under 18 years old. See 

the definition “Household composition.”

Occupied housing units. A housing unit is classified as 

occupied if there is at least one person who lives in the 

unit as a usual resident at the time of the interview, or if 

the occupants are only temporarily absent, for example, 

on vacation. However, if the unit is occupied entirely by 

people with a usual residence elsewhere, the unit is classified as vacant. By definition, the count of occupied housing 

units is the same as the count of households.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-19

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Other activities on property. Data presented exclude 

rental units. Property consists of one or more tracts of land 

that the respondent considers the same property, farm, 

ranch, and estate. The tracts may be adjoining or they may 

be separated by a road, creek, or other piece of land. For a 

condominium, this item refers to the sample unit only.

Medical includes a doctor or dentist’s office regularly visited by patients.

Commercial establishment includes establishments located 

in the same building as the sample unit or located elsewhere on the property (such as grocery store, restaurant, 

gasoline station, and veterinary office). Those housing 

units that have no recognizable alterations to the outside 

of the house are not considered as having a commercial 

establishment. A farm is not classified as a commercial 

establishment.

Other bothersome neighborhood conditions. The 

respondent was asked if there were other conditions of the 

neighborhood that were bothersome, e.g., noise, litter, or 

housing deterioration, poor city/county services, undesirable commercial, institutional, or industrial property, or 

people. The respondent is to describe the condition.

Other buildings vandalized or with interior exposed. 

The respondent was asked if there were any vandalized 

or abandoned buildings within 300 feet of the sample 

unit. A unit is counted as vandalized if it has most of the 

visible windows broken, doors missing, has been badly 

burned, has words or symbols printed on it, has portions 

of the roof missing, or in some other way has the interior 

exposed to weather.

Other housing costs per month. A homeowner’s association fee (excludes condominium and cooperative fees) 

is a fee charged for services such as upkeep of common 

property, including painting hallways, cleaning lobbies, 

mowing lawns, repairing laundry facilities, paving parking 

areas, and repairing street lights. The fee may include the 

use and maintenance of either indoor or outdoor swimming facilities or other recreational facilities (party rooms, 

tennis courts, basketball courts, exercise rooms, and 

playground areas). In addition, the homeowner association 

fee can include payments for security personnel such as 

security guards or services such as telephone answering 

service, maid service, or other domestic help.

Mobile home park fees are regular payments to the park 

management that could include site rental, utility charges, 

mail handling, and/or fees for the maintenance of common 

areas. Aside from mobile homes (where site rent is covered 

in mobile home park fees), in a few areas of the country, 

occupants may own the unit, but not the land on which 

it stands. Land rent refers to land that is rented or leased 

from the land owner, and “ground rent” is paid. These 

leases are for long periods of time (50–100 years) when 

originated. The lease obligation transfers with the property 

and cannot be canceled.

The medians for other housing costs are rounded to the 

nearest dollar.

Overall opinion of neighborhood. The data presented 

are based on the respondent’s overall opinion of the 

neighborhood. The respondent defines neighborhood. The 

respondent was asked to rate the neighborhood based on a 

scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is the best and 1 is the worst.

Overall opinion of structure. The data presented are 

based on the respondent’s overall opinion of the house or 

apartment as a place to live. The respondent was asked to 

rate the structure based on a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 

is the best and 1 is the worst.

Own never-married children under 18 years old. See 

the definition “Household composition.”

Owner-occupied. See the definition “Tenure.”

Owner or manager on property. For structures of two 

or more units, these statistics show the number of rental 

housing units with the owner or resident manager living on 

the property.

Parking lots. Parking lots refer to a cleared level area 

intended for parking vehicles. There are public and private 

for pay parking lots.

Payment plans of primary and secondary mortgages. 

Data are presented separately for primary and secondary 

mortgages. The term “payment” refers to regular principal 

and interest payments only, and not to payments for real 

estate taxes and property insurance.

Fixed payment, self-amortizing mortgages have payments 

that do not change during the term of the loan, with the 

principal payments sufficient to pay off the loan completely 

within the stated term.

Adjustable rate mortgages have interest rates that could 

be changed during the life of the mortgage, changing the 

amount of the payments required.

In adjustable term mortgages the amount of the payment 

stays constant, but the number of payments required to 

pay off the loan can change over time as interest rates 

change.

Graduated payment mortgages allow monthly payments to 

change during the term of the mortgage by means other 

than a change in interest rate. These mortgages begin with 

lower payments that rise later in the life of the mortgage.

Balloon mortgages are those in which only part or none of 

the principal is paid off during the term of the loan (which 

commonly is about 5 years). At the end of the term, the 
A-20 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

principal is paid off in one lump sum, refinanced with a 

new loan, or extended by renewal of the loan.

Percent of nonrefinanced primary mortgage, including home-equity lump sum, used for home purchase 

and improvement. This question is asked of homeowners 

who have a primary mortgage that is not a refinance of a 

previous mortgage. These homeowners were asked what 

percentage of this loan was used for the purchase of the 

home or additions, improvements, or repairs to the home.

Percent of primary mortgage refinanced cash used 

for home additions, improvements, or repairs. This 

question is asked of homeowners who reported “to receive 

cash” as a reason for the refinance of their mortgage. 

These homeowners were asked what percentage was used 

for additions, improvements, or repairs to the home.

Persons. See the definition “Household.”

Persons other than spouse or children.

Publications. Data are shown for households with the following types of people:

Other relatives of householder. This category counts households that include any person related to the householder 

by blood, marriage, or adoption, except spouse, son, 

daughter, stepchild, or adopted child under 18 years old 

(regardless of marital status).

Single adult offspring 18 to 29. This category counts 

households with at least one member aged 18–29, if he or 

she is not currently married (that is, they have never been 

married or are divorced, separated, or widowed), and is 

a son, daughter, stepchild, or adopted child of the householder. Note this category has the same marital status 

categories as Single children under 18 years old, but the 

same relationship to householder categories as Own nevermarried children. These are defined under “Household 

composition.”

Single adult offspring 30 years of age or over. This category counts households with at least one member aged 30 

or older, if he or she is not currently married (that is, never 

been married or are divorced, separated, or widowed), 

and is a son, daughter, stepchild, or adopted child of the 

householder.

Households with three generations. For each person whose 

parent lives in the household, the parent (biological, adoptive, or stepparent) is identified in the questionnaire. Each 

person who is a child or grandchild of the householder 

is also identified. These codes keep count of households 

where the following live in the unit:

1. One or more sons, daughters, stepchildren, or adopted 

children of the householder or spouse (regardless of 

marital status or age), and one or more parents of the 

householder or spouse, or

2. One or more parents of the householder or spouse, and 

one or more parents of these parents, or

3. One or more sons, daughters, stepchildren, or adopted 

children of the householder or spouse (regardless of 

marital status or age), and one or more of these children’s children (grandchildren of the householder or 

spouse, regardless of marital status or age).

Note that the definition of children is different from those 

in “Single children under 18 years old,” and “Own nevermarried children.” The first does not involve relationship 

to householder, and neither one involves marital status 

or age. Also note that if a household has more than three 

generations, it is still counted here. In addition to the 

three generations, there also may be other relatives in the 

household.

Subfamily. A subfamily is one of the following groups that 

do not include the householder or spouse, but are related 

to the householder and live in the household: (1) a married 

couple (with or without children of any type), or (2) one 

parent with one or more of his or her own never-married 

children under 18 years old. A common example of a subfamily is a young married couple sharing the home of the 

husband or wife’s parents.

Subfamily householder. For subfamilies that include a couple, the husband is defined as the subfamily householder; 

for other subfamilies the parent is the householder.

Households with other types of relatives. This category 

counts households with relatives of the householder, other 

than the spouse, children, three generations, or subfamilies 

already counted. Therefore, it includes relatives such as 

uncles, nieces, cousins, or grandchildren present without 

their parents. A household already counted in the abovementioned categories may be counted again, as long as it 

has some additional relatives not counted above.

Nonrelatives. A nonrelative of the householder is any person in the household who is not related to the householder 

by blood, marriage, or adoption. Roomers, boarders, 

lodgers, partners, resident employees, wards, and foster 

children are included in this category.

Co-owners or co-renters. This category includes households 

for which the names of two or more unrelated household 

members are on the deed of ownership, mortgage, land 

contract, contract to purchase or similar document, or 

lease; or, if there is no lease, two or more unrelated household members are responsible for paying the rent.

Lodgers. This category is restricted to members of the 

household who pay rent to another household member 

and are 16 years or older; nonrelatives of the householder; 

not sons, daughters, stepchildren, or adopted children of 

a co-owner or co-renter; and not co-owners or co-renters 

themselves. This item does not use the “lodger” answer 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-21

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

on relationship to the householder since it is less carefully 

defined than the question on lodgers rent. See also the 

definitions “Household” and “Rent paid by lodgers.”

Unrelated children, under 18 years old. This category 

counts households with members under 18 years old who 

are unrelated to the householder and are not co-owners, 

co-renters, or lodgers, regardless of marital status. Thus, 

it includes foster children and children of lodgers and 

employees as long as they are under 18.

Other nonrelatives. This category counts households with 

nonrelatives of the householder who are not co-owners, 

co-renters, lodgers, or under 18. For example, it includes 

employees and housemates who do not pay a regular rent 

as lodgers. It also may include households with nonrelatives counted in the categories below.

One or more secondary families. A secondary family is a 

group of two or more people who are related to each other 

by birth (Parent/child, child less than 18 years old), marriage, or adoption, but who are not related to the householder or co-owner or co-renter. The unrelated secondary 

family may include people such as guests, roomers, boarders, or resident employees and their relatives living in a 

household.

Two- to eight-person households, none related to each 

other. None of the household members are related to any 

other household member. They may be co-owners, co-renters, lodgers, partners, employees, or foster children. The 

publications make no distinction between housemates and 

unmarried partners.

Microdata. Not applicable; may be calculated from household relationships.

See also the definition “Household composition.”

Persons per room.

Publications. Persons per room are computed for each 

occupied housing unit by dividing the number of people 

in the unit by the number of rooms in the unit. The figures 

shown refer, therefore, to the number of housing units having the specified ratio of people per room.

Microdata. Not applicable; may be calculated from household size and rooms.

Persons per bedroom. Persons per bedroom are computed for each occupied housing unit by dividing the number of people in the unit by the number of bedrooms in 

the unit. The figures shown refer, therefore, to the number 

of housing units having the specified ratio of people per 

bedroom.

Microdata. Not applicable; may be calculated from household size and bedrooms.

Persons—previous residence. All people were counted 

who lived at the previous residence at the time of the 

move, as well as those who usually lived there but were 

temporarily away. Persons who were staying there at the 

time of move, but who had a usual residence elsewhere, 

were not counted.

Physical problems—severe. A unit has severe physical 

problems if it has any of the following four problems:

Plumbing. Lacking hot or cold piped water or a flush toilet, 

or lacking both bathtub and shower, all inside the structure 

(and for the exclusive use of the unit, unless there are two 

or more full bathrooms).

Heating. Having been uncomfortably cold last winter for 24 

hours or more because the heating equipment broke down, 

and it broke down at least three times last winter for at 

least 6 hours each time.

Electricity. Having no electricity, or all of the following three 

electric problems: exposed wiring, a room with no working 

wall outlet, and three blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers in the last 90 days.

Upkeep. Having any five of the following six maintenance 

problems: (1) water leaks from the outside, such as from 

the roof, basement, windows, or doors; (2) leaks from 

inside structure, such as pipes or plumbing fixtures; (3) 

holes in the floors; (4) holes or open cracks in the walls or 

ceilings; (5) more than 8 by 11 inches of peeling paint or 

broken plaster; or (6) signs of rats in the last 90 days.

Physical problems—moderate. A unit has moderate 

physical problems if it has any of the following four problems, but none being severe:

Plumbing. On at least three occasions during the last 3 

months, all the flush toilets were broken down at the same 

time for 6 hours or more (see the definition “Flush toilet 

and flush toilet breakdowns”).

Heating. Having unvented gas, oil, or kerosene heaters as 

the primary heating equipment.

Kitchen. Lacking a kitchen sink, refrigerator, or cooking 

equipment (stove, burners, or microwave oven) inside the 

structure for the exclusive use of the unit.

Upkeep. Having any three or four of the six problems listed 

under “Physical problems—severe” under Upkeep. 

See also the definitions “Bars on windows of buildings 

within 300 feet,” “Equipment,” “External building conditions,” “Heating equipment,” “Heating problems,” “Overall 

opinion of structure,” “Primary source of water,” “Selected 

deficiencies,” “Water leakage during last 12 months,” and 

“Water supply stoppage.” 
A-22 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Place. A concentration of populations, which may or may 

not have legally, prescribed limits, powers, or functions. 

This concentration of population must have a name, be 

locally recognized, and not be a part of any other state. 

Examples of nonplaces include the following: (1) populations living in the open countryside, (2) the densely settled 

fringe of large cities that were built up, but not identified 

as places. For further explanation of the definition of place, 

see 1994 Geographic Areas Reference Manual, Chapter 9 

available at <www.census.gov /geo/www/garm.html>. 

Place size.

National publications. The geographic variable place size, 

as shown in national reports, shows the current count of 

housing units in places as defined in the 1990 census.

Microdata and metropolitan publications. Not applicable. 

See also the definitions “Central cities,” “Place,” and “Urban 

and rural residence.”

Plumbing facilities. The category “With all plumbing 

facilities” consists of housing units that have hot and 

cold piped water as well as a flush toilet and a bathtub or 

shower. For units with less than two full bathrooms, the 

facilities are only counted if they are for the exclusive use 

of the occupants of the unit. Plumbing facilities need not 

be in the same room. Lacking some plumbing facilities or 

having no plumbing facilities for exclusive use means that 

the housing unit does not have all three specified plumbing 

facilities (hot and cold piped water, flush toilet, and bathtub or shower) inside the housing unit, or that the toilet or 

bathing facilities are also for the use of the occupants of 

other housing units.

See also the definitions “Complete bathrooms,” “Flush toilet 

and flush toilet breakdowns,” “Means of sewage disposal,” 

and “Sewage disposal breakdowns.”

Police protection. See the definition “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services.”

Population in housing units.

Publications. Included are all people living in housing units. 

Persons living in group quarters are excluded. 

Microdata. Not applicable; can be calculated by adding 

weight times household size, for all occupied units.

Poverty status. The poverty data differ from official poverty estimates in two important respects:

1. Interest in housing affordability made it appropriate for 

AHS to adopt a poverty definition based on household 

income. The official method is based on the income 

of families, and of individuals living without relatives. 

(Under the official approach, the poverty status of two 

unrelated individuals living together would be determined by comparing the income of each individual to the 

one-person poverty threshold. The result might be that 

both were in poverty, both were out of poverty, or one 

was in poverty and one was not. In the AHS publications, 

their poverty status was determined by comparing their 

combined income to the two-person poverty threshold.) 

The effect of using household income is to count about 6 

percent fewer people in poverty than the official estimate. See Technical Paper X, “Effect of Using a Poverty 

Definition Based on Household Income,” U.S. Department 

of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1976.

2. The official poverty estimates are based on the Annual 

Social and Economic Supplement to the Current 

Population Survey. Income questions in that survey 

measure income received during the previous calendar 

year. Income questions in the AHS are measure income 

received during the 12 months just before the interview. 

Because interviews were conducted over several months, 

the AHS income measures do not pertain to a fixed 

period.

The poverty thresholds are based on the Department of 

Agriculture’s 1961 Economy Food Plan and reflect different 

consumption requirements by number of adults and children. They consider only money income (see the definition 

“Income”), not assets or benefits in kind, such as housing 

subsidies. The poverty thresholds are updated every year 

to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The 

official thresholds are on the next page in Table A-1.

Note that in the official poverty thresholds, elderly are 

expected to need less than nonelderly in the one- to 

two person groups. Note that an all-adult household is 

expected to need less than the same size household where 

one member is a child, but if additional members are children, costs go down again.

These official poverty thresholds are different from the 

poverty guidelines published for program purposes by the 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on 

February 18, 2005, Federal Register, Volume 70, number 

33, pages 8,373 to 8,375. (Guidelines are 13.1 percent 

higher in Hawaii, and 20.1 percent higher in Alaska than 

shown above.)

The HUD “very low income limits” (the L50 series) for four 

person households are 50 percent of median family income 

for families in each metropolitan area or Nonmetropolitan 

County. The HUD income limits vary among areas, and the 

average national HUD income limits in 2009 are shown 

(local details are at <www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il

/il09/index.html>).

The HUD adjustments for household size in the L50 series 

are roughly based on national average differences in housing cost. The HUD limits have smaller adjustments than 

the official and HHS poverty thresholds, which are based 

on food cost. Housing cost does not vary as much as 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-23

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

food does between small and large households. Academic 

research suggests even the HUD adjustments may be 

too large; see van Praag, “The Relativity of the Welfare 

Concept,” in Nussbaum and Sen, Quality of Life, Oxford 

University Press, 1993, page 374, which suggests 6 percent adjustments per person instead of HUD’s 10 percent 

and 8 percent adjustments.

Microdata. Not applicable; may be calculated by comparing 

current or past income to the thresholds.

Present and previous units. The present unit is the one 

occupied by the householder or respondent at the time of 

the interview. The previous unit is the one from which the 

householder or respondent moved. If the householder or 

respondent moved more than once during the 12 months 

prior to the date of the interview, the previous unit is the 

one last moved from.

Previous home owned or rented by someone who 

moved here.

Publications. These data are shown for units where the 

householder moved within the United States during the 

past year.

Microdata. Data are shown for units where anyone in the 

present household moved within the United States during 

the past year.

Previous occupancy. The statistics presented are 

restricted to housing units built in 1990 or later. 

“Previously occupied” indicates that someone, or people 

not now in the household, occupied the housing unit prior 

to the householder or other related household members’ 

occupancy. “Not previously occupied” indicates that either 

the householder or some other current household member 

was the first occupant of the housing unit.

Primary metropolitan statistical area (PMSA). A PMSA 

is one subcomponent of a CMSA. For example, Washington 

is one PMSA of the Washington-Baltimore CMSA.

