Housing condition statistics show how many U.S. homes have essential facilities, physical defects, comfort problems, energy features and measured safety risks. The figures below cover national surveys and estimates from 2020 through 2023, with definitions and populations stated explicitly.
Key Housing Condition Statistics
The most broadly useful national findings include:
- In 2023, about 145 million U.S. housing units were covered by the American Housing Survey, including occupied and vacant units.
- In 2023, about 132 million U.S. housing units were occupied according to American Housing Survey estimates.
- In 2023, approximately 3.2 million occupied U.S. homes had severe physical problems under the survey’s constructed index.
- In 2023, about 1.4 million occupied U.S. units lacked complete plumbing, as defined by hot and cold piped water, a flush toilet and a bathtub or shower.
- In 2023, around 1.6 million occupied U.S. homes had no working heating equipment in the survey response.
- In 2023, about 2.7 million occupied U.S. units reported an interior water leak during the previous 12 months.
- In 2023, about 3.4 million occupied U.S. units reported signs of mold.
- In 2023, roughly 5.8 million occupied U.S. homes reported unpleasant or inadequate heating.
- In 2020, natural gas supplied space heating for about 47% of U.S. homes in the Residential Energy Consumption Survey.
- In 2020, about 89% of U.S. homes used air-conditioning equipment.
- In 2020, about 58% of U.S. homes had insulation in the attic or roof area.
- In 2020, space heating accounted for about 42% of U.S. residential site energy consumption.
- In 2021, HUD estimated 8.53 million very-low-income renter households had worst-case housing needs.
- In 2021, about 7.0 million very-low-income renter households had severe rent burdens, defined as spending more than 50% of income on rent.
- In 2023, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 154,700 residential building cooking fires.
- In 2023, residential cooking fires caused about 470 civilian deaths in the United States.
- In CDC national data for 2018–2022, about 1.5% of blood-lead tests for children younger than six had levels at or above 5 micrograms per deciliter.
- In a 2021 estimate, about 24 million U.S. housing units were identified as having deteriorated lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust hazards.
Contents
- Housing condition scale and occupied homes
- Physical housing condition data
- Moisture, mold and indoor environment trends
- Energy, insulation and thermal comfort
- Affordability and severe housing problems
- Housing safety, fire and lead hazards
Housing Condition Statistics: The Scale of U.S. Homes and Problems
The 2023 American Housing Survey (AHS) covered about 145 million U.S. housing units, including both occupied and vacant units. About 132 million were occupied, while roughly 13 million were vacant for reasons such as rent, sale, seasonal use or other purposes.
The AHS estimated approximately 3.2 million occupied homes with severe physical problems. This is a constructed survey measure, not a count of homes that received a code inspection, and it should not be treated as interchangeable with local building-code violations.
| 2023 AHS measure | Estimated U.S. units | Definition or scope |
|---|---|---|
| All housing units | About 145 million | Occupied and vacant units |
| Occupied housing units | About 132 million | National survey estimate |
| Vacant housing units | Roughly 13 million | Includes rent, sale, seasonal and other categories |
| Occupied homes with severe physical problems | Approximately 3.2 million | AHS constructed index |
Source: American Housing Survey, 2023 National Tables. The AHS is a sample survey and these national values are rounded.
Housing Condition Data on Plumbing, Heating, Wiring and Structural Deficiencies
Basic facilities and visible defects provide some of the clearest measures of housing condition. In the 2023 AHS, about 1.4 million occupied units lacked complete plumbing, while about 1.0 million lacked complete kitchen facilities; the kitchen definition requires a sink with piped water, a refrigerator and a stove or range.
Other facility gaps were also measured. Nearly 1.7 million occupied homes lacked a flush toilet for exclusive use, and about 1.2 million lacked hot and cold piped water, although these categories use specific AHS definitions and do not measure water quality.
- Around 1.6 million occupied homes had no working heating equipment in 2023; this was a self-reported survey condition, not a technical efficiency test.
- About 7.5 million occupied units had no air-conditioning equipment in 2023; the count does not measure capacity or performance.
- Approximately 1.5 million occupied units reported exposed wiring or another defined electrical deficiency in 2023.
- Roughly 1.4 million occupied units reported holes in floors, walls or ceilings in 2023.
- About 1.0 million occupied units reported a sagging roof or ceiling in 2023.
- About 1.3 million occupied units reported broken windows in 2023.
- Approximately 6.0 million occupied homes experienced a plumbing breakdown during the prior three months in 2023.
- About 4.5 million occupied units experienced a heating breakdown during the prior three months in 2023.
- About 2.1 million occupied homes reported rodents during the previous 12 months in 2023; this was an observation-based survey measure rather than a pest-inspection count.
Source: American Housing Survey, 2023 National Tables. Breakdowns indicate an interruption or failure under the AHS questions and do not necessarily mean a major repair.
