Data release date: March 2023

Number of 

housing units 

(million)

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 46.84 84.59 73.55 71.01

Census division

South Atlantic 24.84 45.32 38.70 38.40

East South Central 7.38 13.86 12.35 11.24

West South Central 14.62 25.42 22.50 21.37

Census urban/rural classificationc

Urban 35.88 62.55 53.73 53.04

Urbanized area 32.00 56.11 47.97 47.89

Urban cluster 3.88 6.44 5.76 5.15

Rural 10.96 22.04 19.82 17.97

Climate regiond

Very cold/Cold 0.38 0.73 0.65 0.47

Mixed-humid 23.61 45.28 41.00 37.13

Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 1.02 1.72 1.48 1.38

Hot-humid 21.84 36.87 30.42 32.04

Marine N N N N

Housing unit type

Single-family detached 30.29 66.17 57.50 55.45

Single-family attached 2.48 3.87 3.36 3.22

Apartments in buildings with 2–4 units 2.36 2.13 1.80 1.79

Apartments in buildings with 5 or 

more units 7.83 7.54 6.35 6.63

Mobile homes 3.89 4.89 4.55 3.93

Year of construction

Before 1950 3.73 6.72 5.58 4.71

1950 to 1959 3.55 5.66 4.91 4.36

1960 to 1969 4.35 6.97 5.99 5.67

1970 to 1979 6.97 10.91 9.50 9.09

1980 to 1989 7.44 12.57 10.84 10.54

1990 to 1999 7.75 15.03 13.22 13.23

2000 to 2009 7.74 16.28 14.14 14.08

2010 to 2015 2.94 5.74 5.21 5.13

2016 to 2020 2.38 4.73 4.15 4.21

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Total square footage (billion square feet)
Number of 

housing units 

(million)

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 46.84 84.59 73.55 71.01

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Total square footage (billion square feet)

Number of stories

1 story 21.41 39.58 33.61 32.31

2 stories 10.25 27.75 24.82 24.06

3 or more stories 0.63 1.66 1.49 1.42

Split-level 0.49 1.04 0.93 0.88

Not asked (apartments and mobile 

homes) 14.08 14.56 12.70 12.35

Fuels used for any use (more than 

one may apply)

Electricity 46.84 84.59 73.55 71.01

Natural gas 20.11 40.58 36.39 34.47

Propanee 4.18 9.22 8.08 7.44

Wood 3.81 8.52 7.85 6.93

Fuel oil or kerosene 0.64 1.26 1.05 0.79

Distributed solar generation

Yes 0.67 1.51 1.27 1.32

No 35.98 73.42 64.13 61.28

Not asked (apartments) 10.19 9.67 8.15 8.41

Main space heating fuel

Natural gas 15.54 32.70 29.96 28.00

Electricity 25.76 42.63 39.21 35.82

Fuel oil or kerosene 0.47 1.03 0.86 0.66

Propane 1.39 2.93 2.55 2.16

Wood 0.60 1.08 0.96 0.67

Some other fuelf Q Q Q Q

Do not use heating equipment 3.08 4.22 0.00 3.70

Air-conditioning equipment

Uses air-conditioning equipment 44.12 80.66 70.24 71.01

Does not use air-conditioning 

equipment 2.72 3.93 3.31 0.00

Fuel used by main water heater

Natural gas 14.14 29.03 25.98 24.87

Electricity 31.27 52.23 44.70 43.48

Propane 1.27 3.08 2.67 2.50

Fuel oil or kerosene 0.09 0.17 0.14 0.11

Some other fuelf Q Q Q Q
Number of 

housing units 

(million)

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 46.84 84.59 73.55 71.01

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Total square footage (billion square feet)

Indoor light bulbs used at least 4 

hours a day

0 to 2 18.08 28.71 24.43 23.53

3 to 5 11.64 19.89 17.29 16.56

6 to 9 8.78 16.42 14.35 13.83

10 to 19 6.43 14.49 12.89 12.56

20 or more 1.91 5.08 4.59 4.54

Total number of rooms (excluding 

bathrooms)