Primary mortgage. Detailed information on regular and 

lump-sum home-equity mortgages was collected in the 

AHS on the first three mortgages reported, even if the unit 

had four or more mortgages. If the owner(s) had both a 

regular and a lump-sum home-equity mortgage, priority 

was given to the regular mortgage(s) for collecting detailed 

information. On the basis of this information, one of the 

mortgages was considered to be primary. The definition 

of the primary mortgage may not agree with legal definitions of a “first mortgage,” which would be paid first after a 

foreclosure.

If there is only one mortgage, it is primary. If two or more 

mortgages exist, the following hierarchy was used: (1) 

regular mortgage (as opposed to a lump-sum home-equity 

loan); (2) Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans 

Administration (VA), or Rural Housing Service/Rural 

Development (RHS/RD) mortgage; (3) assumed mortgage; 

(4) mortgage obtained first; and (5) largest initial amount 

borrowed.

Primary source of water. A public system or private 

company refers to any source supplying running water to 

six or more housing units. The water may be supplied by 

a city, county, water district, or private water company, or 

it may be obtained from a well that supplies six or more 

housing units. An individual well that provides water for 

five or fewer housing units is further classified by whether 

it is drilled or dug. Water sources such as springs, cisterns, 

streams, lakes, or commercial bottled water are included 

in the other category. See also the definition “Water supply 

stoppage.”

American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 1

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table A-1. 

Poverty Thresholds

Total persons

HUD

average

limits (L50)

Oct. 2008

to

Sept. 2009

HHS

guidelines

Mar. 2008

to

Mar. 2009

Poverty thresholds, January 2009 to December 2009

Weighted

average

Number of related children under 18 years

None 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 or more

1 person (unrelated 

individual) . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,400 10,830 10,956

 Under 65 years . . . . . . . 22,400 10,830 11,161 11,161

 65 years and over . . . . . 22,400 10,830 10,289 10,289

2 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,600 14,570 13,991

 Householder under 65 

 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,600 14,570 14,439 14,366 14,787

 Householder 65 years 

 and over. . . . . . . . . . . . 25,600 14,570 12,982 12,968 14,731

3 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,800 18,310 17,098 16,781 17,268 17,285

4 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,000 22,050 21,954 22,128 22,490 21,756 21,832

5 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,550 25,790 25,991 26,686 27,074 26,245 25,603 25,211

6 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,100 29,530 29,405 30,693 30,815 30,180 29,571 28,666 28,130

7 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,700 33,270 33,372 35,316 35,537 34,777 34,247 33,260 32,108 30,845

8 persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,250 37,010 37,252 39,498 39,847 39,130 38,501 37,610 36,478 35,300 35,000

9 persons or more . . . . . . . (N/A) 40,750 44,366 47,514 47,744 47,109 46,576 45,701 44,497 43,408 43,138 41,476

(NA) Not available.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement; HUD, Federal Register, Volume 74, Number 14, January 23, 2009, pp. 4199–4201; HUD, FY 2009 

Income Limits.
A-24 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Principal. Principal is the amount of money raised by a 

mortgage or other loan, as distinct from the interest paid 

for its use. It is the amount of debt excluding interest. See 

the definition “Total outstanding principal amount.”

Private mortgage insurance. Private mortgage insurance is insurance that a lender generally requires a home 

buyer to obtain if the down payment made by the home 

buyer is below a certain percentage (often 20 percent down 

payment for conventional loans).

Problems. See the definitions “Neighborhood conditions 

and neighborhood services,” “Physical problems,” and 

“Poverty status.”

Property insurance. This item refers to insurance on 

the structure and/or its contents (such as furniture, appliances, or clothing) and usually contains some liability 

insurance. Renters usually do not have property insurance, 

(renter’s property insurance) but, if they do have it, its cost 

is counted. The total cost is the most recent yearly cost for 

which the occupants have actually been billed. Yearly cost 

was divided by 12 before calculating a monthly median 

cost. Medians for property insurance are rounded to the 

nearest dollar.

Public elementary school. See the definitions “Academic 

comparison to other area elementary schools,” “Educational 

attainment,” and “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services.”

Public transportation. Public transportation includes 

public bus or subway, taxicabs, trains, ferryboats, or any 

type of transportation service that is available to the public. Also included are bus or van service provided by the 

management of a housing development for its residents. 

School buses are not included as public transportation.

Purchase price. The purchase price refers to the price of 

the house or apartment and lot at the time the property 

was purchased. Closing costs are excluded from the purchase price, and for mobile homes the value of the land is 

excluded. In the publications, the median purchase price is 

rounded to the nearest dollar.

Quality. See the definitions “Neighborhood conditions and 

neighborhood services,” “Physical problems,” “Selected 

amenities,” and “Selected deficiencies.”

Questionnaire. The AHS questionnaire no longer exists 

in a printed version. In 1997, the survey converted to an 

electronic version conducted using laptop computers. The 

exact wording of the questions can be found in the 2009 

Instrument Items Booklet <www.huduser.org/datasets

/AHS/AHSdata09.html>.

Race and Hispanic origin. In the publications, the classification of “race” refers to the race of the householder 

occupying the housing unit. The concept of race as used 

by the Census Bureau does not denote a clear-cut scientific 

definition of biological stock. Race is determined by a question that asked for self-identification of a person’s race. 

Hispanic is considered an ethnic origin rather than a race 

and is tallied separately. 

Revisions to the OMB Statistical Policy Directive 15 designate five races (White, Black or African American, American 

Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or 

other Pacific Islander) and two ethnic origins (Hispanic 

or Latino and non-Hispanic or Latino). In 2003, the AHS 

adopted the new terminology and allowed for reports of 

more than one race.

The question on race using the new terminology included 

a list of five race categories. Respondents answering “Some 

other race” had their answer changed (allocated) to one of 

the other five categories (or a combination of them). The 

five race categories include:

• White

• Black or African American

• American Indian and Alaska Native

• Asian

• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

People who responded to the question on race by indicating only one race are referred to as the race alone 

population, or the group who reported only one race. For 

example, respondents who marked only the White category would be included in the “White alone population.” 

Individuals who chose more than one of the six race categories are referred to as the “Two or more races population,” or as the group who reported more than one race. 

For example, respondents who reported they were White 

and Black or African American, or White and American 

Indian, or Alaska Native and Asian would be included in 

the Two or more races category.

Ratio of loan to value. See the definition “Current total 

loan as percent of value.”

Ratio of value to current income.

Publications. The ratio of value to current income is computed by dividing the value of the housing unit by the 

total current (family) income (see the definition “Current 

income”). The ratio is computed separately for each housing unit and is rounded to the nearest tenth. For value and 

current income, the dollar amounts are used. Units occupied by individuals who reported no income or a net loss 

composes the category zero or negative income. Medians 

for the ratio of value to current income are rounded to the 

nearest tenth.

Microdata. Not applicable; can be calculated from value 

and income.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-25

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Real estate taxes. This item includes special assessments, school taxes, county taxes, and any other real 

estate taxes. Excluded are payments on delinquent taxes 

due from prior years. Rebates are subtracted from the total. 

When the real estate taxes are included with the mortgage, 

a separate amount for the taxes is obtained. To determine 

average monthly cost, yearly cost was divided by 12. In the 

publications, medians for real estate taxes are rounded to 

the nearest dollar.

Reason primary mortgage refinanced. If the current 

primary mortgage was a regular mortgage (not a lump sum 

home-equity loan) and was not an assumed or wraparound 

mortgage, the respondent was asked if it was a refinancing 

of a previous mortgage and the reason for the refinancing.

Reasons for leaving previous unit. These data are 

shown for units where the respondent moved during the 

12 months before the interview. The distribution may not 

add to the total because the respondent was not limited to 

one reason.

Private displacement includes situations in which a private 

company or person wanted to use the housing unit for 

some other purpose; for example, to develop the land or 

build commercially, to occupy the unit, to convert the unit 

to a condominium or cooperative, or to make repairs and 

renovate the unit.

Government displacement means the respondent was 

forced to leave by the government (local, state, or federal) 

because it wanted to use the land for other purposes, for 

example, to build a road or highway, for urban renewal or 

other public activity, because the building was condemned, 

or some other reason.

Disaster loss includes damage by a tornado, storm, flood, 

earthquake, fire, landslide, or other similar occurrences.

New job or job transfer indicates that the respondent 

moved to begin a new job or was transferred from the previous location to the present location.

To be closer to work/school/other means that the respondent moved because commuting was too far and respondent wanted to live closer to work, school, or some other 

commuting purpose.

Other, financial/employment related refers to financial or 

employment related reasons, such as wanting to look for a 

new or different job because the person entered or left the 

U.S. Armed Forces, retired, or some other financial/employment reason.

To establish own household means that the respondent left 

a previous residence, such as parent’s home, rooming or 

boarding house, or shared apartment, to establish their 

own household.

Needed larger house or apartment refers to moves that 

were necessary because of crowding or for aesthetic 

reasons.

Married, widowed, divorced, or separated is marked if the 

respondent moved because of marital reasons.

Other, family/personal related indicates that the respondent moved because of family or personal reasons such as 

wanting to live closer to relatives.

Wanted better home was marked if the respondent moved 

because the previous residence was too old, run-down, in 

need of too many repairs, or if there was nothing wrong 

with the previous home, the respondent simply wanted to 

move to a better one.

Change from owner to renter, or change from renter to 

owner indicates a change in tenure.

Wanted lower rent or less expensive maintenance indicates 

that the respondent moved because the rent (or mortgage) 

payments were too high at the previous residence or that 

the taxes or upkeep was too high.

Other housing related reasons include such reasons as 

respondent wanted larger yard, different zoning, or wanted 

a better investment.

Evicted from residence occurs due to nonpayment of rent 

or objectionable behavior by the renters.

Other includes examples such as respondent wanted a 

change in climate, neighborhood crime problem, and racial 

or ethnic composition of neighborhood.

See also the definitions “Choice of present home and home 

search” and “Choice of present neighborhood and neighborhood search.”

Microdata. These data are shown for units in which the 

respondent moved during the 24 months before the 

interview.

Recent movers. Data for recent movers who moved in the 

12 months prior to interview are shown for two categories 

of movers: (1) units where the householder moved into the 

present unit during the 12 months prior to the interview 

(shown as a column in most tables, and in Table 10 of each 

chapter), and (2) units where the respondent moved into 

the present housing unit during the 12 months prior to the 

interview (Table 11 of chapters 2 through 4). In most cases, 

the two groups represent the same households.

Microdata also show moves of other household members 

during the 24 months prior to the interview.

Recent mover comparison to previous home. This 

item is based on the respondent’s comparison between the 

present unit and previous unit as to which was better.
A-26 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Recent mover comparison to previous neighborhood. This item is based on the respondent’s comparison 

between the present neighborhood and the previous neighborhood as to which was better. The definition of neighborhood is whatever the respondent considers it to be.

Regions. States and the District of Columbia contained in 

each region are as follows:

Northeast. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 

Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Midwest. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 

Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North 

Dakota, and South Dakota.

South. Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, 

West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 

Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, 

Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

West. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, 

Utah, Idaho, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, 

California, and Hawaii.

Remaining years mortgaged. The owner or owner’s 

spouse was asked the length of time it would take to pay 

off the loan at the current payments. The response reflects 

the amortization schedule. For example, in many balloon 

mortgages the initial monthly payments are calculated to 

pay off the loan in 30 years, though the mortgage is due in 

5 years, and the 60th payment is very large. Such a mortgage would count here as 30 years, not 5 years, minus 

whatever number of years have passed. In the publications, 

medians for remaining years mortgaged are rounded to the 

nearest year.

Remodeling. See the definition “Additions, alterations, 

remodeling, repairs, and replacements.”

Rent. See the definition “Monthly housing costs.”

Rent paid by lodgers. This item refers to regular, fixed 

rent: a set amount of money, billed or charged, which is 

paid at regular intervals by a lodger (usually weekly or 

monthly) to a member of the household. This category is 

restricted to lodgers who are 16 years and older, nonrelatives of the householder, and people who are not spouses 

of a co-owner or co-renter, not children of a co-owner or 

co-renter, and not co-owners or co-renters themselves. 

Medians for rent paid by lodgers are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Rent reductions.

Rent control means that increases in rent are limited by 

estate or local law. The jurisdiction, state, or local agency, 

mandates that rent increases may not exceed some level, 

or must be approved by the government. This category 

does not include limits that HUD puts on all rental projects 

insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Owned by a public housing authority means the unit is 

owned by any local or state government agency, and operated as public housing. These organizations may receive 

subsidies from the federal or state government, but the 

local agency owns the property.

Government subsidy means the household pays a lower 

rent because a federal, state, or local government program 

pays part of the cost of construction, mortgage, or operating expenses. These programs include rental assistance 

programs where part of the rent for low-income families 

is paid by HUD, and direct loan programs of HUD and the 

Department of Agriculture for reduced cost housing. Units 

requiring income verification are usually subsidized. Many 

households in these programs apply through the public 

housing authority and misreport themselves in public 

housing. Others do not think of their units as subsidized 

and misreport themselves as unsubsidized.

Subsidies for homeowners, including HUD subsidies for 

cooperatives, are not counted, since the questions are 

asked only of renters.

Other income verification means that the occupants are 

asked questions about their income when their lease is up 

for renewal, but they were unable to identify what type of 

rent reduction they received, if any.

Rental vacancy rate. See the definition “Vacancy, 

seasonality.”

Renter-occupied. See the definition “Tenure.”

Renter maintenance quality. Renters were asked their 

opinions of owner’s response time and if owners were 

polite and considerate for maintenance and repairs of 

major and minor problems. The definition of a major or 

minor problem was left up to the discretion of the respondent. Satisfaction was measured by the following choices: 

“usually,” “not usually,” “very mixed,” “haven’t needed any,” 

and “landlord not responsible for maintenance.” When 

problems occurred, renters were asked if problems were 

solved quickly once repairs started.

Renter’s property insurance. Renter’s property insurance or renter’s coverage policy covers those aspects of 

the apartment and its contents not specifically covered in 

the blanket policy written for the complex. This policy can 

also cover liabilities arising from accidents and intentional 

injuries for guests as well as passers-by up to 150’ of the 

domicile. Common coverage areas are events such as 

lightning, riot, aircraft, explosion, vandalism, smoke, theft, 

windstorm or hail, falling objects, volcanic eruption, snow, 

sleet, and weight of ice.

Repairs and replacements. See the definition “Additions, 

alterations, remodeling, repairs, and replacements.”
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-27

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Respondent. Any knowledgeable adult household member 16 years of age or older is technically eligible to act as 

the respondent. That is, the one who is the most knowledgeable household member who appears to know—or 

might reasonably be expected to know—the answers to all 

or the majority of the questions.

Reverse annuity mortgages. These were defined to the 

respondent as “reverse annuity mortgage or home-equity 

conversion mortgage.” These mortgages involve borrowing against home equity for retirement or income and 

sometimes do not need to be repaid until after the owner’s 

death.

Rooms. Rooms counted include whole rooms used for 

living purposes, such as bedrooms, living rooms, dining 

rooms, kitchens, recreation rooms, permanently enclosed 

porches that are suitable for year-round use, lodger’s 

rooms, and other finished rooms. Also included are rooms 

used for offices by a person living in the unit.

A dining room, to be counted, must be a separate room. 

It must be separated from adjoining rooms by built-in 

archways or walls that extend at least 6 inches from an 

intersecting wall. Half walls or bookcases count if built-in. 

Movable or collapsible partitions or partitions consisting 

solely of shelves or cabinets are not considered built-in 

walls.

Bathrooms, laundry rooms, utility rooms, walk-in closets, 

pantries, and unfinished rooms are not counted as rooms.

Rooms used for business. A room used for business 

is set up for use as an office or business for a business 

owner, contract worker, self-employed person, commercial use (such as daycare or catering), or regular job. The 

question asked if rooms were exclusively used for business space. Follow-up questions asked if there were direct 

access to the outside without going through any other 

room and whether the space was used both as business 

space and for personal use. See also the definition “Other 

activities on property.”

Rural. See the definition “Urban and rural residence.”

Safety equipment. Safety equipment installed inside the 

home includes: (1) a working smoke detector powered 

by electricity, batteries, or both (respondent is asked if 

the batteries in the smoke detector have been replaced 

in the last 6 months); (2) fire extinguishers purchased or 

recharged in the last 2 years; (3) sprinkler systems; and (4) 

working carbon monoxide detectors.

Safety of primary source of water. Water was considered safe (consumable or potable) if the main water source 

was used or could be used for drinking. The respondent 

was not asked what source was used by the household for 

drinking, but whether or not the main water source was 

safe for cooking and drinking. This item excludes units 

where the primary source of household water was commercial bottled water.

Sample size. The sample size is the unweighted count of 

the actual sample cases. See Appendix B for an explanation 

of sample design.

Schools. See the definitions “Academic comparison to 

other area elementary schools,” “Educational attainment,” 

“Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services,” and 

“Public elementary school.”

Seasonal units. See the definition “Vacancy, seasonality.”

Secured communities. These types of communities are 

typically residential communities in which public access by 

nonresidents is restricted, usually by physical boundaries, 

such as gates, walls, and fences, or through private security. These communities sometimes require a special entry 

system, such as entry codes, key cards, or security guard 

approval. A public access restriction refers to the community, not a building or units. These communities exist in a 

myriad of locations and development types, including highrise apartment complexes, retirement developments, and 

resort and country club communities.

Secured multiunits. Secured multiunits refer to one or 

more multiunit buildings that require some sort of special 

entry procedure, such as entry codes, key cards, or security guard approval for access. This also includes intercom 

systems where the occupants can identify and buzz-in 

visitors.

Selected amenities.

Porch, deck, balcony, or patio is counted if it is attached 

to the sample unit, not just to the building, or free standing. Porches may be enclosed or open. The porch, deck, 

balcony, or patio is only counted if it is at least 4 feet by 4 

feet.

Usable fireplace excludes the following: fireplaces that 

have been blocked off or whose chimney or flue has been 

filled, decorative or artificial fireplaces and wood stoves, 

even if shaped like a fireplace. Freestanding fireplaces are 

included in this item.

Separate dining room is an area separated from adjoining 

rooms by archways or walls that extend at least 6 inches 

from an intersecting wall. See the definition “Rooms.”

