According to the U.S. census bureau the average American house size in 2,169 square feet. Pretty big huh? And that’s only average. Believe it or not the average square footage of an American house is actually starting to come down. Since 2007 (right before the housing crash), when houses averaged 2,277 square feet, the trend is downwards. When you look at the stats, you can see that it’s significant since home sizes have been trending upwards since the early 80′s.
The trending downwards could be a sign of many things which include:
- A shift in demographics as baby boomers get older and begin to downsize
- A decline in earning power and increase in home prices, thus amking larger houses harder to achieve
- A cultural change that illustrates folks yearning for more time rather than more space
Or perhaps it could be a mix of several of these. In any case, the average American home is still pretty freaking huge. The average home is still three times bigger than the place I live, and I feel quite comfortable.
Considering I’m an outlier in the states, that’s still nothing compared to the average house sizes around the world which are considerably small than in the U.S.
To see the actual results broke down by region and year you can either click on the image below, or the link at the bottom of this post.
You may also be interested in this post from Apartment therapy that illustrates just how much bigger American homes are than their European counterparts. When it comes to space, we sure are spoiled in America!
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