1 or 2 1.26 0.83 0.70 0.66

3 2.59 2.12 1.69 1.73

4 5.41 5.62 4.76 4.37

5 7.92 10.03 8.49 8.01

6 8.91 14.17 12.16 11.66

7 7.75 14.99 13.11 12.55

8 5.51 12.93 11.27 11.01

9 or more 7.49 23.91 21.38 21.03

Number of bedrooms

0 0.47 0.37 0.23 0.25

1 4.47 3.45 2.97 2.81

2 11.07 13.49 11.42 10.79

3 20.34 36.97 32.48 30.86

4 8.46 22.68 19.53 19.62

5 or more 2.03 7.64 6.93 6.68

Basement

Yes 6.01 17.48 14.78 13.51

Finished basement 3.98 11.57 10.55 9.83

Unfinished basement 2.03 5.91 4.22 3.68

No 26.75 52.55 46.08 45.16

Not asked (apartments and mobile 

homes) 14.08 14.56 12.70 12.35

Adequacy of insulation

Well insulated 14.18 29.83 26.22 25.49

Adequately insulated 24.48 43.28 37.64 36.82

Poorly insulated 7.12 10.35 8.83 7.94

No insulation 1.07 1.14 0.86 0.76
Number of 

housing units 

(million)

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 46.84 84.59 73.55 71.01

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Total square footage (billion square feet)

Type of glass in windows

Single-pane glass 19.05 28.06 23.67 22.76

Double-pane glass 27.04 55.11 48.77 47.08

Triple-pane glass 0.75 1.42 1.11 1.17

Number of household members

1 member 12.59 17.74 15.42 14.32

2 members 17.64 33.08 29.05 28.22

3 members 7.01 13.95 12.17 11.74

4 members 5.64 11.58 10.02 9.84

5 members 2.46 5.14 4.26 4.35

6 or more members 1.51 3.10 2.64 2.55

2020 annual household income

Less than $5,000 1.91 2.13 1.73 1.39

$5,000 to $9,999 1.68 1.86 1.56 1.31

$10,000 to $19,999 4.15 5.26 4.40 3.80

$20,000 to $39,999 10.18 14.44 12.42 11.68

$40,000 to $59,999 7.97 13.38 11.43 11.08

$60,000 to $99,999 9.96 18.76 16.61 16.12

$100,000 to $149,999 5.48 12.66 11.16 11.16

$150,000 or more 5.51 16.09 14.25 14.47
Number of 

housing units 

(million)

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 46.84 84.59 73.55 71.01

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Total square footage (billion square feet)

Ownership of housing unitg

Owned 32.27 68.06 59.58 57.88

Rented 14.57 16.53 13.97 13.13

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Demand and Integrated Statistics, Form EIA-457A of 

the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey

Notes: Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. See RECS Terminology for the definitions of terms used in these 

tables. 

a Total South includes all primary occupied housing units in the South Census Region. Vacant housing units, seasonal units, 

second homes, military houses, and group quarters are excluded.

b Total square footage includes all basements, finished or conditioned (heated or cooled) areas of attics, and conditioned 

garage space that is attached to the home. Unconditioned and unfinished areas in attics and attached garages are 

excluded. The square footage of the home is based on respondent reports. Previous RECS cycles calculated square 

footage based on interviewer measurements. For households that did not report an exact square footage estimate, the 

square footage of the home was imputed based on a reported square footage range and/or characteristics of the home. 

See 2020 RECS Square Footage Methodology for full details about data collection and processing.

c

 Housing units are classified using criteria created by the U.S. Census Bureau based on 2010 Census data. Urbanized areas 

are densely settled groupings of blocks or tracts with 50,000 or more people, while urban clusters have at least 2,500 but 

less than 50,000 people. All other areas are rural.

d

 The Building America program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (EERE), created these climate regions. We combined climate regions for this publication. The Subarctic region is 

included with data for Very-cold/Cold .

e

 Households that use propane only for outdoor grilling are excluded from the RECS estimate of households using 

propane. 

f Some other fuel includes coal and district steam.

g Rented includes households that occupy their primary housing unit without paying rent. 

Q = Data withheld because either the relative standard error (RSE) was greater than 50% or fewer than 10 households 

were in the reporting sample.