Living rooms, recreation rooms, etc., includes family 

rooms, dens, recreation rooms, and/or libraries.

Garage or carport is only counted if it is on the same property, though not necessarily attached to the house.

Off-street parking includes driveway or parking lot privileges that are paid for as part of the rent or owned with 

the unit. Data on garage or carport are not collected for 

occasional-use vacant units and other vacant units.
A-28 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

See also the definition “Overall opinion of structure.”

Selected deficiencies.

Signs of mice or rats refer to respondents who reported 

seeing mice or rats or signs of mice or rats inside the 

house or building during the 3 months prior to interview 

or while the household was living in the unit if less than 3 

months. Signs of mice or rats include droppings, holes in 

the wall, or ripped or torn food containers.

Holes in floors are in the interior floors of the unit. The 

holes may or may not go all the way through to a lower 

floor or to the exterior of the unit. The holes are only 

counted if large enough for someone to trip in.

Open cracks or holes (interior) are in the walls or ceilings of the housing unit. Included are cracks or holes that 

do not go all the way through to the next room or to the 

exterior of the housing unit. Hairline cracks or cracks that 

appear in the walls or ceilings, but are not large enough 

to insert the edge of a dime, are not counted. Very small 

holes caused by nails or other similar objects are also not 

counted.

Broken plaster or peeling paint (interior) are on the inside 

walls or ceilings, and at least one area of broken plaster or 

peeling paint must be larger than 8 inches by 11 inches.

Exposed wiring is any wiring that is not enclosed, either 

in the walls or in metal or plastic coverings. Excluded are 

appliance cords, extension cords, chandelier cords, and 

telephone, antenna, or cable television wires.

Rooms without electric wall outlets are rooms without at 

least one working electric wall outlet. A working electric 

wall outlet is one that is in operating condition; that is, it 

can be used when needed. If a room does not have an electric wall outlet, an extension cord used in place of a wall 

outlet is not considered to be an electric wall outlet.

Selected physical problems. See the definitions “Physical problems—moderate” and “Physical 

problems—severe.”

Senior citizen communities. These communities are agerestricted, meaning that at least one member of the family 

must be at least 55 years old or older. Communities that 

are age specific means that although not required, communities attract people in the 55 or older age group.

Sewage disposal, means of. See the definition “Means of 

sewage disposal.”

Sewage disposal breakdowns. Sewage disposal breakdowns are limited to housing units in which the means of 

sewage disposal was a public sewer, septic tank, or cesspool. Breakdowns refer to situations in which the system 

was completely unusable. Examples include septic tank 

being pumped because it no longer perked, tank collapsed, 

tank exploded, sewer main broken, sewer treatment plant 

not operating as a result of electrical failure, or water service interruption.

Data on breakdowns are shown if they occurred in the 3 

months prior to the interview or while the household was 

living in the unit, if less than 3 months; and if the breakdown lasted 6 consecutive hours or more. Housing units 

with a breakdown in sewage disposal also are classified 

according to the number of breakdowns.

See also the definition “Means of sewage disposal.”

Shared ownership. See the definitions “Cost and ownership sharing” and “Time sharing.”

Single children, under 18 years old. See the definition 

“Household composition.”

Site placement. This item is collected for manufactured/

mobile homes. “Site” refers to location (other than the 

manufacturer’s or dealer’s lot) and not necessarily a manufactured/mobile home park site. The manufactured/mobile 

home does not have to be occupied at each site, as long as 

it is set up for occupancy.

Smoke detector. See the definition “Safety equipment.”

Source of drinking water. These statistics are restricted 

to units where the respondent answered that the primary 

source of drinking water was not safe to drink. Units where 

the primary source of water is commercial bottled water 

are excluded. See also the definition “Primary source of 

water.”

Special or assisted living. Special living refers to services that management of multiunit complexes with 5 or 

more units in a building provides for residents where at 

least one household member is aged 55 or older. The questions determine whether the management offers the following services to residents: meals, transportation, housekeeping, managing finances, aid with phone use, and shopping. 

If the resident said yes to any of the above services, then 

questions are asked if the management offers assistance 

with personal care, such as bathing, eating, moving about, 

dressing, and toilet use.

Specified owner and renter. See the definition “Monthly 

housing costs.”

Square feet per person.

Publications. Square feet per person are computed for each 

single-family, detached housing unit and mobile home 

by dividing the square footage of the unit by the number 

of people in the unit. The figures refer to the number of 

housing units having the specified square feet per person. 

Median square footage is rounded to the nearest foot.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-29

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Microdata. Not applicable; may be calculated from household size and square footage.

Square footage of unit. Housing size is shown for singlefamily, detached housing units and manufactured/mobile 

homes. Excluded from the calculation of square footage are 

unfinished attics, carports, attached garages, porches that 

are not protected from weather (such as screened porches), 

and mobile home hitches. Both finished and unfinished 

basements are included. Median square footage is rounded 

to the nearest foot. Square footage is based on the respondent’s estimate of the size of the unit.

Stories between main and apartment entrances. 

Data are presented for multiunit structures with two or 

more floors and are concerned with the number of floors 

from the main-entrance level of the building to the main 

entrance of the unit. “Same floor” indicates that the main 

entrance of the sample unit is on the same level as the 

main entrance that residents use to enter the building.

Stories in structure. The statistics are presented for all 

housing units, except for manufactured/mobile homes. 

Any basement is included, whether finished or not. 

Finished attics also are included; unfinished attics are not. 

For split levels and bi-levels, the number of stories is determined by the highest number of floors that are physically 

over each other. When respondents are asked how many 

stories are in the tallest building within a half block of their 

home/building, their answer is placed into 1 of 3 categories—7 or more; 6 to 4; or 3 or less.

Street noise or heavy street traffic. See the definition 

“Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services.”

Structure type of previous residence. These data are 

shown for householders who moved within the United 

States during the previous 12 months. They are based on 

the respondent’s classification.

Subsidies. See the definition “Rent reductions.”

Suburbs. Suburbs are defined in the AHS as the portion of 

each metropolitan area that is not in any central city.

See also the definitions “Central cities” and “Metropolitan 

areas.”

Suitability for year-round use. See the definition 

“Vacancy, seasonality.”

Taxes. See the definitions “Annual taxes paid per $1,000 

value” and “Real estate taxes.”

Tenure. A housing unit is owner occupied (including a 

cooperative or condominium unit) if someone whose name 

is on the deed, mortgage, or contract to purchase lives in 

the unit. Units where the elderly buy a unit to live in for the 

remainder of their lives, after which it reverts to the seller, 

are considered owner occupied.

All other occupied housing units are classified as renter 

occupied units, including units rented for cash, if occupants or others pay some rent, and/or occupied without 

payment of cash rent, such as a life tenancy or a unit that 

comes free with a job. Households who do not pay cash 

rent may still pay utilities.

Tenure of previous unit. These data are shown for 

householders who moved within the United States during 

the 12 months prior to the interview. The previous unit was 

owner occupied if the owner or co-owner lived in the unit. 

All other previous units were renter occupied.

Term of primary mortgage at origination or assumption. The term is the number of years from the date 

the present owner-occupants first obtained the present 

mortgage to the date the last payment is due according 

to the terms of the contract. On a balloon mortgage this 

term may be short and the last payment very large. In the 

publications, medians for term of primary mortgage are 

rounded to the nearest year.

Time sharing. See the definition “Vacancy, seasonality.”

Total home-equity line-of-credit limit. Total home 

equity line-of-credit limit is a mortgage loan that is usually 

in a subordinate position and allows the property owner to 

obtain multiple advances of the loan proceeds at the borrower’s discretion, up to an amount that represents a specified percentage of the borrower’s equity in a property. This 

line-of-credit allows the property owner to borrow against 

the equity in the home from time to time without reapplying for a loan.

Total outstanding line-of-credit loans. The total outstanding line-of-credit loan is the current balance on the 

home-equity line-of-credit. The current balance is usually 

reported on the monthly or quarterly statement.

Total outstanding principal amount.

Publications. The statistics represent the total amount of 

principal that would have to be paid if the loans were paid 

off in full on the date of interview. The formula used to calculate the outstanding principal amount does not take into 

account the fact that some households make additional 

principal payments. The resulting data, therefore, may be 

an overestimate of the total outstanding principal. In the 

publications, medians for outstanding principal amount are 

rounded to the nearest dollar. The data include all regular 

mortgages and lump-sum home-equity, but exclude line-ofcredit home-equity loans.

Microdata. Not applicable.
A-30 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Trash, litter, or junk on streets or any properties 

within 300 feet. The respondent was asked if there was 

trash, litter, or junk in the streets, roads, empty lots, or on 

any properties within a half block of the building. For this 

survey a half block is about 300 feet in length. Major accumulation includes tires, appliances, or large amounts of 

trash accumulated over a period of time. Minor accumulation includes small amounts of paper, cans, or bottles that 

do not give the impression of long neglect. The property 

on which the sample unit is located is included.

Trucks. See the definition “Cars and trucks available.”

Type of primary mortgage. The federal government 

agencies that currently insure or guarantee mortgages or 

similar debts include the Federal Housing Administration 

(FHA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Rural 

Housing Service/Rural Development (RHS/RD). Mortgage 

insurance is a promise to pay the lender’s losses in case 

the borrower fails to keep up the required mortgage payments and defaults on the loan. Such insurance protection 

is offered by the government, acting as an insurance agent, 

and by private mortgage insurance companies. Mortgage 

loans that are not insured or guaranteed by these government agencies are referred to as “conventional” mortgages. 

Conventional mortgages, including mortgages insured or 

guaranteed by state or local governments, are shown as 

“Other types.”

Types of mortgages. See the definition “Mortgages currently on property.”

Units. See the definitions “Housing units,” “Occupied housing units,” and “Vacancy, seasonality.”

Units in structure. In determining the number of housing units in a structure, all units, occupied and vacant, are 

counted. The statistics are presented for the number of 

housing units, not the number of residential structures. A 

structure either has open space on all sides or is separated 

from other structures by dividing walls that extend from 

ground to roof.

Structures containing only one housing unit are further 

classified as: detached, if it has open space on all four 

sides; or attached, if it has unbroken walls extending from 

ground to roof that divide it from other adjoining structures, as in many row houses or townhouses. If a unit 

shares a furnace or boiler with adjoining units, then the 

walls are pierced by pipes or ducts, and all the units thus 

joined are included in one structure.

Manufactured/mobile homes are shown as a separate category (see the definition “Manufactured/mobile homes”).

Urban and rural residence. As defined for the 1980 

and 1990 censuses, urban housing comprises all housing units (a) in urbanized areas and (b) in places (see the 

definition “Place size”) of 2,500 or more inhabitants outside 

urbanized areas, but excluding housing units in the rural 

portions of extended cities. Housing units not classified as 

urban are rural housing.

More information on urbanized areas and the historical development of the urban-rural definition appears at 

<www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/urbanruralclass.html>.

Usual residence elsewhere (URE). See the definition 

“Vacancy, seasonality.”

Utilities. See the definition “Monthly costs paid for electricity and piped gas.”

Vacancy, seasonality. A housing unit is vacant if no 

one is living in it at the time of the interview, unless its 

occupants are only temporarily absent. In addition, housing units where all the occupants have a usual residence 

elsewhere are grouped with vacant units.

Year-round housing units. This includes all units occupied 

as a usual residence, regardless of design, and all vacant 

units that are intended by the owner for occupancy at all 

times of the year. For example, if a unit in a resort area is 

intended for occupancy in all seasons, it is a year-round 

unit.

For rent. Owners of some units offer them for rent. Other 

owners solicit offers either for rent or for sale. When 

separate categories for these are not shown, they are both 

included in for rent, as in the rental vacancy rate.

Rental vacancy rate. The rental vacancy rate is the number 

of vacant year-round units for rent as a percent of the total 

rental inventory; i.e., all renter-occupied housing units and 

all year-round vacant housing units for rent or rented, not 

occupied.

For sale only. Units “for sale only” are offered for sale and 

the owner does not solicit renter-occupants, even though 

the owner might eventually rent the unit.

Rented or sold. If any money rent has been paid or agreed 

upon, but the new renter has not moved in as of the date 

of the interview, or if the unit has recently been sold, but 

the new owner has not yet moved in, the unit is classified 

as rented or sold.

Occasional use. These are units held for weekend or other 

occasional use throughout the year. Second homes may be 

classified here or as seasonal.

URE. These are temporarily occupied by people with a 

Usual Residence Elsewhere. If all people in a housing unit 

usually live elsewhere, the unit is classified as vacant. For 

example, a beach cottage occupied at the time of the interview by a family who has a usual residence in the city is 

included in the count of vacant units. The home in the city 

or the home of a comparable vacationing family also could 

be in the AHS sample and would be reported as occupied, 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix A A-31

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

since the occupants are only temporarily absent. URE units 

also may be classified in any of the vacancy categories: 

seasonal or for sale.

Other vacant. This category includes units held for settlement of an estate, units held for occupancy by a caretaker 

or janitor, and units held for personal reasons of the owner.

Seasonal units. These are intended by the owner to be 

occupied during only certain seasons of the year. They are 

not anyone’s usual residence. A seasonal unit may be used 

in more than one season, for example, for both summer 

and winter sports. Published counts of seasonal units also 

include housing units held for occupancy by migratory 

farm workers. While not currently intended for year-round 

use, most seasonal units could be used year-round; see the 

next definition.

Suitability for year-round use. For vacant housing units that 

are not intended by their current owners for year round 

use (seasonal and migratory), the respondent was asked 

whether the construction and heating of the housing unit 

made it suitable for the unit to be occupied on a year-round 

basis. A housing unit is suitable for year-round use if it is 

built as a permanent structure, properly equipped, insulated, and heated as necessitated by the climate.

Time sharing. This item is restricted to vacant housing 

units, including units temporarily occupied by people who 

have usual residences elsewhere. Time sharing is a form of 

ownership in which a single property is owned by multiple 

owners. Each is entitled to occupy the unit for a limited 

period of time. The number of years of ownership may 

vary depending on the terms of the contract. Participants 

in time-sharing ownership usually, but not always, receive 

a deed of ownership. 

Duration of vacancy. This refers to the length of time (in 

months) from the date the last occupants moved from the 

housing unit to the date of the interview. The data, therefore, do not provide a direct measure of the total length of 

time that units remain vacant. For newly constructed units 

that have never been occupied, the duration of vacancy is 

counted from the date construction was completed. For 

recently converted or merged units, the time is reported 

from the date that conversion or merger was completed.

Last used as a permanent residence. The statistics refer to 

the length of time (in months) since units that are currently 

seasonal vacant were last used as a permanent residence, 

and are measured as of the date of interview. Units that 

have always been used for short-term or seasonal occupancy are classified as “Never occupied as permanent 

home.”

Value. Value is the respondent’s estimate of how much the 

property (house and lot) would sell for if it were for sale. 

Any nonresidential portions of the property, any rental 

units, and land cost of mobile homes, are excluded from 

the value. For vacant units, value represents the sales price 

asked for the property at the time of the interview, and 

may differ from the price at which the property is sold. 

In the publications, medians for value are rounded to the 

nearest dollar.

See also the definition “Ratio of value to current income.”

Water. See the definitions “Plumbing facilities,” “Primary 

source of water,” “Safety of primary source of water,” 

“Source of drinking water,” and “Water supply stoppage.”

Water leakage during last 12 months. Data on water 

leakage are shown if the leakage occurred in the 12 

months prior to the interview or while the household was 

living in the unit if less than 12 months. Housing units with 

water leakage are classified by whether the water leaked 

in from outside the building, and by the most common 

areas (roof, basement, walls, closed windows, or doors); 

or inside the building and the reasons of water leakage (fixtures backed up or overflowed or pipes leaked).

Water supply stoppage. Water supply stoppage means 

that the housing unit was completely without running 

water from its regular source. Completely without running 

water means that the water system servicing the unit supplied no water at all; that is, no equipment or facility using 

running water (in kitchen and bathroom sinks, shower, 

bathtub, flush toilet, dishwasher, and other similar items) 

had water supplied to it, or all were inoperable. The reason 

could vary from a stoppage because of a flood or storm, 

to a broken pipe, to a shutdown of the water system, to a 

failure to pay the bill, or other reasons.

Data on water supply stoppage are shown if they occurred 

in the 3 months prior to the interview, or while the household was living in the unit if less than 3 months, and if 

the breakdown or failure lasted 6 consecutive hours or 

more. Housing units with water supply stoppage also are 

classified according to the number of times the stoppages 

occurred. See also the definition “Primary source of water.”

Work. See the definitions “Income” and “Journey to work.”

Worked at home last week. This question determines 

who is working out of the office. This can include telecommuters (a company employee who works from home full or 

part-time during normal business hours), real estate salesperson, and any person who works at home on a regular 

job.

Worked at home last week for householder. This 

question determines who in the household worked for the 

householder last week. The person need not be related 

to the householder. The time worked may have been part 

time, even 1 or 2 hours last week. It includes baby-sitting 

for pay, helping in a family store or family farm, and similar 

work. Excluded is the person’s own housework or odd 
A-32 Appendix A American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

jobs around the house (painting the porch, cutting grass, 

etc.); unpaid baby-sitting for family, relatives, or friends; 

and unpaid volunteer work for a church, etc. Work done by 

residents of an institution is not considered work for the 

purpose of this survey. The time period covered is the full 

calendar week, from Sunday through Saturday, preceding 

the date the interview is completed.

Year householder immigrated to the United States. 

See the definition “Citizenship.”

Year householder moved into unit. The data are based 

on the information reported for the householder and refer 

to the year of latest move. Thus, if the householder moved 

back into a housing unit previously occupied, the year of 

the latest move was to be reported. If the householder 

moved from one apartment to another in the same building, the year the householder moved into the present unit 

was to be reported. The intent is to establish the year that 

present occupancy by the householder began. The year the 

householder moves is not necessarily the same year other 

members of the household move; although, in the great 

majority of cases the entire household moves at the same 

time. In the publications, the median year householder 

moved into unit is rounded to the nearest year. See also the 

definition “Year structure built.”