Housing Quality Trends for Moisture, Leaks, Mold and Indoor Conditions
Moisture-related measures distinguish between reported events and visible signs. In 2023, about 2.7 million occupied units reported water leaking from inside the structure during the previous 12 months, while approximately 1.7 million reported an outside leak during the previous year.
The published AHS counts correspond to about 2.1% of occupied units reporting interior leaks and about 1.3% reporting exterior leaks. These shares are rounded survey estimates and do not measure leak volume, cause or repair status.
| 2023 reported condition | Occupied U.S. units | Measurement detail |
|---|---|---|
| Interior water leak | About 2.7 million | Previous 12 months |
| Exterior water leak | Approximately 1.7 million | Previous year |
| Signs of mold | About 3.4 million | Respondent-reported |
| Water stains on walls or ceilings | About 4.1 million | Visible condition |
| Peeling paint | Around 2.2 million | Visible condition, not a lead test |
About 3.4 million occupied units reported signs of mold, or approximately 2.5% of occupied homes. Around 4.1 million reported water stains on ceilings or walls, but stains do not prove that moisture is currently present, and mold reports do not quantify airborne concentration.
Thermal comfort was also subjective in the AHS. Roughly 5.8 million occupied homes reported unpleasant or inadequate heating, and about 4.6 million reported an unpleasant or inadequate cooling condition; neither measure uses a standardized indoor-temperature threshold.
Pest indicators add another indoor-environment measure: approximately 1.9 million occupied homes reported signs of cockroaches, and about 1.1 million reported signs of mice or rats in 2023.
Source: American Housing Survey, 2023 National Tables.
Energy, Insulation and Thermal Comfort Measurements in U.S. Homes
The 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) describes equipment and reported characteristics rather than performance, insulation R-values or actual indoor temperatures. Natural gas supplied main space heating for about 47% of U.S. homes, electricity for about 40% and propane for about 5%.
Cooling equipment was widespread. About 89% of homes used air-conditioning equipment, including approximately 76% served by central air-conditioning and about 15% using window or room units; equipment categories can be affected by multiple systems and do not establish cooling adequacy.
| 2020 RECS measure | U.S. homes or energy use | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Programmable or smart thermostat | About 64% of homes | Presence, not schedule use |
| Attic or roof insulation | About 58% of homes | Presence, not thickness |
| Exterior-wall insulation | About 47% of homes | Reported characteristic |
| Basement or foundation insulation | Roughly 35% of homes | Location category, not R-value |
| Space heating | About 42% of residential site energy | End-use estimate |
| Air-conditioning | About 19% of residential electricity | End-use model estimate |
The average U.S. home used about 886 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month in 2020. This is an annual average estimate, and household size and climate vary substantially across homes.
Source: Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) 2020: Consumption and Expenditures Tables. Site energy is not the same as delivered household cost.
Housing Condition Statistics for Affordability and Severe Housing Problems
Physical condition and affordability measure different dimensions of housing hardship. HUD’s 2023 report estimated 8.53 million very-low-income renter households had worst-case housing needs in 2021, representing about 21.6% of very-low-income renter households.
HUD defines worst-case needs as severe rent burden, inadequate housing or both, and excludes assisted households. The population is therefore not all renters, all households or all housing units.
- About 7.0 million very-low-income renter households had severe rent burdens in 2021, defined as spending more than 50% of income on rent.
- Approximately 1.1 million very-low-income renter households lived in physically inadequate housing in 2021 under HUD’s defined composite index.
- About 460,000 very-low-income renter households experienced both severe rent burden and inadequate housing in 2021.
- The number of very-low-income renter households with worst-case needs increased by about 560,000 from 2019 to 2021; this is a difference between report estimates, not a longitudinal count of the same households.
- HUD reported that 70.0% of very-low-income renters with worst-case needs had severe rent burdens in 2021.
The physical inadequacy index is a defined survey composite rather than a local code-violation count. The overlap between burden and inadequacy also means the categories should not be added without accounting for the intersection.
Source: Worst Case Housing Needs: 2023 Report to Congress.
Housing Safety Conditions: Fires, Alarms, Lead and Other Hazards
Fire and lead figures capture specific safety risks rather than overall housing quality. U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 154,700 residential building cooking fires in 2023; those fires caused about 3,000 civilian injuries and approximately 470 civilian deaths.
Cooking fires accounted for roughly 44% of reported home fires in 2023. In the 2014–2023 trend series, about 30% of residential cooking fires began with unattended equipment; these percentages refer to fires, not homes.
Source: Residential Building Cooking Fire Trends (2014–2023). USFA figures are national estimates derived from fire-department reporting, so unreported fires are not included.
Lead-related measures use different populations and methods. CDC national data for 2018–2022 found that children younger than six had a blood lead level at or above 5 micrograms per deciliter in about 1.5% of tests, while a 2021 estimate identified about 24 million U.S. housing units with deteriorated lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust hazards.
The blood-lead figure is testing-based surveillance, not a census of all children. The housing-risk estimate does not mean every unit currently has an exposed child or a confirmed hazard inspection.
Source: Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention: Data, Research and Statistics.