N = No households in reporting sample. 
Data release date: March 2023

Percentage of 

all housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Census division

South Atlantic 53.04 53.57 52.62 54.08

East South Central 15.76 16.38 16.79 15.83

West South Central 31.21 30.05 30.59 30.09

Census urban/rural classificationc

Urban 76.59 73.94 73.06 74.69

Urbanized area 68.31 66.33 65.23 67.43

Urban cluster 8.29 7.61 7.83 7.26

Rural 23.41 26.06 26.94 25.31

Climate regiond

Very cold/Cold 0.80 0.87 0.88 0.66

Mixed-humid 50.40 53.52 55.75 52.29

Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 2.18 2.03 2.01 1.94

Hot-humid 46.62 43.58 41.36 45.11

Marine N N N N

Housing unit type

Single-family detached 64.66 78.22 78.17 78.08

Single-family attached 5.29 4.57 4.56 4.53

Apartments in buildings with 2–4 units 5.03 2.52 2.45 2.51

Apartments in buildings with 5 or 

more units 16.72 8.91 8.63 9.34

Mobile homes 8.30 5.78 6.18 5.54

Year of construction

Before 1950 7.96 7.94 7.59 6.63

1950 to 1959 7.58 6.69 6.68 6.14

1960 to 1969 9.28 8.23 8.15 7.98

1970 to 1979 14.87 12.90 12.91 12.79

1980 to 1989 15.88 14.85 14.74 14.84

1990 to 1999 16.55 17.77 17.98 18.63

2000 to 2009 16.53 19.24 19.22 19.83

2010 to 2015 6.28 6.79 7.09 7.22

2016 to 2020 5.08 5.59 5.65 5.92

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Percentage of total square footage
Percentage of 

all housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Percentage of total square footage

Number of stories

1 story 45.70 46.79 45.70 45.50

2 stories 21.87 32.81 33.75 33.88

3 or more stories 1.34 1.97 2.02 2.00

Split-level 1.04 1.23 1.27 1.23

Not asked (apartments and mobile 

homes) 30.06 17.21 17.26 17.39

Fuels used for any use (more than 

one may apply)

Electricity 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Natural gas 42.92 47.97 49.48 48.53

Propanee 8.92 10.89 10.98 10.47

Wood 8.14 10.07 10.67 9.76

Fuel oil or kerosene 1.37 1.49 1.43 1.12

Distributed solar generation

Yes 1.44 1.78 1.72 1.86

No 76.81 86.79 87.19 86.29

Not asked (apartments) 21.76 11.43 11.08 11.85

Main space heating fuel

Natural gas 33.17 38.65 40.73 39.43

Electricity 55.00 50.39 53.31 50.44

Fuel oil or kerosene 1.01 1.22 1.17 0.93

Propane 2.96 3.47 3.47 3.04

Wood 1.28 1.27 1.31 0.94

Some other fuelf Q Q Q Q

Do not use heating equipment 6.57 4.99 0.00 5.21

Air-conditioning equipment

Uses air-conditioning equipment 94.19 95.35 95.49 100.00

Does not use air-conditioning 

equipment 5.81 4.65 4.51 0.00

Fuel used by main water heater

Natural gas 30.18 34.31 35.32 35.02

Electricity 66.75 61.74 60.78 61.22

Propane 2.71 3.64 3.63 3.52

Fuel oil or kerosene 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.15

Some other fuelf Q Q Q Q
Percentage of 

all housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Percentage of total square footage

Indoor light bulbs used at least 4 

hours a day

0 to 2 38.60 33.94 33.22 33.13

3 to 5 24.86 23.52 23.50 23.32

6 to 9 18.74 19.41 19.51 19.48

10 to 19 13.73 17.13 17.52 17.68

20 or more 4.09 6.01 6.25 6.39

Total number of rooms (excluding 

bathrooms)