Year primary mortgage originated. The year the primary mortgage was originated is the year the mortgage 

was signed (see the definition “Primary mortgage”). In the 

publications, medians for year primary mortgage originated are rounded to the nearest year.

Year structure built. Year structure built represents 

the respondent’s estimate of when the building was first 

constructed, not when it was remodeled, added to, or 

converted. The figures refer to the number of housing 

units in structures built during the specified periods and in 

existence at the time of the interview. For manufactured/ 

mobile homes, the manufacturer’s model year was assumed 

to be the year built. For manufactured/mobile homes, the 

year the householder moved in can be earlier than the year 

the structure was built because the manufactured/mobile 

home site, not the manufactured/mobile home itself, is 

in sample. The householder could have replaced an older 

manufactured/mobile home with a newer model. 

In the publications, median year built is rounded to the 

nearest year. Also, the median is estimated from the 

printed distribution (i.e., an interpolated median) because 

year built is collected as a range of values.

Year unit acquired. The year the unit was acquired or 

inherited refers to the year in which the present owner 

acquired or inherited the house or apartment; for example, 

the year the contract was signed. This date may be different from the date when the occupants moved in. If the 

land and building were bought at different times, the year 

the building was acquired was recorded. If there was a 

land contract only, the year the contract was signed was 

recorded. In the publications, median year acquired is 

rounded to the nearest year.
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Appendix B B-1

Appendix B. 

Sample Design and Weighting

SAMPLE SIZE

The 2009 national data are from a sample of housing units 

interviewed between April and September 2009. The same 

basic sample of housing units is interviewed every 2 years 

until a new sample is selected. The U.S. Census Bureau 

updates the sample by adding newly constructed housing 

units and units discovered through coverage improvement 

efforts. 

For the 2009 American Housing Survey-National (AHS-N) 

sample, approximately 62,000 housing units were originally selected for interview. The units reduced from the 

2007 sample were not included for interview in 2009.1

However, a supplemental sample of about 6,300 housing 

units in the Chicago, Detroit, New York, Northern 

New Jersey, and Philadelphia MSAs was included. About 

2,200 of the 62,000 total units included for interview were 

found to be ineligible because the unit no longer existed 

or because the unit did not meet the AHS definition of a 

housing unit.

Of the 59,800 eligible sample units, about 6,450 were 

classified (both occupied and vacant housing units) as 

“Type A” noninterviews because (a) no one was at home 

after repeated visits, (b) the respondent refused to be 

interviewed, or (c) the interviewer was unable to find the 

unit. This classification produced an unweighted overall 

response rate of 89 percent. The weighted overall response 

rate was 91 percent.

SAMPLE SELECTION

The Census Bureau has interviewed the current sample 

of housing units since 1985. First, the United States was 

divided into areas made up of counties or groups of counties and independent cities known as primary sampling 

units (PSUs). A sample of these PSUs was selected. Then, a 

sample of housing units was selected within these PSUs. 

Selection of sample areas. The sample for AHS is 

spread over 394 PSUs. These PSUs cover 878 counties and 

independent cities with coverage in all 50 states and the 

District of Columbia. 

If there were over 100,000 housing units in a PSU at the 

time of selection, the PSU is known as a self-representing 

PSU because it was removed from the probability sampling 

operation. It was in sample with certainty. The sample from 

the PSU represents only that PSU. There are 170 selfrepresenting PSUs. 

1 Due to budgetary constraints, roughly 8 percent of units were 

taken out of the 2007 sample and were not interviewed.

The Census Bureau grouped the remaining PSUs and 

selected one PSU per group, proportional to the number of 

housing units in the PSU, to represent all PSUs in the group. 

These selected PSUs are referred to as non-selfrepresenting PSUs. The sample non-self-representing PSUs 

for AHS are a subsample of the Current Population Survey’s 

(CPS) sample areas based on the 1980 census. 

Selection of sample housing units. The AHS sample 

consists of the following types of units in the sampled 

PSUs: 

1. Housing units selected from the 1980 census. The 

Census Bureau picked a systematic sample so every unit 

had a 1 in 2,148 chance of being included in the AHS.

In areas where addresses are complete (at least 96 percent of units having a house number and street name) 

and permits are required for new construction, housing 

units receiving 1980 census long-form questionnaires 

were sorted by the following items: 

•  PSU

•  Central city, urbanized area, urban outside urbanized 

area, rural

•  Owner, renter, vacant for rent, vacant for sale, other 

types of vacant housing units

•  Number of rooms

•  Value of housing unit or gross rent

•  Manufactured/mobile home or not a manufactured/

mobile home

In areas where addresses are not complete or permits 

are not required for new construction, land areas were 

sorted using a formula incorporating the following 

items:

•  PSU

•  Central city, urbanized area, urban outside urbanized 

area, rural 

•  Median value of housing unit 

•  Number of children under 6 years old 

•  Number of elderly people 

•  Number of owner-occupied housing units 

•  Number of manufactured/mobile homes 
B-2 Appendix B American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

•  Number of housing units lacking some plumbing

•  Number of owner-occupied housing units whose value 

is below $45,000 

•  Number of renter-occupied housing units with rent 

below $200 

•  Number of Black and Hispanic people 

•  Number of 1-room housing units 

2. New construction in areas requiring building 

permits. In areas that require building permits for new 

construction, the Census Bureau selected a sample of 

permits. These permits do not cover manufactured/

mobile homes or conversion of buildings to residential 

use. 

3. Housing units missed in the 1980 census. The 

Census Bureau conducted a special study which identified units at addresses missed or inadequately defined 

in the 1980 census. A sample of these identified units 

was selected. 

4. Other housing units added since the 1980 census.

If extra units are added in buildings or manufactured/

mobile home parks where AHS already has sample units, 

a sample of these extra units was selected. To find when 

whole buildings are built (in addition to building permits, mentioned above) or are converted from nonresidential to residential use, the Census Bureau listed all 

residential buildings in a sample of areas around the 

country, found any additional buildings, and selected a 

sample of their units.

5. Housing units selected from Census 2000. The 

following adjustments were made to the AHS-N sample 

in 2005 by adding certain types of units selected from 

Census 2000:

•  A new sample of manufactured/mobile homes was 

selected from Census 2000 in an attempt to improve 

coverage of manufactured/mobile homes built 

between 1980 and 2000. These units were selected 

at the same rate as the 1980-based units. One-half 

of this sample was included in the 2005 interviewing 

and, as a result, one-half of the 1980-based sample 

was not included. The units interviewed in 2005 were 

also interviewed in 2007 and 2009.

•  In an attempt to improve coverage of the elderly, a 

sample of assisted living units was selected from 

Census 2000. The Census Bureau purchased address 

lists of assisted living facilities from two vendors and 

supplemented these lists with facility addresses from 

various assisted living facility Internet sites. These 

addresses were matched to Census 2000 to identify 

Census 2000 housing units in assisted living facilities 

from which the resulting sample of these units was 

drawn. Because the universe was so small, a double 

sample of units was selected. Before interviewing, the 

resulting sample was screened to confirm eligibility. 

There were 921 units in the initial sample with 486 

remaining after the screening.

Supplemental Metropolitan Sample. In 1995, the 

Census Bureau supplemented the national sample in six 

metropolitan areas (Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New 

York, Northern New Jersey, and Philadelphia). These metropolitan areas are based on the definitions used in 1985. 

This supplemental sample was combined with the existing 

national sample in these areas in order to produce metropolitan level estimates. This supplemental sample was last 

used in 2003. A new supplemental sample was used in 

2009 for five of the six areas (Los Angeles is scheduled for 

a later date). The definitions of these areas differ from the 

2003 OMB definitions in the following ways:

•  The Chicago MSA does not include DeKalb County from 

the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL Metropolitan Division 

(MD), Kenosha County, WI from the Lake County–Kenosha 

County, IL-WI MD, or any part of the Gary, IN MD.

•  The Detroit MSA includes the Monroe, MI MSA.

•  The New York MSA includes Orange County, NY from the 

Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY MSA and does 

not include Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic, NJ Counties 

from the New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ MD.

•  The Northern New Jersey MSA includes Bergen, Hudson, 

and Passaic, NJ Counties from the New York-Wayne-White 

Plains, NY-NJ MD. It does not include Pike County, PA 

from the Newark-Union, NJ-PA MD, the Edison, NJ MD or 

Trenton-Ewing, NJ MSA. 

•  The Philadelphia MSA does not include the Wilmington, 

DE-MD-NJ MD.

Table 1 provides the size of the supplemental sample in 

each of the five metropolitan areas. This sample was combined with the existing sample in these areas to produce 

metropolitan estimates.

Table 1. 

2009 Sample Size for the Five AHS-NationalBased Metropolitan Areas

Metropolitan area Basic sample

Supplemental 

sample Total sample size

Chicago, IL. . . . . . . 1,461 1,097 2,558

Detroit, MI . . . . . . . 834 1,747 2,581

New York, NY . . . . . 2,158 426 2,584

Northern New 

Jersey, NJ . . . . . . 1,209 1,348 2,557

Philadelphia, PA . . . 909 1,696 2,605
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix B B-3

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2 summarizes the interview activity for the five 

AHS-National metropolitan areas. The table provides the 

response rate, number of eligible units (comprised of completed interviews and noninterviews), and the number of 

units visited but ineligible for interview.

ESTIMATION FOR AHS-NATIONAL

Each housing unit in the AHS sample represents itself and 

over 2,000 other units. The exact number it represents is 

its “weight.” The weight was calculated in six steps. The 

purpose of these steps is to minimize both sampling errors 

and errors from incomplete data. The result of these steps 

is also to force consistency with some major categories of 

data in other Census Bureau surveys, so figures on these 

categories do not actually depend on the AHS sample, but 

on the other surveys.

1. Basic weight. The Census Bureau assigned each unit 

a weight to reflect its probability of selection. With rare 

exceptions, this weight is 2,148. One exception is the 

assisted living sample which is assigned a weight of 

1,074. 

2. Sample adjustment. An adjustment was made to the 

units remaining after the overall national reduction 

implemented in 2007; the basic weight was multiplied 

by 1.09 to reflect this reduction. An additional sample 

adjustment was implemented to account for the addition of the supplemental sample in the five metropolitan 

areas in 2009. 

3. Noninterview adjustment. An adjustment was made 

for refusals and occupied units where no one was home. 

The calculations for this adjustment do not include units 

the Census Bureau could not locate. The earlier weight 

was multiplied by the following factor: 

Interviewed units + Units not interviewed

Interviewed units

It is assumed the units missed are similar in some ways 

to the units interviewed for AHS. 

This adjustment is done separately for groups defined 

by cross-classifying the following data items if prior year 

data for the indicated items are available: 

•  Four census regions 

•  1990 central city, suburb, or nonmetropolitan

•  1990 urban or rural 

•  Manufactured/mobile home or not a manufactured/

mobile home

•  In an assisted living facility or not in an assisted living 

facility (only if the housing unit is not a manufactured/

mobile home)

•  Owner/for sale or renter/for rent 

•  Number of units in structure* 

•  Number of rooms* 

•  Occupied, vacant year round, or seasonal/migratory 

vacant*

(*If known from a previous survey; otherwise, the 

Census Bureau substituted whether or not units were 

drawn from building permits for these items.) 

For seasonal/migratory vacants and year round vacants 

other than those for rent or for sale, units were crossclassified only by census region and Census 2000 central city/suburb/nonmetropolitan. 

4. PSU adjustment. The Census Bureau adjusted for 

differences that existed in 1990 between the number 

of 1990 census housing units estimated from the AHS 

sample of non-self-representing PSUs and the 1990 

census counts outside the self-representing PSUs. The 

earlier weight was multiplied by the following factor: 

1990 census housing units in all areas that could have 

been chosen as non-self-representing PSUs

1990 census housing units estimated from the AHS 

sample of non-self-representing PSUs 

This adjustment is done separately for groups defined 

by cross-classifying: 

•  Four census regions 

•  Owner, renter, or vacant

•  1990 central city, suburb, or nonmetropolitan 

•  1990 urban or rural 

2 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2. 

Interview Activity for the Five AHS-NationalBased Metropolitan Areas

Metropolitan area

Unweighted 

response 

rate1

(percent)

Weighted 

response 

rate2

(percent)

Eligible units

Ineligible 

units Total 4

Interviewed

Not

 interviewed3

 TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 88.40 90.00 12,382 10,943 1,439 503

Chicago, IL. . . . . . . . . . . 88.10 89.50 2,452 2,159 293 106

Detroit, MI . . . . . . . . . . . 89.40 90.80 2,489 2,225 264 92

New York, NY . . . . . . . . . 88.70 90.20 2,461 2,184 277 123

Northern New Jersey, 

NJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.20 92.20 2,465 2,249 216 92

Philadelphia, PA . . . . . . 84.50 86.70 2,515 2,126 389 90

1

 The unweighted response rate is computed by dividing the unweighted number of interviews 

by the unweighted total number of cases eligible for interview and multiplying by 100.

2

 The weighted response rate is computed by dividing the weighted number of interviews by 

the weighted total number of cases eligible for interview and multiplying by 100.

3

 Sample units were classifi ed as “Type A” noninterviews because (a) no one was at home 

after repeated visits, (b) the respondent refused to be interviewed, or (c) the interviewer was 

unable to fi nd the unit. 

4

 Sample units were found to be ineligible because the unit no longer existed or because the 

unit did not meet the AHS defi nition of a housing unit.
B-4 Appendix B American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

•  Hispanic or non-Hispanic householder (only in South 

and West regions) 

•  Black or non-Black householder (only in South region) 

5. New construction adjustment. The Census Bureau 

adjusted for known deficiencies in sampling new construction by multiplying the earlier weight by the following factor: 

Independent estimate

AHS sample estimate

This adjustment is done separately for groups defined 

by cross-classifying: 

•  Four census regions 

•  Manufactured/mobile home or not a manufactured/

mobile home

•  Number of units in structure 

•  Year built (pre-1970 and 5-year categories after 1970 

as shown in the publication)

Independent estimates are based on the Census Bureau’s 

Survey of Construction and Manufactured Homes Survey. 

Note that final AHS figures for the categories above are 

not based on the AHS sample findings, but on the independent sources. 

6. Demographic adjustment. Comparability among the 

surveys was ensured by multiplying the earlier weight 

by the following factor: 

Independent estimate

AHS sample estimate

This adjustment is done in two steps for occupied 

units. First, the factors were computed and applied 

for the Hispanic or non-Hispanic groups defined by 

cross-classifying: 

•  Four census regions 

•  Owner or renter 

•  Hispanic or non-Hispanic householder 

•  Husband-wife, other male householder, or other 

female householder 

•  Age of householder 

Next, the demographic adjustment is repeated with the 

same cells, except classified by the Black or non-Black 

groups, rather than the Hispanic or non-Hispanic groups.

Vacant for sale, vacant for rent, other year round vacant, 

and seasonal/migratory vacant units were crossclassified only by the four census regions and 

Census 2000 central city, suburb, or nonmetropolitan 

area. 

The percentage of occupied and vacant units was 

based on the AHS itself. The distribution within occupied and vacant units are from the Census Bureau’s 

Current Population Survey for occupied units and from 

the Housing Vacancy Survey for vacant units. The total 

number of all housing units in the United States is based 

on the Census 2000 adjusted to account for new and 

lost units. Note that final AHS figures for the categories 

above are not based on the AHS sample findings, but on 

the independent sources. 

Repetitions. The new construction and demographic 

adjustments were repeated to help match both sets of 

independent estimates simultaneously. These adjustments 

were repeated until every cell’s factor is between 0.98 and 

1.02 or the change in each factor from one repetition to the 

next is less than 0.015. 

Small cells. In each step of weighting, many items were 

cross-classified; so some cells may have few cases. When 

a cell is too small (less than 30 cases for the noninterview 

adjustment or less than 50 cases for the demographic 

adjustment) or the adjustment factor is too extreme 

(greater than 1.5 for the noninterview adjustment or outside a range of 0.5 to 2.0 for the demographic adjustment), 

the Census Bureau combined the cell with one or more 

other cells that are similar in most respects. Cells for the 

PSU adjustment or the new construction adjustment were 

not combined.

ESTIMATION FOR AHS-NATIONAL-BASED 

METROPOLITAN AREAS

The sample housing units were weighted according to a 

one-stage ratio estimation procedure.

1. Basic weight. The basic weight is the inverse of the 

probability of selection. The basic weight varies for each 

metropolitan area depending on the size of the supplemental sample.

2. Noninterview adjustment. An adjustment was made 

for refusals and occupied units where no one was home. 

The calculations for this adjustment do not include units 

the Census Bureau could not locate. The earlier weight 

was multiplied by the following factor: 

Interviewed units + Units not interviewed

Interviewed units

It is assumed the units missed are similar in some ways 

to the units interviewed for AHS. 

This adjustment is done separately for groups defined 

by cross-classifying the following data items if prior year 

data for the indicated items are available: 

•  1990 central city, suburb, or nonmetropolitan
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix B B-5

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

•  Manufactured/mobile home or not a manufactured/

mobile home

•  In an assisted living facility or not in an assisted living 

facility (only if the housing unit is not a manufactured/

mobile home)

•  Owner/for sale or renter/for rent 

•  Number of units in structure* 

•  Number of rooms* 

•  Occupied, vacant year round, or seasonal/migratory 

vacant*

(*If known from a previous survey; otherwise, the 

Census Bureau substituted whether or not units were 

drawn from building permits for these items.) 

For seasonal/migratory vacants and year round vacants 

other than those for rent or for sale, units were crossclassified only by census region and Census 2000 central city/suburb/nonmetropolitan. 

3. Independent total housing unit ratio estimation.

For the ratio estimation procedure described below, each 

metropolitan area was subdivided into geographic areas 

consisting of individual counties or a combination of 

counties.

The ratio estimation procedure reduced the sampling 

error for most statistics below what would have been 

obtained by simply weighting the results of the sample 

by the inverse of the probability of selection. Since the 

housing population of the sample differed somewhat 

by chance from the metropolitan area as a whole, one 

can expect that the sample housing population, or different portions of it, is brought into agreement with 

known good estimates of the metropolitan area housing 

population.

The Census Bureau applied the following ratio estimation procedure in all areas:

Independent estimate of the total housing inventory for 

the corresponding geographic subdvision of the 

metropolitan area

Sample estimate of the total housing inventory for the 

corresponding geographic subdvision of the 

metropolitan area

The numerator of this ratio was determined by making 

adjustments to Census 2000 data to account for residential new construction as well as losses to the housing inventory. These estimates were generated at the 

county level and combined to form geographic subdivisions. The denominator was obtained using the existing 

weight of AHS sample units (that is, the product of the 

basic weight and the weighting factors).

The computed ratio estimation factor was then applied 

to all appropriate housing units in the corresponding 

geographic area of each metropolitan area, and the 

resulting product was used as the final weight for tabulation purposes.

American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Appendix C C-1

Appendix C 

Historical Changes: 2009

The American Housing Survey (AHS) began in 1973 as the 

Annual Housing Survey. Since 1981, the U.S. Census Bureau 

has conducted the national survey every odd numbered 

year. It was renamed the American Housing Survey in 

1984. 

Only changes for the 2009 survey year are noted in this 

appendix. Historical changes prior to 2009 can be found 

online at <www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing

/ahs/datacollection.html> or in previous publications. 

When comparing the 2009 publication tables to prior years, 

please note the following.

Chapter 1. 

The following tables are no longer included in the report:

Tables 1B-1 to 1B-7 (Central Cities) 

Tables 1C-1 to 1C-7 (Suburbs) 

Tables 1D-1 to 1D-7 (Outside MSAs) 

Tables 1A-1 through 1A-6 are renumbered as 1-1 through 

1-6. Table 1-7 (Financial Characteristics—All Housing 

Units) is no longer included; this information can be found 

in chapters 2 and 3. 

Chapters 2 through 7.

In order to reduce the report table width some columns are 

no longer included. 

Tables 17 through 25 have been deleted in each chapter. 

Chapters 5 through 7 are no longer included in the report. 

Comparison to local area elementary schools.

The universe for this category changed in 2009. This question is now only asked of households with children aged 0 

to 13 who were dissatisfied with their local area elementary school.

Current interest rate.

Size categories were revised in 2009; the resulting top size 

category is now 9 percent or more. The published top size 

category prior to 2009 was 20 percent or more. 

Current line-of-credit interest rate.

Size categories were revised in 2009; the bottom size 

category is now less than 3 percent, and the resulting top 

size category is now 8 percent or more. Prior to 2009, the 

published bottom size category was less than 6 percent, 

and the top size category was 20 percent or more. 

Dependent interviewing.

Down payment percentage was not asked if a valid answer 

was obtained in a previous interview and if the current 

interview was at the same housing unit. In this case, the 

answers from the previous interview were used to process 

and tabulate the data.

Disabilities.

Questions were added to determine the disability status of 

household members. 

Heating equipment.

The heating equipment questions were revised to address 

underreporting of “other heating equipment” in 2007. In 

2007, the series of questionnaire items dealing with “other 

heating equipment” began with a question asking if the 

respondent had any other kind of working heating equipment in their homes. Only respondents who answered 

“yes” to this question were asked follow-up questions on 

types of “other heating equipment.” In 2009, the screener 

question was removed and the next question in the series 

was revised, so that all respondents were read the types 

of “other heating equipment” when asked if they had any 

“other heating equipment.” Prior to 2007, respondents 

were not asked the screener question, but rather were 

asked from the outset if they had specific types of “other 

heating equipment.” 

Income.

The reference period for the income questions was 

changed from “in the last twelve months” or “during the 

past twelve months” to a specific date, which is exactly 

twelve months prior to the date of the interview. 

Median.

All medians are now calculated as true medians (see the 

definition “Median” in Appendix A) with the exception of 

“Year Structure Built” which continues to be calculated as 

an interpolated median, as in previous publications.

Monthly payment for principal and interest.

Additional size categories are shown in 2009; the resulting 

top size category is now $2,000 or more. The published 

top size category prior to 2009 was $1,500 or more. 
C-2 Appendix C American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

No cash rent.

In 2009, the answer categories were changed to (a) rented, 

or (b) occupied without payment of rent. Prior to 2009, 

respondents were asked if the unit was (a) rented for cash 

rent, or (b) occupied without payment of cash rent. 

Public elementary school.

Questions about school satisfaction and proximity are no 

longer asked of households where all children are 5 years 

of age or younger. Prior to 2009, these households were 

included in their respective “Not Reported” rows. 

Public transportation.

The table rows have been reordered to more accurately 

reflect how this series of questions is asked. Also, prior to 

2009, the “Not Reported” rows included households who 

did not have public transportation in the area. 

Ratio of value to current income. 

Additional size categories are shown in 2009; the resulting 

top size category is now 11.0 or more. The published top 

size category prior to 2009 was 5.0 or more.

Rent paid by lodgers.

The bottom size category is expanded to less than $200 

in 2009, and additional size categories are shown. The 

resulting top size category is now $800 or more. Prior to 

2009, the published bottom size category was less than 

$100 and the top size category was $400 or more. 

Wiring.

A rewording of the dependent interviewing verification 

questions from 2005 to 2007 resulted in an overestimate 

of households with exposed wiring. In 2009, dependent 

interviewing was not used and all households were asked 

the wiring questions. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix D D-1 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Appendix D. 

Errors

All numbers from the American Housing Survey (AHS), Table D-1. Poorly Covered Units

except for sample size, are estimates. As in other 

surveys, errors come primarily from the following: Type of Unit Type of Deficiency

 Incomplete data (Incomplete data are adjusted by Manufactured/mobile No coverage of new 

assuming that the respondents are similar to those homes, boats, and manufactured/mobile home 

recreational vehicles (RVs) parks, new marinas, and new 

not answering, and the size of these errors is RV parks since April 1980 for 

estimated.) AHS-N in areas where 

addresses are complete and 

permits are required for new 

 Wrong answers (The U.S. Census Bureau does not construction. 

adjust for wrong answers and does not estimate the Conventional new No coverage of permits issued 

construction in permit fewer than 8 months before size of the errors.) issuing areas interviewing or housing units 

built without permits where 

permits are required. In  Sampling (Sampling errors are not adjusted, and the addition, eligible units could 

size of the error is estimated.) be missed and ineligible 

units included because of 

Incomplete data and wrong answers are usually the incorrect answers to 

questions used to screen out 

largest source of errors, larger than sampling errors. ineligible units. 

New construction in special Not covered in either permit- INCOMPLETE DATA places (for example, issuing or non-permit-issuing 

Coverage errors. Because of deficiencies with the college campuses, areas. 

prisons) 

sampling lists, the housing units in the survey do not 

represent all housing units in the country. The Census Group quarters and houses Eligible units could be missed 

Bureau attempts to adjust for the deficiencies by moved in because of incorrect answers 

to questions used to screen 

raising the raw numbers from the survey proportionally out ineligible units. 

so that the numbers published here match independent Conversions from Minimal coverage of 

estimates of the total number of housing units. See nonresidential units nonresidential units in 

Appendix B, “New Construction and Demographic buildings with no living 

quarters at the time of the 

Adjustments.” The independent estimates changed 1980 census that converted 

around 2.5 percent in both 1981 and 1991 (after the to housing units by 1991 

(and no coverage since 

1980 and 1990 censuses, respectively) which implies 1991) in areas where 

that some error existed in the independent estimation addresses are complete and 

permits are required for new 

procedures in the years just before the censuses. By construction. 

comparison, the independent estimates changed by 0.8 Within-structure additions Some extra apartments 

percent in 2003 (after Census 2000). created illegally or occupied 

by fugitives are probably 

In 2005, the Census Bureau attempted to reduce the missed because people do 

not report them for fear of 

undercoverage in two segments of the population by penalties. 

adding sample units selected from Census 2000 (i.e., Whole structure additions These units are chosen with 

manufactured/mobile homes built between 1980 and not covered by permit the aid of screening 

2000 and special living units). Overall, housing unit sampling questions. Eligible units 

could be missed and 

undercoverage is about 3.8 percent for the 2009 ineligible units included 

American Housing Survey National (AHS-N). Table D-1 because of incorrect answers 

to the screening questions. 

lists units that have known coverage deficiencies. 
D-2 Appendix D American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Missing data. Some people refuse the interview or Change over time. Several aspects of the AHS make 

some of the questions, or do not know the answers. estimates of change from previous data unreliable. 

When the entire interview is missing, other similar These changes may elicit different answers from the 

interviews represent the missing ones (see Appendix B, past, even if nothing changed in the housing unit. 

“Noninterview Adjustment”). For most missing Some examples of changes that may have affected 

answers, an answer from a similar household is answers include: 

copied.1 The Census Bureau does not know how close  Question wording the imputed values are to the actual values. For other  Order of questions items, “not reported” is used as an answer category.  Switch from paper to computer questionnaire in The items with the most missing data are primarily 1997 those that people forget or consider personal:  Lack of Spanish questionnaire, prior to 2009 mortgages, other housing costs, and income. 

Incompleteness can cause large errors since, when even WRONG ANSWERS 

10 percent of housing units are missed by a particular Wrong answers happen because people misunderstand 

question, they represent about 13 million housing units questions, cannot recall the correct answer, or do not 

that have to be estimated on little or no basis (there are want to give the right answer. See American Housing 

about 130 million housing units in the United States). Survey for the United States: 2005 for more discussion 

The survey estimates them by assuming that they are on this topic. 

like some group of housing units that did give data, an 

assumption that is never exactly true although it is SAMPLING ERRORS 

usually better than ignoring the housing units with the Sampling errors definition. Error from sampling 

missing data. Thus, it is not surprising that large reflects how estimates from a sample vary from the 

biases, as shown in Table D-2, are possible when the actual value. (Note: “Actual value” means the value 

survey has data for only 50 to 90 percent of housing derived if all housing units had been interviewed, under 

units for particular items. Readers should be wary of the same conditions, rather than only a sample.) A 

items with highly incomplete data.2 confidence interval is a range that contains the actual 

value with a specified probability. The range of Rates of completeness were not computed for 2009. nonsampling error is usually larger than this Table 2 in Appendix D of American Housing Survey for confidence interval. the United States in 1995 gives the completeness rates 

for 1995. Due to the change in data collection Counts. Most numbers from the AHS are counts of 

methodology, the rates for 2009 may be higher or housing units (for example, units with basements or 

lower than in the past. However, the items that were units with an elderly person). These counts have errors 

most incomplete in 1995 are probably still the most from sampling. As with the other types of errors, 

incomplete for 2009. readers should be wary of numbers with large errors 

from sampling. 

 Table D-3 gives a convenient list of errors for a range 

1Hot deck allocation is used: an answer is copied from the most of numbers for the 2009 AHS-N. The error from 

recently processed similar household before the household with the sampling cannot be known exactly. For numbers not in missing item. 

Table D-3, the error from sampling is approximated 

2Statistical note: The November 1990 paper, How Response Error, using the following formula for constructing a 90 

Missing Data and Undercoverage Bias Survey Data, estimates that 90 percent confidence interval: percent of errors from incomplete data are less than: 1.645 x (.0012 x 

U + .0363 x (lesser of A or U-A)) where A is any count from the AHS 

and U is the total number of housing units in the United States or 

metropolitan area (both in thousands, result also in thousands). where A is a 

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Weights are adjusted to reduce these errors, but it is not known how from the AHS. This formula is an overestimate for most much error remains. How Response Error, Missing data and 

Undercoverage Bias Survey Data, order number HUD-6458, is available items. For more accurate estimates, use the formulas 

from HUD USER by e-mail at <helpdesk@huduser.org> or call in Table D-4. 

1-800-245-2691. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix D D-3 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

For exa

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 200

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as a ratio of the number of Blacks) the error from 

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Medians. The steps in Table D-5 calculate the error The 90 percent confidence interval can then be formed from sampling for a 90 percent confidence interval for by adding and subtracting this error to the survey medians. This is an approximation of the error. estimate of 200 (that is, 200 plus or minus 47). 

Statements such as “the actual value is in the range 200 For small bases, the confidence interval on medians 

plus or minus 47 (153 to 247),” are right 90 percent of cannot be estimated reliably. To estimate a median's 

the time and wrong 10 percent of the time.3 sampling error more accurately, find the sampling error 

on 50 percent as described in Table D-6 and compute 

Numbers in the publication are printed in thousands, the 90 percent confidence interval. 

so 200 means 200,000. The formulas are designed to 

Differences. Two numbers from the AHS, like 34 and use numbers directly from the publication; do not add 40 or 40 percent and 45 percent have a "statistically zeros. The result is also in thousands, so 47 means 

significant difference" if their ranges of error from 47,000. 

sampling for a 90 percent confidence interval do not 

Percents. Any subgroup can be shown as a percent of a overlap.6

larger group. For AHS-N, the error from sampling for a 

����� � ����0� � � � ��00 � ���/�

Formulas for error from sampling. The letter “A” in the 90 percent confidence interval for this percent is: formulas in Tables D-4, D-5, and D-6 represents a 

number (a count of units in thousands) from AHS (see 

“Sampling Errors” text for an example of how “A” is where p is the percent; A is the denominator, or base of used). For AHS-N, the minimum error from sampling is the percent in thousands. 

+9 (meaning +9 thousand).7 If a formula gives an 

For example, the error from sampling for a 90 percent error smaller than 9, use 9. 

confidence interval for 40 percent of 200 (meaning 

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For AHS-N, if an item falls into two different categories 200,000) is: in Table D-4, use the formula that gives the largest 

 = 11.5 error. For example, for Hispanics’ income in the South 

use the formulas for the South (since there is no Statements such as “the actual percent is in the range 

28.5 percent to 51.5 percent” are right 90 percent of 

the time. 5The error from sampling for a 90 percent confidence interval for a 

This formula is an overestimate for most items. To get ratio C/D is: 

a more accurate estimate for AHS-N, replace the first 

number under the square root sign above with the first when the e

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formula from Table D-4.4 interpreted as the error for a 90 percent confidence interval for D.

Note that when a ratio C/D is computed where C is not 6When ranges of error from sampling for a 90 percent confidence 

a subgroup of D (for example, the number of Hispanics interval do overlap, numbers are still statistically different if the result 

of subtracting one from the other is more than 

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 error for a 90 percent confidence interval for the first and second 

numbers respectively. 

3The formula in the text is based on 1.645 times the standard error 7This minimum error formula is based on the following binomial 90 from sampling. This formula gives “90 percent confidence interval percent confidence interval on zero U x (1 - .1 ) =9 (where U is the errors.” For 95 percent confidence interval errors, multiply by 1.96 4.23/U

total number of housing units from the AHS). For a 95 percent instead of 1.645; for 99 percent confidence, multiply by 2.576 instead confidence interval, substitute .05 for .1 in the above formula. For a 99 of 1.645. 

4This formula is actually 

data to the effective samp

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percent confidence interval, substitute .01 for .1. More discussion and 

other approximations are in the paper “Sampling Errors for Small since 4.09/A adjusts the Groups” available from HUD USER at <www.huduser.org/datasets 

/ahs/ahsprev.html>. 
D-4 Appendix D American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

specific formula for income and errors for the South  Conditions of streets within 300 feet 

will be bigger than those for Hispanics). For the  Trash, litter, or junk on streets or any properties 

following neighborhood characteristics, use the within 300 feet 

neighborhood formulas: For the following special characteristics, use the special 

 Opinion of neighborhood characteristics formulas. The following items are 

 Street noise or traffic defined as special characteristics: 

 Neighborhood crime  Cooperatives or condominiums  Odors  No complete bathroom  Other bothersome neighborhood conditions  Less than 1,500 square feet of detached one-  Elementary school family or manufactured/mobile homes  Academic comparison to other area elementary  Well serving 1 to 5 units schools  Manufactured/mobile homes in a group  Public transportation  Area within 300 feet includes open space, park,  Neighborhood shopping farm, or ranch  Police protection  Septic tank, cesspool, chemical toilet  Parking lots  Five or more acres in lot size  Description of area (except open space, park, farm,  No bedroom or ranch) within 300 feet  Lacking complete kitchen facilities  Age of other residential buildings within 300 feet  Lacking some plumbing facilities  Other buildings vandalized or with interior exposed  No flush toilet within 300 feet  Major street repairs needed  Bars on windows of buildings within 300 feet 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix D D-5 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table D-2. Errors for Incomplete Data Table D-3. Errors From Sampling: 2009 AHS–N

Bias: 2009 AHS–N [Numbers in thousands] 

[Numbers in thousands] When the AHS gives The chances are 90 percent that the actual 

one of the following value is inside the range of plus or minus 

When the AHS gives The chances are 90 percent that the complete numbers— 

one of the following value1

 is inside the range of plus or minus 

numbers— 0 9 

0 257 10 11 

10 257 100 33 

100 263 1,000 105 

1,000 316 2,500 165 

2,500 406 5,000 231 

5,000 555 10,000 319 

10,000 854 25,000 472 

25,000 1,749 50,000 580 

50,000 3,242 75,000 586 

75,000 3,363 100,000 491 

100,000 1,793 110,000 412 

110,000 1,163 120,000 285 

120,000 535 125,000 174 

125,000 225 130,000 44 

130,000 33 Source: These errors were computed based on a formula with high sampling error in Table 

D-6. This table represents a conservative example. 1 “Complete value” means the value derived if there were no missing data. 

Table D-4. Formulas for 90 Percent Confidence Intervals:1 2009 AHS–N 

General formulas Other formulas 

Characteristics All characteristics except those Fuels, heating/cooling equipment 

listed under other formulas and neighborhood characteristics Special characteristics 

Total units, Midwest, West, 

Elderly, Black, new 

construction, manufactured/ 

mobile homes, vacant . . . . . . .

Northeast, central city, 

ͳǤ͸Ͷͷݔඥ͵Ǥ͵͸ݔ െ ͲǤͲͲͲͲʹ͸ ݔ ଶ ͳǤ͸Ͷͷ ݔ ඥ͵Ǥ͵ͷ ݔ  െ ͲǤͲͲͲͲʹ͸ ݔ ଶ ͳǤ͸ͶͷݔඥͶǤͲͻݔ െ ͲǤͲͲͲʹͶ͹ ݔ ଶ

Hispanic, urban, suburbs . . . .