1 or 2 2.69 0.98 0.95 0.93

3 5.54 2.50 2.30 2.43

4 11.54 6.64 6.47 6.16

5 16.90 11.85 11.54 11.28

6 19.03 16.75 16.53 16.42

7 16.55 17.71 17.83 17.67

8 11.76 15.28 15.32 15.50

9 or more 15.99 28.27 29.07 29.61

Number of bedrooms

0 0.99 0.44 0.31 0.36

1 9.54 4.08 4.04 3.95

2 23.63 15.94 15.52 15.20

3 43.43 43.70 44.15 43.46

4 18.07 26.81 26.55 27.63

5 or more 4.34 9.03 9.43 9.40

Basement

Yes 12.84 20.67 20.09 19.03

Finished basement 8.51 13.68 14.35 13.84

Unfinished basement 4.33 6.99 5.74 5.18

No 57.11 62.12 62.65 63.59

Not asked (apartments and mobile 

homes) 30.06 17.21 17.26 17.39

Adequacy of insulation

Well insulated 30.27 35.26 35.65 35.89

Adequately insulated 52.25 51.16 51.17 51.85

Poorly insulated 15.19 12.24 12.00 11.18

No insulation 2.28 1.35 1.17 1.08
Percentage of 

all housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Percentage of total square footage

Type of glass in windows

Single-pane glass 40.67 33.17 32.18 32.06

Double-pane glass 57.73 65.15 66.31 66.30

Triple-pane glass 1.60 1.68 1.51 1.64

Number of household members

1 member 26.89 20.97 20.96 20.17

2 members 37.65 39.11 39.50 39.73

3 members 14.96 16.49 16.54 16.53

4 members 12.04 13.69 13.62 13.86

5 members 5.25 6.07 5.79 6.12

6 or more members 3.21 3.67 3.59 3.59

2020 annual household income

Less than $5,000 4.08 2.52 2.35 1.96

$5,000 to $9,999 3.60 2.20 2.11 1.84

$10,000 to $19,999 8.85 6.22 5.98 5.35

$20,000 to $39,999 21.74 17.07 16.89 16.45

$40,000 to $59,999 17.01 15.82 15.55 15.60

$60,000 to $99,999 21.26 22.17 22.58 22.70

$100,000 to $149,999 11.71 14.97 15.17 15.71

$150,000 or more 11.76 19.03 19.37 20.38
Percentage of 

all housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 2020

Percentage of total square footage

Ownership of housing unitg

Owned 68.90 80.45 81.01 81.50

Rented 31.10 19.55 18.99 18.49

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Demand and Integrated Statistics, Form EIA-457A of 

the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey

Notes: Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. See RECS Terminology for the definitions of terms used in these 

tables. 

a Total South includes all primary occupied housing units in the South Census Region. Vacant housing units, seasonal units, 

second homes, military houses, and group quarters are excluded.

b Total square footage includes all basements, finished or conditioned (heated or cooled) areas of attics, and conditioned 

garage space that is attached to the home. Unconditioned and unfinished areas in attics and attached garages are 

excluded. The square footage of the home is based on respondent reports. Previous RECS cycles calculated square 

footage based on interviewer measurements. For households that did not report an exact square footage estimate, the 

square footage of the home was imputed based on a reported square footage range and/or characteristics of the home. 

See 2020 RECS Square Footage Methodology for full details about data collection and processing.

c

 Housing units are classified using criteria created by the U.S. Census Bureau based on 2010 Census data. Urbanized areas 

are densely settled groupings of blocks or tracts with 50,000 or more people, while urban clusters have at least 2,500 but 

less than 50,000 people. All other areas are rural.

d

 The Building America program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (EERE), created these climate regions. We combined climate regions for this publication. The Subarctic region is 

included with data for Very-cold/Cold .

e

 Households that use propane only for outdoor grilling are excluded from the RECS estimate of households using 

propane. 

f Some other fuel includes coal and district steam.

g Rented includes households that occupy their primary housing unit without paying rent. 

Q = Data withheld because either the relative standard error (RSE) was greater than 50% or fewer than 10 households 

were in the reporting sample.