Rural, South, outside 

ͳǤ͸ͶͷݔඥʹǤ͸͹ݔ െ ͲǤͲͲͲͲʹͳ ݔ ଶ ͳǤ͸Ͷͷ ݔ ඥʹǤ͸͹ ݔ  െ ͲǤͲͲͲͲʹͳ ݔ ଶ ͳǤ͸ͶͷݔඥͶǤͲͻݔ െ ͲǤͲͲͲʹͶ͹ ݔ ଶ

(P)MSAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special living sample units . . . . .

ͳǤ͸Ͷͷݔඥ͵Ǥʹͳݔ െ ͲǤͲͲͲͲʹͷ ݔ ଶ

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ଶ

ͳǤ͸ͶͷݔඥͶǤͲͻݔ െ ͲǤͲͲͲʹͶ͹ ݔ ଶ

ଶ

1The formula in the test is based on 1.64

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D-6 Appendix D American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table D-5. How to Compute the Error From Sampling for a 90 Percent Confidence Interval for a Median 

Steps for calculations The formula An example Your data 

How many total units is the median based on (in 

thousands, exclude “not reported” and "don’t 

know")? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 200 ----- 

What are the end points of the category the 

median is in? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X–Y $600–699 ----- 

What is the width of this category (in dollars, W ----- $100 rooms, or what ever the item measures)? . . . . . . . .

How many housing units are in this median 

category (in thousands)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B 30 ----- 

Then the error from sampling for the median is 

approximately:1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

K x W x √A �.�� � �00 �√200

B 30.0 � $78 ----- 

The 90 percent confidence interval for the median 

is: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ������ �

K x W x √A

������ � $78 ----- 

1Note: To obtain an appropriate value for K, multiply the numerator of the formula for co

B

mputing the error from sampling for 50 percent by a factor of .01. 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Appendix D D-7 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Table D-6. Calculation of the 90 Percent Confidence Interval for Medians

In the following example, cost data are used to calculate the 90 percent confidence interval for medians (all numbers are in thousands): 

Cumulative number 

of housing units 

Total housing units 209 

Less than $500 50 50 

$500 to $599 45 95 

$600 to $699 30 125 

$700 to $799 20 145 

$800 or more 55 200 

Not reported 9 

Median $627 

Bottom limit Top limit 

Item 

 Your Your 

Formula Example data Example data 

How many total units is the median based on (in 

thousands, exclude “not reported”)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 200 ----- 

Half the total, for the median (in thousands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . A/2 100 ----- 

Error from sampling for 50 percent of the base of this 

median (first line)1

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 / 11.7 ----- 

Multiply this percentage error by .01 to turn it into a 

√A

fraction and by total units to give the error in housing 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.66 23.5 ----- units

Bottom of error range (second line minus fourth line, in 

√A

thousands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bbottom 76.5* ----- 

Top of error range (second line plus fourth line, in 

thousands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Btop 123.5* ----- 

*Start adding up the housing units in the table, category 

by category, cumulatively from the beginning of the 

table, until you exceed the starred number above. 

What interval does the starred number fall in? . . . . . . . . . $500–599 ----- $600–699 -----

How many housing units are in all the categories before 

this one (in thousands)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C 50 ----- 95 -----

How many housing units are in this category (in 

thousands)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D 45 ----- 30 ----- 

What is the bottom limit of this category (in dollars, 

rooms, or whatever the item measures)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . E $500 ----- $600 ----- 

What is the bottom limit of the next category (in dollars, 

rooms, etc)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F $600 ----- 

Formula to calculate limits of confidence interval . . . . . . . . . . �� � ��

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Limits of confidence interval (in dollars, rooms, etc.) . . . . . .

D 45 100 �

$559

500

-----

30 100 �

 $700

�00

----- 

----- 

$695 ----- 

*Starting with the starred step, this worksheet is equivalent to interpolation, for those who are familiar with this term. 

1 Statistical note: This formula is based on the error from sampling for 50 percent (using the appropriate formula, 1��45�����4�0����50���100 � 50��� � 1���√A�. 

American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Index-1

Index for Table Numbers and Appendixes

Academic comparison to other area elementary 

schools: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, 

Appendix A “Academic comparison to other area elementary schools”

Access to structure: comparisons 2-7, owners 3-7, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Access to structure”

Accuracy, incomplete data or wrong answers: See 

Appendix D “Errors”

Acquired, how (home): owners 3-14, Appendix A “How 

the housing unit was acquired”

Acreage: See “Lot size”

Adjustable mortgages: See “Payment plan of primary 

and secondary mortgages”

Adults and single children under 18 years old: 

comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A 

“Household composition”

Adult children: See “Persons”

African American (Black): See “Black alone”

Age of building (year structure built): See “Year structure built”

Age of children: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Age of householder: comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Age of householder”

Age of other residential buildings within 300 feet: 

vacant homes 1-6, comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 

4-8, Appendix A “Age of other residential buildings within 

300 feet” 

Air conditioning equipment: See “Equipment”

Air conditioning fuel: See “Fuels”

Airport, highway, or railroad nearby: See “Description 

of area within 300 feet”

Alaska Native: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Alimony: See “Income”

Amenities, selected: See “Selected amenities”

American Indian: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Annual taxes paid per $1,000 value: owners 3-13, 

Appendix A “Annual taxes paid per $1,000 value”

Apartment building: See “Units in structure”

Apartment building, previous residence: See 

“Structure type of previous residence”

Apartments, efficiency: See “Rooms”

Apartments, home search: See “Home search”

Appearance of home (reason to live here): See “Home 

search”

Appearance of neighborhood (reason to live here): 

See “Neighborhood search”

ARM (adjustable rate mortgage): See “Payment plan of 

primary and secondary mortgages”

Asian alone: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Assistance available to residence: See “Special living”

Assistance for food (food stamps): See “Food stamps”

Assisted housing (mortgages): See “Lower cost state 

and local mortgages”

Assisted housing (rentals): See “Rent reductions”

Assumed mortgage: See “Mortgage origination”

Average monthly cost paid for fuel oil: comparisons 

2-13, owners 3-13, and renters 4-13, Appendix A “Monthly 

housing costs”

Average monthly cost paid for real estate taxes: owners 3-13, Appendix A “Monthly housing costs”

Balcony: See “Selected amenities”

Balloon mortgages: See “Payment plan of primary and 

secondary mortgages”

Bars on windows of buildings within 300 feet: vacant 

homes 1-6, comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, 

Appendix A “Bars on windows of buildings within 300 feet”

Bars on windows (this building): See “External building 

conditions”

Basement leaked: See “Water leakage during last 12 

months”

Basement, type of: See “Foundation”

Bathrooms: vacant homes 1-3, comparisons 2-3, owners 

3-3, renters 4-3, Appendix A “Complete bathrooms” 

Bathtub or shower: See “Plumbing”
Index-2 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Bedrooms: vacant homes 1-3, comparisons 2-3, owners 

3-3, renters 4-3, Appendix A “Bedrooms”

Below poverty level: A column heading in most tables, 

Appendix A “Poverty status”

Black alone: A column heading in most tables, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Race and 

Hispanic origin”

Bodies of water within 300 feet: vacant homes 1-6, 

comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A 

“Bodies of water within 300 feet”

Borrowing for down payment: See “Major source of 

down payment”

Bottled gas, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Bottled gas, use of: See “Fuels”

Breakdown, electrical: See “Electric fuses and circuit 

breakers”

Breakdown, heating or toilet: See “Heating problems” 

and “Flush toilet breakdowns”

Breakdown, water supply or sewage system: See 

“Sewage disposal breakdown” or “Water supply stoppage”

Bricks, missing: See “External building conditions”

Broken into, buildings: See “Other buildings vandalized or with interior exposed within 300 feet,” Appendix A 

“Other buildings vandalized or with interior exposed”

Broken plaster: See “Selected deficiencies”

Broken siding, foundation, roof, windows: See 

“External building conditions”

Building, age of: See “Year structure built”

Building and ground maintenance: renters 4-7, 

Appendix A “Building and ground maintenance”

Building neighbor noise: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, 

renters 4-8, Appendix A “Building neighbor noise”

Building, outside condition of: See “External building 

conditions”

Building, size: See “Units in structure”

Buildings, nearby: See “Age of other residential buildings 

within 300 feet”

Burners: See “Equipment”

Business income: See “Income”

Business space: See “Other activities on property”

Buy-down (graduated payment mortgage): See 

“Payment plan of primary and secondary mortgages”

Carport: See “Selected amenities”

Cars and trucks available (kept at home): comparisons 

2-7, owners 3-7, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Cars and trucks 

available”

Cash received in primary mortgage refinance: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Cash received in primary mortgage 

refinance”

CD-ROMs: See Introduction “Data Availability”

Cellar leaked: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Cellar, type of: See “Foundation”

Census 2000: See Appendix A “Comparability with 

Census 2000 Population and Housing data”

Central air conditioning: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, owners 3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Equipment”

Central air conditioning fuel: See “Fuels”

Central cities: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Central cities” 

Cesspool: See “Sewage disposal” and “Sewage disposal 

breakdown”

Change in housing costs: comparisons 2-10, owners 

3-10, renters 4-10, Appendix A “Change in housing costs”

Change in housing quality: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Chemical toilet: See “Sewage disposal”

Child support: See “Income”

Children: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Choice of present home: comparisons 2-11, owners 

3-11, renters 4-11, Appendix A “Choice of present home 

and home search”

Choice of present neighborhood: comparisons 2-11, 

owners 3-11, renters 4-11, Appendix A “Choice of present 

neighborhood and neighborhood search,” and “Reasons for 

leaving previous unit”

Circuit breakers tripped: See “Electric fuses and circuit 

breakers”

Citizenship of householder: comparisons 2-9, owners 

3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Citizenship”

City: See “Central cities”

City services: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, 

Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood 

services”

Clothes dryer: See “Equipment”
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-3

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Clothes dryer fuel: See “Fuels” 

Clothes washer: See “Equipment”

Coal, use of: See “Fuels”

Coke fuel, use of: See “Fuels”

Cold home: See “Heating problems”

College education: See “Educational attainment (of the 

householder)”

Commercial neighbors: See “Description of area within 

300 feet” 

Commercial space: See “Other activities on property”

Community quality: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Community quality”

Commuting distance caused move: See “Reasons for 

leaving previous unit”

Comparability with Census 2000 Population and 

Housing data: See Appendix A “Comparability with 

Census 2000 Population and Housing data”

Comparability with Current Construction Reports 

from the Survey of Construction: See Appendix A 

“Comparability with Current Construction Reports from the 

Survey of Construction”

Comparison to previous home, (cost): See “Recent 

mover comparison to previous home”

Comparison to previous home, (quality): See “Recent 

mover comparison to previous home”

Comparison to previous neighborhood: See “Recent 

mover comparison to previous neighborhood”

Complete bathrooms: See “Bathrooms”

Complete kitchen facilities: See “Equipment”

Completeness of data: See Appendix D “Incomplete 

data”

Composition of household: See “Household composition 

by age of householder”

Concealed wiring: See “Selected deficiencies”

Concrete slab: See “Foundation”

Condition of streets within 300 feet: vacant homes 

1-6, comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A 

“Condition of streets within 300 feet” 

Condominium: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, 

owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Cooperatives and 

condominiums”

Condominium conversion caused move: See “Reasons 

for leaving previous unit”

Condominium and cooperative fee: owners 3-13, 

Appendix A “Condominium and cooperative fee”

Construction date: See “Year structure built”

Construction quality (reason to live here): See “Choice 

of present home”

Contract rent: See “Monthly housing costs”

Conventional mortgages: See “Mortgages currently on 

property”

Cooking stove/equipment: See “Equipment”

Cooking fuel: See “Fuels”

Cooperative conversion caused move: See “Reasons 

for leaving previous unit”

Cooperative fee: See “Condominium and cooperative fee”

Cooperatives and condominiums: vacant homes 1-1, 

comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A 

“Cooperatives and condominiums”

Co-owner: See “Persons”

Co-renter: See “Persons”

Cost, former home: See “Change in housing costs”

Cost and ownership sharing: owners 3-13, Appendix A 

“Cost and ownership sharing”

Cost burden of rent or mortgage: See “Monthly housing 

costs as percent of current income”

Cost of home caused move: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Cost of home (monthly): See “Monthly housing costs” 

Cost of home (purchase price or value): See “Purchase 

price of home”

County services: See “Choice of present neighborhood” 

and “Neighborhood conditions/services”

Couples, married: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Coverage of sample: See Appendix B “Sample selection,” 

Appendix D “Coverage errors”

Crack in inside wall: See “Selected deficiencies”

Cracked or crumbling foundation: See “External building conditions”

Crawl space: See “Foundation”

Crime nearby: See “Neighborhood conditions/services” 

Crowding: See “Persons per room”

Current income: See “Income”
Index-4 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Current interest rate: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Current 

interest rate”

Current line-of-credit interest rate: See “Line-of-credit 

interest rate, current”

Current total loan as percent of value: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Current total loan as percent of value”

Data, incomplete: See Appendix D “Incomplete data”

Debt, mortgage: See “Mortgage, total outstanding principal amount”

Deck: See “Selected amenities”

Deficiencies, selected: See “Selected deficiencies”

Dentist’s office: See “Other activities on property”

Description of area within 300 feet: vacant homes 

1-6, comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A 

“Description of area within 300 feet” 

Design of home (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present home”

Design of neighborhood (reason to live here): See 

“Choice of present neighborhood”

Design of sample: See Appendix B “Sample size” and 

“Sample selection”

Dilapidation: See “External building conditions”

Dining rooms: See “Selected amenities”

Disabilities: See “Households with disabled persons”

Disaster loss caused move: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Discomfort from cold: See “Heating problems”

Dishwasher: See “Equipment”

Displacement caused move: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Disposal in sink, garbage: See “Equipment”

Dividends: See “Income”

Divorced, (caused move): See “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Doctor’s office: See “Other activities on property”

Door leaks: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Doubled up families: See “Persons”

Down payment major source: owners 3-14, Appendix A 

“Major source of down payment”

Dryer for clothes: See “Equipment”

Dryer for clothes, fuel for: See “Fuels”

Ducts: See “Heating equipment”

Duplexes: See “Units in structure”

Duration of vacancy: vacant homes 1-1, Appendix A 

“Vacancy, seasonality” 

Educational attainment (of the householder): comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Educational attainment”

Efficiency apartments (size of unit): See “Rooms”

Elderly: A column heading in most tables, see “Persons 65 

years old and over”

Electric fuses and circuit breakers: comparisons 2-6, 

owners 3-6, renters 4-6, Appendix A “Electric fuses and circuit breakers”

Electric heaters: See “Heating equipment”

Electric wall outlets: See “Selected deficiencies” and 

“Selected physical problems”

Electric wiring adequacy: See “Selected deficiencies” and 

“Selected physical problems”

Electricity, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Electricity, use of: See “Fuels”

Elementary school education: See “Neighborhood conditions/services,” Appendix A “Schools”

Elevator on floor: vacant homes 1-2, comparisons 2-2, 

owners 3-2, renters 4-2, Appendix A “Elevator on floor”

Entrance floor: See “Stories between main and apartment 

entrances”

Equipment: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, owners 

3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Equipment”

Equity in home (loan as percent of value): See 

“Current total loan as percent of value”

Error, nonsampling: See “Incomplete data”

Error, sampling: See “Sample”

Eskimo: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Establish own household (caused move): See “Reasons 

for leaving previous unit”

Estimation: See Appendix B “Estimation for AHS-National”

Ethnicity: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Exposed wiring: See “Selected deficiencies” and “Selected 

physical problems”

External building conditions: vacant homes 1-2, comparisons 2-2, owners 3-2, renters 4-2, Appendix A “External 

building conditions” 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-5

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Extra unit: See “Reasons extra unit owned”

Family composition: See “Household composition by age 

of householder,” Appendix A “Family or primary individual”

Family size: See “Household composition by age of 

householder,” Appendix A “Family or primary individual”

Farm income: See “Income,” Appendix A “Crop sales”

Farm or open space nearby: See “Description of area 

within 300 feet” 

Federal Housing Administration (FHA): See “Mortgages 

currently on property”

Female: comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters, 4-9, 

Appendix A “Household composition”

Financing: See “Payment plan of primary and secondary 

mortgages”

Fire caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous 

unit”

Fireplace, usable: See “Selected amenities”

Fireplace used for heat: See “Heating equipment”

Firewood, use of: See “Fuels”

First occupants: See “Previous occupancy”

First site, this manufactured/mobile home: See “Site 

placement”

First-time owners: owners 3-14, Appendix A “First-time 

owners”

Fixed mortgage payments: See “Payment plan of primary and secondary mortgages”

Flood caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous 

unit”

Floors, holes in: See “Selected deficiencies”

Floors, number of: See “Stories in structure”

Flues, heating: See “Heating equipment”

Flush toilet breakdowns: comparisons 2-6, owners 3-6, 

renters 4-6, Appendix A “Flush toilet and flush toilet breakdowns,” “Physical problems” 

Food stamps: comparisons 2-12, owners 3-12, renters 

4-12, Appendix A “Food stamps” and “Income”

For sale: A column heading in Chapter 1 (Vacant), 

Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Formation, household: See “Household moves and formation in last year”

Formation of household caused move: See “Reasons 

for leaving previous unit”

Former home: comparisons 2-10, 2-11, owners 3-10, 

3-11, renters 4-10, 4-11, Appendix A “Present and previous units”

Foundation: vacant homes 1-2, comparisons 2-2, owners 

3-2, renters 4-2, Appendix A “Foundation”

Foundation, cracked or crumbling: See “External building conditions”

Friends nearby (reason to live here): See 

“Neighborhood search”

Fuel, air conditioning: See “Fuels”

Fuel, clothes dryer: See “Fuels”

Fuel, cooking: See “Fuels”

Fuel, cost of: comparisons 2-13, owners 3-13, renters 

4-13, Appendix A “Monthly housing costs”

Fuel, heating: See “Fuels”

Fuel, water heating: See “Fuels”

Fuels: vacant homes 1-5, comparisons 2-5, owners 3-5, 

renters 4-5, Appendix A “Fuels”

Furnace: See “Heating equipment”

Fuses blown: See “Electric fuses and circuit breakers”

Garage: See “Selected amenities”

Garbage: See “Trash, litter, or junk on streets or any properties within 300 feet”

Garbage disposal in sink: See “Equipment”

Gas, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Gas, use of: See “Fuels”

Gender: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Generations, multiple: See “Persons”

Gift of home: See “Major source of down payment”

Good home, compared to previous: See “Choice of 

present home”

Good home, moved to: See “Recent mover comparison to 

previous home”

Good home, rating of: See “Opinion of home”

Good neighborhood: See “Choice of present 

neighborhood”

Good neighborhood, rating of: See “Opinion of 

neighborhood”

Government displacement caused move: See “Reasons 

for leaving previous unit”
Index-6 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Government subsidy for repairs: owners 3-13, 

Appendix A “Government subsidy for repairs”

Graduated mortgage payments: See “Payment plan of 

primary and secondary mortgages”

Grandparents: See “Persons”

Gross rent: See “Monthly housing costs”

Ground anchors: See “Manufactured/mobile homes 

tiedowns”

Group quarters: See Appendix A “Housing units”

Half bathrooms: See “Bathrooms”

Heat pump: See “Heating equipment”

Heated for year-round use: See “Suitability for yearround use”

Heating capacity, inadequate: See “Heating problems”

Heating equipment: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, 

owners 3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Heating equipment”

Heating equipment breakdowns: See “Heating 

problems”

Heating fuel: See “Fuels”

Heating problems: comparisons 2-6, owners 3-6, renters 4-6, Appendix A “Heating problems” and “Physical 

problems” 

High cost: See Appendix A “Cost”

High income: See Appendix A “Income”

High rise: See “Stories in structure”

High rise nearby: See “Description of area within 300 

feet”

High school education: See “Educational attainment (of 

the householder)”

Highway, railroad, or airport nearby: See “Description 

of area within 300 feet”

Hispanic: A column heading in most tables, comparisons 

2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Hispanic” and 

“Race and Hispanic origin”

Hole in foundation: See “External building conditions”

Hole in inside wall: See “Selected deficiencies”

Hole in outside wall: See “External building conditions”

Hole in roof: See “External building conditions”

Holes in floors: See “Selected deficiencies”

Home, choice of present: See “Home search”

Home, comparison to previous cost of: See “Recent 

mover comparison to previous home”

Home, comparison to previous quality of: See “Recent 

mover comparison to previous home”

Home equity line of credit: owners 3-15, Appendix A 

“Home equity line-of-credit”

Home equity lump-sum mortgage: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Home equity lump-sum loan”

Home equity mortgage: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Home 

equity lump-sum loan”

Home search: comparisons 2-11, owners 3-11, renters 4-11, Appendix A “Choice of present home and home 

search”

Homeowner association fee: See “Other housing costs 

per month”

Homeowner tenure: See “Tenure”

Homeowner’s insurance: See “Property insurance”

Homes currently for sale or rent: vacant 1-1, Appendix 

A “Homes currently for sale or rent” and “Vacancy, 

seasonality”

Hot piped water: See “Plumbing”

Hot water heating: See “Heating equipment”

Hotels: See Appendix A “Housing units”

House previous residence: See “Structure type of previous residence”

Household: See Appendix A “Household”

Household composition by age of householder:

comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A 

“Household composition”

Household formation caused move: See “Reasons for 

leaving previous unit”

Household income: See “Income”

Household moves and formation in last year: comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Household 

moves and formation”

Household size: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Household size, former home: See “Persons—previous 

residence”

Householder: See Appendix A “Householder”

Households with disabled persons: comparisons 2-9, 

owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Disabilities”

Housing unit: See Appendix A “Housing unit” 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-7

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

How acquired: See “Acquired, how (home)”

Inadequate heating capacity: See “Heating problems”

Inadequate insulation: See “Heating problems”

Income: comparisons 2-12, owners 3-12, renters 4-12, 

Appendix A “Current income” and “Income”

Income, negative or zero: See “Ratio of (house) value to 

current income”

Income of families and primary individuals: See 

“Income”

Income sources of families and primary individuals:

See “Income”

Income verification for rent reductions: See “Rent 

reductions”

Incomplete data: See Appendix D “Incomplete data”

Indian (American Indian): See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Industrial neighbors: See “Description of area within 300 

feet”

Inheritance of home: See “Major source of down 

payment”

Institutional neighbors: See “Description of area within 

300 feet”

Insulation, inadequate: See “Heating problems”

Insurance in monthly payment: See “Items included in 

primary mortgage payment”

Insurance, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Insurance, mortgage: See “Items Included in primary 

mortgage payment”

Interest and principal, cost of: See “Monthly payment 

for principal and interest”

Interest income: See “Income”

Interest rate on mortgage: See “Current interest rate”

Interviews, errors in: See Appendix D “Errors”

Interviews, number of: See Appendix B “Sample size”

Investment for down payment: See “Major source of 

down payment”

Investments and savings: See “Income”

Item nonresponse: See Appendix D “Incomplete data”

Items included in primary mortgage payment: owners 

3-15, Appendix A “Mortgages currently on property”

Job commuting caused move: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Job transfer caused move: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Kerosene, use of: See “Fuels”

Kitchen: See “Equipment”

Kitchen attractive (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present home”

Kitchen present: See “Equipment” 

Kitchen problems: See “Selected physical problems”

Kitchen sink: See “Equipment”

Lake nearby (body of water): See “Bodies of water 

within 300 feet”

Land contract: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Land contract” 

Land rent fee: See “Other housing costs per month”

Land used for down payment: See “Major source of 

down payment”

Landlady or landlord lives on property: See “Owner or 

manager (lives) on property (rentals)”

Larger home, moved to: See “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Last home: See “Structure type of previous residence”

Last occupancy date: See “Last used as permanent 

residence”

Last used as permanent residence: vacant homes 1-1, 

Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Latino: See “Hispanic”

Layout of home (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present home”

Leaks: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Leisure activities (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present neighborhood”

Lenders of primary and secondary mortgages: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Lenders of primary and secondary 

mortgages”

Length of mortgage: See “Term of primary mortgage at 

origination or assumption”

Length of stay: See “Year householder moved into unit”

Length of vacancy: See “Duration of vacancy”

Line of credit: See “Home equity line of credit”

Line-of-credit amount used for home additions, 

improvements, or repairs: owners 3-15, Appendix A 

“Line-of-credit amount used for home additions, improvements, or repairs”
Index-8 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Line-of-credit interest rate, current: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Current line-of-credit interest rate”

Line-of-credit monthly payment: owners 3-15, Appendix 

A “Line-of-credit monthly payment”

Litter nearby: See “Neighborhood conditions/services”

Litter on streets or lots: See “Neighborhood conditions/

services”

Living quarters: See Appendix A “Housing units”

Living rooms: See “Selected amenities” 

Loan to value ratio: See “Current total loan as percent of 

value”

Local housing subsidy: See “Rent reductions”

Local mortgage program: See “Lower cost state and 

local mortgages”

Location of extra unit: vacant homes 1-1, Appendix A 

“Extra unit”

Lodgers: See Appendix A “Lodgers” and “Persons other 

than spouse or children” 

Lodgers’ rent: See “Rent paid by lodgers”

Lot size: vacant homes 1-3, comparisons 2-3, owners 3-3, 

renters 4-3, Appendix A “Lot size”

Lots, trash on neighbors: See “Trash, litter, or junk on 

streets or any properties”

Low income: See “Income”

Low rise: See “Stories in structures”

Lower cost state and local mortgages: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Lower cost state and local mortgages”

LPG (bottled gas), cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

LPG (bottled gas), use of: See “Fuels”

Lump-sum loan: See “Home equity lump-sum mortgage”

MA (Metropolitan area): See “Metropolitan area”

Main heating equipment: See “Heating equipment”

Main house heating fuel: See “Fuel”

Main reason for choice of present home/neighborhood: See “Choice of present home” and “Choice of present 

neighborhood”

Main reason for leaving previous unit: See “Reasons 

for leaving previous unit”

Maintenance caused move: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Maintenance cost (routine maintenance last year):

owners 3-13, Appendix A “Change in housing costs” and 

“Monthly housing costs” 

Maintenance problem: See “Renter maintenance quality” 

and “Selected physical problems” 

Major source of down payment: owners 3-14, Appendix 

A “Major source of down payment”

Male: See “Household composition by age of householder”

Manager of rental lives on property: See “Owner or 

manager (lives) on property (rentals)”

Manufactured/mobile homes: A column heading in all 

tables, Appendix A “Housing units” and “Manufactured/

mobile homes” 

Manufactured/mobile home, former home: See 

“Structure type of previous residence”

Manufactured/mobile home park fee: See “Other housing costs per month”

Manufactured/mobile home site: See “Site placement, 

manufactured/mobile homes”

Manufactured/mobile home size: vacant homes 1-1, 

comparisons 2-2, owners 3-2, renters 4-2, Appendix A 

“Manufactured/mobile homes”

Manufactured/mobile home tiedowns/set up: vacant 

homes 1-1, comparisons 2-2, owners 3-2, renters 4-2, 

Appendix A “Manufactured/mobile home set up” and 

“Manufactured/mobile home tiedowns”

Manufactured/mobile homes, choice of: See “Choice of 

present home”

Manufactured/mobile homes in group: vacant homes 

1-6, comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A 

“Manufactured/mobile homes in group”

Married, caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous 

unit”

Married couples: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Means of sewage disposal: See “Sewage disposal”

Median monthly housing costs for owners: owners 3-13, Appendix A “Median monthly housing costs for 

owners” 

Medians: See Appendix A “Medians”

Medical office: See “Other activities on property”

Men: See “Household composition by age of householder”

Metropolitan area: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, 

owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Metropolitan areas” 
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-9

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Mice: See “Selected deficiencies”

Microdata: See Introduction “Data availability”

Microwave oven: See “Equipment”

Middle income: See Appendix A “Income”

Midwest: A column heading in most tables, vacant homes 

1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A 

“Regions”

Minor: See Appendix A “Household composition”

Missing interviews: See Appendix D “Incomplete data”

Mistakes (nonsampling error): See Appendix D “Wrong 

answers”

Monthly cost paid for electricity: See “Monthly housing 

costs”

Monthly cost paid for piped gas: See “Monthly housing 

costs”

Monthly costs paid for selected utilities and fuels:

See “Monthly housing costs”

Monthly expenses, additional help with: See Appendix 

A “Monthly expenses, additional help with”

Monthly housing costs: comparisons 2-13, owners 3-13, 

renters 4-13, Appendix A “Monthly costs paid for electricity 

and piped gas” and “Monthly housing costs” 

Monthly housing costs as percent of current income:

comparisons 2-13, owners 3-13, renters 4-13, Appendix A 

“Monthly housing costs as percent of current income”

Monthly payment for principal and interest: owners 

3-13, Appendix A “Items included in primary mortgage payment” and “Monthly payment for principal and interest”

Mortgage, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Mortgage, home equity: See “Mortgages currently on 

property”

Mortgage insurance: See “Items included in primary 

mortgage payment”

Mortgage origination: owners 3-15, Appendix A 

“Mortgage origination”

Mortgage, total outstanding principal amount: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Mortgages currently on property” 

and “Total outstanding principal amount”

Mortgage, primary: See “Mortgages currently on 

property”

Mortgage revenue bonds: See Appendix A “Mortgages 

currently on property”

Mortgage term: See “Term of primary mortgage at origination or assumption”

Mortgaged, remaining years: owners 3-15, Appendix A 

“Mortgages currently on property”

Mortgages currently on property: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Mortgages currently on property” and “Type of 

primary mortgage”

Mortgages, lower cost state and local: See “Lower cost 

state and local mortgages”

Mortgages, number of regular and home equity:

See “Number of regular mortgages and home-equity 

mortgages”

Mortgages, types of: owners 3-15, Appendix A 

“Mortgages currently on property”

Move, reasons for: See “Reasons for leaving previous 

unit”

Multifamily: See “Persons”

Multifamily, choice of: See “Choice of present home” and 

“Choice of present neighborhood” 

Multifamily, former home: See “Persons—previous 

residence”

Native American: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Nativity and citizenship: See “Citizenship of 

householder”

Natural gas, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Natural gas, use of: See “Fuels”

Negative income: See “Monthly housing costs as a 

percent of current income” and “Ratio of (house) value to 

current income”

Neighborhood, choice of (reason to live here): See 

“Choice of present neighborhood”

Neighborhood, comparison to previous: See “Choice of 

present neighborhood”

Neighborhood conditions/services: vacant homes 1-6, 

comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A 

“Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services”

Neighborhood crime: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services”

Neighborhood, move within: See “Recent mover comparison to previous neighborhood”

Neighborhood rating: See “Opinion of neighborhood”

Neighborhood search: comparisons 2-11, owners 3-11, 

renters 4-11, Appendix A “Choice of present neighborhood 
Index-10 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

and neighborhood search,” and “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Neighborhood shopping: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, 

renters 4-8, Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and 

neighborhood services”

Never occupied: See “Duration of vacancy”

New construction 4 years: A column heading in all 

tables, Appendix A “Year structure built” 

New housing units: See Appendix A “Housing units”

Nights owner rented/spent at extra unit: vacant 

homes 1-1, Appendix A “Extra unit”

No cash rent: See “Monthly housing costs” and “Monthly 

housing costs as percent of current income”

Noise nearby: See “Neighborhood conditions/services” 

and “Building neighbor noise”

Noninterview: See Appendix A “Noninterview,” Appendix 

B “Noninterview adjustment”

Nonmetropolitan area: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 

2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Metropolitan 

areas”

Nonrelatives, former home: See “Previous home owned 

or rented by someone who moved here”

Nonrelatives in home: See “Persons”

Nonsampling error: See Appendix D “Errors”

Northeast: A column heading in most tables, vacant 

homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, 

Appendix A “Regions”

Number of cases: See Appendix B “Sample size”

Number of regular mortgages and home-equity 

mortgages: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Number of regular 

mortgages and home-equity mortgages”

Number of single children under 18 years old: comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Household composition”

Occasional use: A column heading in chapter 1 (Vacant), 

Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Occupancy prohibition caused move: See “Reasons for 

leaving previous unit”

Occupied housing units: See Appendix A “Occupied 

housing units”

Occupied previously: See “Previous occupancy”

Ocean nearby (body of water): See “Bodies of water 

within 300 feet”

Odors: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, 

Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood 

services”

Off-street parking: See “Selected amenities”

Oil, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Oil, use of: See “Fuels”

Older people: See “Elderly”

One-family homes: See “Units in structure”

One-family homes, choice of: See “Home search”

One-family homes, former home: See “Persons—previous residence”

Open space nearby: See “Description of area within 300 

feet” 

Opinion of home: comparisons 2-7, owners 3-7, renters 

4-7, Appendix A “Overall opinion of structure”

Opinion of neighborhood: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, 

renters 4-8, Appendix A “Overall opinion of neighborhood”

Origin: See Appendix A “Race and Hispanic origin”

Other activities on property: owners 3-14, Appendix A 

“Other activities on property”

Other bothersome neighborhood conditions: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services”

Other buildings vandalized or with interior exposed 

within 300 feet: vacant homes 1-6, comparisons 2-8, 

owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Other buildings vandalized or with interior exposed”

Other central air fuel: See “Fuels”

Other heating equipment: See “Heating equipment”

Other house heating fuels: See “Fuels”

Other housing costs per month: owners 3-13, 

Appendix A “Other housing costs per month”

Outhouse: See Appendix A “Means of sewage disposal”

Outside building conditions: See “External building 

conditions”

Oven: See “Equipment”

Overall opinion of neighborhood: See “Opinion of 

neighborhood”

Overall opinion of structure: See “Opinion of home”

Own never married children under 18 years old:

comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A 

“Household composition”
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-11

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Owner-occupied: See “Tenure”

Owner-occupied, former home: See “Tenure of previous 

unit”

Owner or manager (lives) on property (rentals):

vacant homes 1-6, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Owner or manager on property”

Ownership sharing: See “Cost and ownership sharing”

Pacific Islander: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Paint, peeling: See “Selected deficiencies”

Park or open space nearby: See “Description of area 

within 300 feet”

Parking for this home: See “Selected amenities”

Parking lots: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, 

Appendix A “Parking lots”

Partners sharing occupancy: See “Persons”

Patio: See “Selected amenities”

Payment plan of primary and secondary mortgages:

owners 3-15, Appendix A “Payment plans of primary and 

secondary mortgages”

Peeling paint: See “Selected deficiencies”

Pensions: See “Income”

People, as neighborhood problem: See “Neighborhood 

conditions/services”

People nearby (reason to live here): See “Neighborhood 

search”

People per room/per bedroom: See “Persons per room” 

and “Persons per bedroom”

Percent of nonrefinanced primary mortgage, including home equity lump-sum, used for home purchase 

and improvement: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Percent of 

nonrefinanced primary mortgage, including home equity 

lump-sum, used for home purchase and improvement” 

Percent of primary mortgage refinanced cash used 

for home additions, improvements, or repairs: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Percent of primary mortgage refinanced cash used for home additions, improvements, or 

repairs” 

Permanent residence, last used as a: vacant homes 

1-1, Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Persons: comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, 

Appendix A “Household,” “Population in housing units,” and 

“Persons other than spouse or children”

Persons 65 years old and over: comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Elderly”

Persons—previous residence: comparisons 2-10, owners 3-10, renters 4-10, Appendix A “Persons—previous 

residence”

Persons per room: comparisons 2-3, owners 3-3, renters 

4-3, Appendix A “Persons per room”

Persons per bedroom: comparisons 2-3, owners 3-3, 

renters 4-3, Appendix A “Persons per bedroom”

Phone: See “Selected amenities”

Physical problems: See “Selected physical problems” 

Piped water: See “Plumbing”

Pipes leaked: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Place: See Appendix A “Place”

Place size: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 

3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Place size”

Plaster, broken: See “Selected deficiencies”

Plumbing: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, owners 

3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Plumbing facilities”

Plumbing problems: See “Selected physical problems”

Police protection: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 

4-8, Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and neighborhood services”