N = No households in reporting sample. 
Data release date: March 2023

RSEs for 

number of 

housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 0.00 0.69 0.79 0.68

Census division

South Atlantic 0.00 0.85 0.98 0.98

East South Central 0.00 1.58 1.53 1.64

West South Central 0.00 1.40 1.42 1.57

Census urban/rural classificationc

Urban 0.61 0.98 1.14 1.04

Urbanized area 0.87 1.18 1.40 1.22

Urban cluster 4.29 4.73 4.85 5.35

Rural 1.99 2.21 2.15 2.26

Climate regiond

Very cold/Cold 8.76 9.97 9.97 10.61

Mixed-humid 0.61 1.01 1.02 1.13

Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 9.05 10.72 9.90 10.47

Hot-humid 0.71 1.25 1.83 1.36

Marine 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Housing unit type

Single-family detached 0.00 0.83 0.90 0.82

Single-family attached 0.00 2.46 2.83 2.82

Apartments in buildings with 2–4 units 0.00 2.73 3.63 3.91

Apartments in buildings with 5 or 

more units 0.00 1.44 2.69 1.92

Mobile homes 0.00 1.77 2.22 3.07

Year of construction

Before 1950 0.00 2.80 2.57 3.85

1950 to 1959 0.00 3.00 3.00 3.35

1960 to 1969 0.00 2.33 2.48 2.66

1970 to 1979 0.00 2.07 2.31 2.19

1980 to 1989 0.00 1.93 2.28 2.02

1990 to 1999 0.00 2.06 2.25 2.24

2000 to 2009 0.00 1.79 2.07 1.87

2010 to 2015 3.94 5.30 5.45 5.42

2016 to 2020 4.87 5.02 5.07 4.78

Relative standard errors (RSEs) for Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 

2020

RSEs for total square footage
RSEs for 

number of 

housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 0.00 0.69 0.79 0.68

Relative standard errors (RSEs) for Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 

2020

RSEs for total square footage

Number of stories

1 story 1.03 1.46 1.45 1.52

2 stories 1.99 2.34 2.35 2.33

3 or more stories 9.77 10.90 11.15 10.79

Split-level 10.31 11.07 11.43 11.11

Not asked (apartments and mobile 

homes) 0.00 1.01 1.72 1.52

Fuels used for any use (more than 

one may apply)

Electricity 0.00 0.69 0.79 0.68

Natural gas 1.37 1.63 1.59 1.65

Propanee 4.25 4.58 4.53 4.55

Wood 3.89 4.30 4.27 4.83

Fuel oil or kerosene 12.40 12.98 12.90 13.49

Distributed solar generation

Yes 11.82 12.39 14.00 12.94

No 0.22 0.85 0.85 0.82

Not asked (apartments) 0.00 1.35 2.38 1.83

Main space heating fuel

Natural gas 1.74 2.02 2.04 2.10

Electricity 1.24 1.50 1.57 1.54

Fuel oil or kerosene 13.81 13.79 14.09 14.87

Propane 5.91 8.43 8.11 8.50

Wood 10.65 13.02 11.91 15.38

Some other fuelf 100.58 100.58 100.58 100.58

Do not use heating equipment 6.86 6.67 0.00 6.79

Air-conditioning equipment

Uses air-conditioning equipment 0.30 0.76 0.82 0.68

Does not use air-conditioning 

equipment 4.79 5.90 6.00 0.00

Fuel used by main water heater

Natural gas 1.97 2.14 2.16 2.27

Electricity 1.02 1.32 1.41 1.37

Propane 7.96 8.75 8.46 8.94

Fuel oil or kerosene 27.75 27.69 30.36 32.98

Some other fuelf 41.13 41.03 51.78 47.80
RSEs for 

number of 

housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 0.00 0.69 0.79 0.68

Relative standard errors (RSEs) for Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 

2020

RSEs for total square footage

Indoor light bulbs used at least 4 

hours a day

0 to 2 1.73 2.30 2.39 2.42

3 to 5 2.14 2.75 2.72 2.56

6 to 9 2.73 3.41 3.34 3.43

10 to 19 3.40 4.04 4.13 4.17

20 or more 6.82 7.10 7.21 7.28

Total number of rooms (excluding 

bathrooms)