Poor home, compared to previous: See “Recent mover 

comparison to previous home”

Poor home, rating of: See “Opinion of home”

Poor neighborhood: See “Recent mover comparison to 

previous neighborhood”

Poor neighborhood, rating of: See “Opinion of 

neighborhood”

Population in housing units: See “Household composition by age of householder,” Appendix A “Population in 

housing units”

Population of places: See “Place”

Porch: See “Selected amenities”

Poverty: See “Below poverty level”

Present units: See Appendix A “Present and previous 

units”

Previous home: See Appendix A “Present and previous 

units”

Previous home owned or rented by someone who 

moved here: comparisons 2-10, owners 3-10, renters 

4-10, Appendix A “Previous home owned or rented by 

someone who moved here”
Index-12 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Previous home’s householder: See “Household moves 

and formation in last year”

Previous occupancy: comparisons 2-2, owners 3-2, renters 4-2, Appendix A “Previous occupancy”

Price of home: See “Purchase price of home”

Primary mortgage: See “Mortgages currently on property”

Primary source of water: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, owners 3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Primary 

source of water” and “Water supply stoppage”

Principal amount: See “Mortgage, total outstanding principal amount”

Principal and interest, cost of: See “Monthly payment 

for principal and interest”

Principal in monthly payment: See “Payment plan of 

primary and secondary mortgages”

Private mortgage insurance: owners 3-15, Appendix A 

“Items included in primary mortgage payment” and “Private 

mortgage insurance” 

Problems, outside: See “External building conditions”

Propane (bottled gas), cost of: See “Monthly housing 

costs”

Propane (bottled gas), use of: See “Fuels”

Property insurance: comparisons 2-13, owners 3-13, 

renters 4-13, Appendix A “Property insurance”

Property tax: See “Items included in primary mortgage 

payment”

Public assistance (welfare): See “Income”

Public elementary school: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, 

renters 4-8, see Appendix A “Public elementary school”

Public housing: See “Rent reductions”

Public services: See “Choice of present neighborhood” 

and “Neighborhood conditions/services”

Public transit (reason to live here): See “Choice of present neighborhood”

Public transportation: See “Choice of present 

neighborhood”

Purchase price of home: owners 3-14, Appendix A 

“Purchase price”

Quality: See “Selected amenities,” “Selected physical problems,” and “Opinion of neighborhood”

Quality, compare previous and present home: See 

“Recent mover comparison to previous home”

Quality of construction (reason to live here): See 

“Choice of present home”

Questionnaire: See Appendix A “Questionnaire”

Race and Hispanic origin: comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, 

renters 4-1, Appendix A “Race and Hispanic origin” 

Railroad, airport, or highway nearby: See “Description 

of area within 300 feet”

Ranch income: See “Income”

Ranch or open space nearby: See “Description of area 

within 300 feet”

Rating of home: See “Opinion of home”

Rating of neighborhood: See “Opinion of neighborhood”

Ratio of (house) value to current income: owners 

3-14, Appendix A “Ratio of value to current income” 

Ratio of loan to value: See “Current total loan as percent 

of value”

Ratio of monthly housing cost to current income: See 

“Monthly housing costs as percent of current income”

Rats: See “Selected deficiencies”

Real estate taxes: owners 3-13, Appendix A “Real estate 

taxes”

Reason primary mortgage refinanced: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Reason primary mortgage refinanced” 

Reasons extra unit owned: vacant homes 1-1, Appendix 

A “Extra unit”

Reasons for leaving previous unit: comparisons 2-11, 

owners 3-11, renters 4-11, Appendix A “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Recent mover comparison to previous home: comparisons 2-11, owners 3-11, renters 4-11, Appendix A “Recent 

mover comparison to previous home”

Recent mover comparison to previous neighborhood: comparisons 2-11, owners 3-11, renters 4-11, 

Appendix A “Recent mover comparison to previous 

neighborhood”

Recent movers: See Appendix A “Recent movers”

Recreation (reason to live here): See “Choice of present 

neighborhood”

Recreation rooms: See “Selected amenities”

Refrigerator: See “Equipment”

Regions, four parts of United States: A column heading in most tables, vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, 

owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Regions”
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-13

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Relatives, former home: See “Persons—previous 

residence”

Relatives in home: See “Persons”

Relatives nearby (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present neighborhood”

Remaining years mortgaged: See “Mortgaged, remaining years”

Rent, contract: See “Monthly housing costs”

Rent control: See “Rent reductions”

Rent, gross: See “Monthly housing costs”

Rent, land: See “Monthly housing costs”

Rent paid by lodgers: comparisons 2-13, owners 3-13, 

renters 4-13, Appendix A “Rent paid by lodgers”

Rent reductions: renters 4-12, Appendix A “Rent 

reductions”

Rent to current income ratio: See “Monthly housing 

costs as percent of current income”

Rental income: See “Income”

Rental vacancy rate: A column heading in chapter 1 

(Vacant), Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Rented or sold: A column heading in chapter 1 (Vacant), 

Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Renter maintenance quality: renters 4-7, Appendix A 

“Renter maintenance quality”

Renter-occupied: See “Tenure”

Renter-occupied, former home: See “Tenure of previous 

residence”

Renter’s insurance: See “Monthly housing costs”

Repairs caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous 

unit”

Replacements and additions: See Appendix A “Repairs 

and replacements”

Response error: See Appendix D “Wrong answers”

Reverse annuity mortgages: See “Mortgages currently 

on property,” Appendix A “Reverse annuity mortgages”

RHS/RD (Rural Housing Service/Rural Development 

Mortgage): See “Mortgages, types of”

River nearby (body of water): See “Bodies of water 

within 300 feet”

Rodents (rats): See “Selected deficiencies”

Roof condition: See “External building conditions”

Roof leaked: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Rooming houses: See Appendix A “Housing units”

Rooms: vacant homes 1-3,1-6, comparisons 2-3, 2-7, 

owners 3-3, 3-7, renters 4-3, 4-7, Appendix A “Rooms” and 

“Selected amenities”

Rooms used for business: comparisons 2-3, owners 

3-3, renters 4-3, Appendix A “Rooms used for business”

Rooms without electric outlets: See “Selected 

deficiencies”

Routine maintenance in last year: See “Maintenance 

cost”

Running water: See “Plumbing”

Rural Housing Service/Rural Development Mortgage 

(RHS/RD): See “Mortgages, types of”

Safety Equipment: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, 

owners 3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Safety equipment”

Safety of primary source of water: vacant homes 1-4, 

comparisons 2-4, owners 3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A 

“Source of drinking water”

Salaries: See “Income”

Sale of previous home: See “Major source of down 

payment”

Sample: See Appendixes A and B “Sample size,” Appendix 

B “Sample selection,” and Appendix D “Errors”

Savings for down payment: See “Major source of down 

payment”

School commuting caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Schools: See “Neighborhood conditions/services,” 

Appendix A “Schools”

Schools nearby (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present neighborhood”

Search for home: See “Home search”

Seasonal (home): A column heading in chapter 1 (Vacant), 

Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Secondary families: See “Persons”

Secondary mortgage: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Payment 

plans of primary and secondary mortgages”

Secured communities: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, 

renters 4-8, Appendix A “Secured communities”

Secured multiunits: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Secured multiunits”
Index-14 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Selected amenities: vacant homes 1-6, comparisons 2-7, 

owners 3-7, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Selected amenities”

Selected deficiencies: vacant homes 1-6, comparisons 2-7, owners 3-7, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Selected 

deficiencies”

Selected physical problems: comparisons 2-7, owners 

3-7, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Physical problems—severe” 

and “Physical problems—moderate”

Self-amortizing mortgage payments: See “Payment 

plan of primary and secondary mortgages”

Seller financing: See “Lenders of primary and secondary 

mortgages”

Senior citizen communities: comparisons 2-8, owners 

3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Senior citizen communities”

Senior citizens: See “Persons 65 years old and over”

Separated, caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Septic tank: See “Sewage disposal” and “Sewage disposal 

breakdown”

Septic tank stoppage: See “Sewage disposal breakdown”

Sewage disposal: vacant homes 1-4, comparisons 2-4, 

owners 3-4, renters 4-4, Appendix A “Means of sewage 

disposal” and “Sewage disposal breakdown”

Sewage disposal breakdown: comparisons 2-6, owners 3-6, renters 4-6, Appendix A “Sewage disposal 

breakdowns”

Sewer breakdown: comparisons 2-6, owners 3-6, renters 

4-6, Appendix A “Means of sewage disposal” and “Sewage 

disposal breakdowns”

Sex of householder: See “Household composition by age 

of householder”

Shared cost: See “Cost and ownership sharing”

Shared ownership: See “Cost and ownership sharing”

Shopping: See “Neighborhood shopping”

Shower or bathtub: See “Plumbing”

Siding condition: See “External building conditions”

Single children under 18 years old: See “Own never 

married children under 18 years old”

Single family, former home: See “Persons—previous 

residence”

Single family homes: See “Units in structure”

Single family homes, choice of: See “Choice of present 

home”

Single people: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Sink, kitchen: See “Equipment”

Site placement, manufactured/mobile homes: vacant 

homes 1-2, comparisons 2-2, owners 3-2, renters 4-2, 

Appendix A “Site placement”

Size of building: See “Units in structure”

Size of building, former home: See “Structure type of 

previous residence”

Size of group of manufactured/mobile homes: See 

“Manufactured/mobile homes in group”

Size of home: See “Square footage of unit”

Size of home, moved to: See “Choice of present home” 

and “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Size of home (reason to live here): See “Choice of present home”

Size of household: See “Household composition by age 

of householder”

Size of household, former home: See “Persons—previous residence”

Size of lot: See “Lot size”

Slab foundation: See “Foundation”

Social security: See “Income”

Solar energy, use of: See “Fuels”

Sold: See “Rented or sold”

Source of drinking water: comparisons 2-4, owners 3-4, 

renters 4-4, Appendix A “Source of drinking water” 

Source of water, primary: See “Primary source of water”

Source of water, safety of: See “Safety of primary source 

of water”

South: A column heading in most tables, vacant homes 

1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A 

“Regions”

Special living: comparisons 2-7, owners 3-7, renters 4-7, 

Appendix A “Special or assisted living”

Spouse: See Appendix A “Household composition”

Square feet (of home) per person: comparisons 2-3, 

owners 3-3, renters 4-3, Appendix A “Square feet per 

person”

Square footage of unit: vacant homes 1-3, comparisons 

2-3, owners 3-3, renters 4-3, Appendix A “Square footage 

of unit”
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-15

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

SSI (supplemental security income): See “Income”

Standard error: See Appendix D “Errors”

State housing subsidy: See “Rent reductions”

State mortgage program: See “Lower cost state and local 

mortgages”

Steam heat: See “Heating equipment”

Stoppage, heating or toilet: See “Heating problems,” 

“Flush toilet breakdowns,” “Selected physical problems” 

Stoppage, water supply or sewage system: See “Water 

supply stoppage,” “Sewage disposal breakdown”

Store in building: See “Other activities on property”

Store nearby: See “Description of area within 300 feet” 

Stories between main and apartment entrances: 

vacant homes 1-2, comparisons 2-2, owners 3-2, renters 

4-2, Appendix A “Stories between main and apartment 

entrances”

Stories in structure: vacant homes 1-2, comparisons 2-2, 

owners 3-2, renters 4-2, Appendix A “Stories in structure”

Stove, cooking or heating: See “Equipment”

Street noise or traffic: comparisons 2-8, owners 3-8, 

renters 4-8, Appendix A “Neighborhood conditions and 

neighborhood services”

Street repairs needed: See “Conditions of streets within 

300 feet” 

Streets, trash on: See “Trash, litter, or junk on streets or 

any properties within 300 feet”

Structure type of previous residence: comparisons 

2-10, owners 3-10, renters 4-10, Appendix A “Structure of 

previous residence”

Subfamilies: See “Persons”

Subsidized mortgages: See “Lower cost state and local 

mortgages”

Subsidized rentals: See “Rent reductions”

Subsidy for food: See “Food stamps”

Substandard: See “Selected deficiencies” and “Selected 

physical problems”

Suburbs: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, 

renters 4-1, Appendix A “Suburbs” 

Suitability for year-round use: vacant homes 1-1, 

Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Supplemental security income (SSI): See “Income”

Taxes in monthly payment: See “Items included in primary mortgage payment”

Taxes (real estate), cost of: See “Annual taxes paid per 

$1,000 value” and “Real estate taxes” 

Telephone: See “Selected amenities”

Temperature, cold indoor: See “Heating problems”

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF): See 

“Income”

Tenure: A column heading in most tables, comparisons 

2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Tenure”

Tenure, moved to change: See “Reasons for leaving 

previous unit”

Tenure of previous residence: comparisons 2-10, owners 3-10, renters 4-10, Appendix A “Tenure of previous 

unit”

Term of primary mortgage at origination or assumption: owners 3-15, Appendix A “Term of primary mortgage 

at origination or assumption”

Time sharing: vacant homes 1-1, Appendix A “Vacancy, 

seasonality”

Toilet stoppage: See “Flush toilet breakdowns” 

Total home-equity line-of-credit limit: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Total home-equity line-of-credit limit” 

Total outstanding line-of-credit loans: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Total outstanding line-of-credit loans” 

Total outstanding principal amount: See “Mortgage, 

total outstanding principal amount”

Traffic nearby: See “Neighborhood conditions/services” 

Trailer (manufactured/mobile homes): A column heading in most tables, vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, 

owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Housing units” and 

“Manufactured/mobile homes” 

Trailer (manufactured/mobile homes), former home:

See “Structure type of previous residence”

Trailers (manufactured/mobile homes), choice of:

See “Choice of present home”

Transit, public (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present neighborhood”

Trash compactor: See “Equipment”

Trash, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs”

Trash, litter, or junk on streets or any properties 

within 300 feet: vacant homes 1-6, comparisons 2-8, 

owners 3-8, renters 4-8, Appendix A “Neighborhood condi-
Index-16 American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

tions and neighborhood services,” “Trash, litter, or junk on 

streets or any properties within 300 feet”

Triplexes: See “Units in structure”

Trucks: See “Cars and trucks available”

Trucks, traffic nearby: See “Neighborhood conditions/

services” 

Types of mortgages: See “Mortgages currently on 

property”

Uncomfortably cold: See “Heating problems” 

Under-coverage of sample: See Appendix D “Errors”

Unfit for occupancy caused move: See “Reasons for 

leaving previous unit”

Units in structure: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, 

owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Units in structure”

Units using each fuel: vacant homes 1-5, comparisons 

2-5, owners 3-5, renters 4-5, Appendix A “Fuels”

Upkeep (maintenance cost): See “Change in housing 

costs” and “Monthly housing costs”

Upkeep problem: See “Selected physical problems”

URE (usual residence elsewhere): A column heading in 

chapter 1 (Vacant), Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality”

Utilities, cost of: See “Monthly housing costs” 

Utilities interruption, heat: See “Heating problems”

VA (Veterans Administration): See “Mortgages, type of”

Vacancy rate, rental: See “Rental vacancy rate”

Vacancy units: See Appendix A “Vacancy, seasonality” 

Vacant, seasonal: vacant homes 1-1, Appendix A 

“Vacancy, seasonality”

Value (of home): owners 3-14, Appendix A “Value” 

Value to current income ratio: See “Ratio of (house) 

value to current income”

Vandalized buildings: See “Other buildings vandalized or 

with interior exposed” 

Vans, kept at home: See “Cars and trucks”

Verification of income: See “Rent reductions”

Vermin (rats): See “Selected deficiencies”

Veterans Administration mortgages: See “Mortgage, 

type of”

View attractive (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present home” 

Wages: See “Income”

Wall, interior (open cracks or holes inside): See 

“Selected deficiencies”

Wall, leaks in: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Wall, outside conditions of: See “External building 

conditions” 

Washing machine: See “Equipment”

Water cost: See “Monthly housing costs”

Water, drinking: See “Source of drinking water”

Water heating fuel: vacant homes 1-5, comparisons 2-5, 

owners 3-5, renters 4-5, Appendix A “Fuels”

Water leakage during last 12 months: comparisons 

2-7, owners 3-7, renters 4-7, Appendix A “Physical problems” and “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Water plumbing: See “Plumbing”

Water, primary source of: See “Primary source of water”

Water supply stoppage: comparisons 2-6, owners 3-6, 

renters 4-6, Appendix A “Water supply stoppage”

Water systems: See “Primary source of water”

Water well: See “Primary source of water”

Wealth: See “Income”

Weights: See Appendix B “Estimation for AHS-National”

Welfare: See “Income”

Well, water: See “Primary source of water”

West: A column heading in most tables, vacant homes 

1-1, comparisons 2-1, owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A 

“Regions”

White alone: See “Race and Hispanic origin”

Widowed, caused move: See “Reasons for leaving previous unit”

Window bars: See “External building conditions” 

Window leaks: See “Water leakage during last 12 months”

Windows, barred nearby: See “Description of area within 

300 feet” 

Windows, broken: See “External building conditions” 

Winter, heating breakdowns: See “Heating problems”

Wiring, concealed: See “Selected deficiencies”

Women: See “Female”

Wood fuel, use of: See “Fuels”

Wood stoves: See “Equipment”
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2009 Index-17

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau

Woods or open space nearby: See “Description of area 

within 300 feet”

Wrap-around mortgage: See “Mortgage origination”

Yard attractive (reason to live here): See “Choice of 

present home”

Year householder immigrated to the United States:

comparisons 2-9, owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A 

“Citizenship”

Year householder moved into unit: comparisons 2-9, 

owners 3-9, renters 4-9, Appendix A “Year householder 

moved into unit”

Year last occupied: See “Last used as permanent 

residence”

Year primary mortgage originated: owners 3-15, 

Appendix A “Year primary mortgage originated”

Year-round use: See “Suitability for year-round use”

Year structure built: vacant homes 1-1, comparisons 2-1, 

owners 3-1, renters 4-1, Appendix A “Year structure built”

Year unit acquired: owners 3-14, Appendix A “Year unit 

acquired”

Young people: See “Household composition by age of 

householder”

Zero income: See “Monthly housing costs as percent of 

current income” and “Ratio of (house) value to current 

income”