1 or 2 9.62 10.43 11.41 11.51

3 6.07 6.90 6.59 8.28

4 4.16 4.36 4.58 4.96

5 3.85 3.94 3.84 4.37

6 2.60 2.67 3.13 2.86

7 2.96 3.17 3.19 3.13

8 3.77 3.69 3.73 3.83

9 or more 2.75 2.67 2.65 2.68

Number of bedrooms

0 16.75 22.38 20.17 21.55

1 4.25 4.56 4.71 4.79

2 2.35 2.84 3.14 3.13

3 1.60 1.69 1.71 1.88

4 3.05 3.31 3.27 3.26

5 or more 5.86 6.25 6.41 6.39

Basement

Yes 2.77 3.12 2.94 2.93

Finished basement 3.56 4.16 3.93 3.91

Unfinished basement 5.48 6.43 6.64 7.19

No 0.62 1.02 1.26 1.06

Not asked (apartments and mobile 

homes) 0.00 1.01 1.72 1.52

Adequacy of insulation

Well insulated 2.24 2.62 2.61 2.60

Adequately insulated 1.29 1.53 1.48 1.37

Poorly insulated 3.80 4.49 4.36 4.99

No insulation 9.81 11.02 11.52 11.88
RSEs for 

number of 

housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 0.00 0.69 0.79 0.68

Relative standard errors (RSEs) for Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 

2020

RSEs for total square footage

Type of glass in windows

Single-pane glass 1.68 2.13 2.40 2.43

Double-pane glass 1.18 1.37 1.40 1.30

Triple-pane glass 11.09 11.55 12.91 13.14

Number of household members

1 member 2.07 2.48 2.46 2.66

2 members 1.50 1.82 1.99 1.82

3 members 2.94 3.48 3.52 3.43

4 members 3.52 3.84 4.13 3.90

5 members 6.83 7.88 7.82 8.04

6 or more members 7.69 8.10 8.53 8.81

2020 annual household income

Less than $5,000 7.49 9.07 9.01 10.81

$5,000 to $9,999 7.81 8.21 8.13 9.27

$10,000 to $19,999 4.55 5.45 5.35 5.84

$20,000 to $39,999 2.82 3.29 3.04 3.40

$40,000 to $59,999 3.07 3.51 3.36 3.48

$60,000 to $99,999 2.86 3.07 3.19 3.30

$100,000 to $149,999 3.33 3.83 3.49 3.81

$150,000 or more 2.93 3.38 3.54 3.32
RSEs for 

number of 

housing units

Total Southa Totalb Heated Cooled

All homes 0.00 0.69 0.79 0.68

Relative standard errors (RSEs) for Table HC10.4 Total square footage of South homes, 

2020

RSEs for total square footage

Ownership of housing unitg

Owned 0.71 1.07 1.09 1.01

Rented 1.57 2.39 2.46 2.62

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Demand and Integrated Statistics, Form EIA-457A of 

the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey

Notes: See RECS Terminology for the definitions of terms used in these tables. 

a Total South includes all primary occupied housing units in the South Census Region. Vacant housing units, seasonal units, 

second homes, military houses, and group quarters are excluded.

b Total square footage includes all basements, finished or conditioned (heated or cooled) areas of attics, and conditioned 

garage space that is attached to the home. Unconditioned and unfinished areas in attics and attached garages are 

excluded. The square footage of the home is based on respondent reports. Previous RECS cycles calculated square 

footage based on interviewer measurements. For households that did not report an exact square footage estimate, the 

square footage of the home was imputed based on a reported square footage range and/or characteristics of the home. 

See 2020 RECS Square Footage Methodology for full details about data collection and processing.

c

 Housing units are classified using criteria created by the U.S. Census Bureau based on 2010 Census data. Urbanized areas 

are densely settled groupings of blocks or tracts with 50,000 or more people, while urban clusters have at least 2,500 but 

less than 50,000 people. All other areas are rural.

d

 The Building America program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (EERE), created these climate regions. We combined climate regions for this publication. The Subarctic region is 

included with data for Very-cold/Cold .

e

 Households that use propane only for outdoor grilling are excluded from the RECS estimate of households using 

propane. 

f Some other fuel includes coal and district steam.

g Rented includes households that occupy their primary housing unit without paying rent.