- U.S. Households: How Many Rent, How Many Own?
- What Types of Properties do Renters Live in?
- Apartment Household Incomes
- Renters in Large Cities
- Apartment Resident Demographics
- Transportation
- Number of Renters in Each State
| Type of Household | Number of Households (000s) |
% of U.S. Total |
Number of Residents (000s) |
| Renter-Occupied Housing | 38,363 | 33% | 92,244 |
| Owner-Occupied Housing | 78,842 | 67% | 209,240 |
| Total | 117,205 | 100% | 301,484 |
| Source: NMHC tabulations of 2009 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/cps). Updated 9/11/2009 | |||
| Type of Structure | Number of Households (000s) |
Percentage of Households |
Number of Residents (000s) |
| Single-family homes | 12,627 | 33% | 36,643 |
| Structures with 2 to 4 Units | 7,292 | 19% | 17,472 |
| Structures with 5 or more units | 16,700 | 44% |
33,684 |
| Mobile Homes | 1,603 | 4% |
4,174 |
| Other | 141 | 0% |
271 |
| Total | 38,363 | 100% | 92,244 |
| Source: NMHC Tabulations of 2009 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, US Census Bureau (www.census.gov/cps). "Other" housing includes units in hotels, rooming houses, dormitories, tents or unspecified housing. Updated 9/11/2009 | |||
| Income | 2009 Number of Households (000's) |
2008-2009 Annual Changes |
| <$20,000 | 5,720 | 2.3% |
| $20,000-$49,999 | 6,420 | 4.5% |
| $50,000+ | 4,560 | -4.0% |
| Source: NMHC tabulations of the US Census Bureau's 2009 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (www.census.gov/cps). Apartment renters are defined as those in buildings with five or more units (excluding mobile homes). Income figures recorded in 2008 are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index. Updated 9/11/2009 | ||
Incomes: Apartments Versus All Households |
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| Apartments | All households | |
| Mean Income | -2.7% | -2.6% |
| Median Income | -3.0% | -3.7% |
| Source: NMHC tabulations of the US Census Bureau's 2008 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (www.census.gov/cps). Apartment renters are defined as those in buildings with five or more units (excluding mobile homes). Income figures recorded in 2006 are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index. Updated 9/11/2009 | ||

Characteristics of Apartment Households |
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| All Apartments | New Apartments (Built 1990-2007) | Total Households (renters and owners) | |
| Total Households | 15,223 | 2,444 | 110,719 |
| Age of Householder | |||
| <30 | 31% | 34% | 13% |
| 30-44 | 29% | 29% | 28% |
| 45-64 | 24% | 16% | 37% |
| 65+ | 17% | 22% | 21% |
| Median Age | 39 | 36 | 48 |
| Mean Age | 44 | 44 | 50 |
| Household Type (%) | |||
| single male | 24% | 21% | 12% |
| single female | 25% | 29% | 16% |
| husband w/wife only | 8% | 13% | 22% |
| husband/wife/kid(s) | 9% | 8% | 25% |
| single parent | 12% | 11% | 9% |
| other | 21% | 19% | 16% |
| Household Members (%) | |||
| 1 | 49% | 49% | 27% |
| 2 | 27% | 31% | 33% |
| 3 | 12% | 11% | 16% |
| 4+ | 12% | 9% | 24% |
| Mean Number | 2 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Children (under age 18) | |||
| Mean number | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| % Households with one or more | 22% | 19% | 31% |
| Household Income (% distribution) | |||
| Less than $20,000 | 38% | 33% | 19% |
| $20,000 - $34,999 | 25% | 24% | 19% |
| $36,000 - $49,999 | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| $50,000 - $74,999 | 13% | 15% | 18% |
| $75,000 + | 10% | 14% | 30% |
| Mean Income | $35,308 | $42,316 | $65,500 |
| Median Income | $25,500 | $30,000 | $47,000 |
| Household income of "Market Rate" Renters | |||
| Mean Income | $40,407 | $44,642 | n/a |
| Median Income | $30,000 | $32,493 | n/a |
| Hispanic householders | |||
| Hispanic | 19% | 11% | 11% |
| non-Hispanic | 81% | 89% | 89% |
| Motor Vehicles | |||
| Mean # per Household | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.9 |
| % Households with one or more | 74% | 84% | 92% |
Notes: All statistics are NMHC tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 American Housing Survey. The estimates are based on a nationally representative sample of 39,107 occupied housing units, of which are in structures with 5 or more units and 1,221 are newly built apartments, where newly built is defined as those built after 1989. Because of the relatively small number of newly built apartments in the sample, small differences between the estimated characteristics of these residents and others may be attributable to sampling error and should be interpreted cautiously. "Market Rate" apartments are those privately owned units whose residents reported that no government subsidy is received. Results in this table will differ from those of other national surveys because of differences in survey timing, question wording and sampling. |
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| All apartment renter households | Apartments built 1990 or later | Single family owners | Total households | |
Number of households (in thousands) |
15,223 | 2,444 | 71,993 | 110,719 |
Main Transportation to Work |
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| Car, truck, van, motorcycle or taxi | 53% | 58% | 68% | 65% |
| Bus or streetcar | 7% | 2% | 1% | 3% |
| Subway or rail | 5% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| Walking or bicycle | 5% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| Work at home | 2% | 1% | 4% | 4% |
Note: The figures above indicate the share of households in which at least one person uses a particular type of transportation to work. More than one person per household may, for example, take the subway to work. |
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Public transportation - Use and Availability |
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| Public transportation available | 82% | 66% | 44% | 54% |
| Use public transportation | 23% | 10% | 4% | 9% |
| Source: NMHC tabulations of 2007 American Housing Survey. | ||||
| State Distribution of Apartment Renters, 2008 | |||
| State | Population in Occupied Housing Units (thousands) | Number of Apartment Renters | Share of State Population |
| Alabama | 4,662 | 292 | 6% |
| Alaska | 686 | 49 | 7% |
| Arizona | 6,500 | 659 | 10% |
| Arkansas | 2,855 | 180 | 6% |
| California | 36,757 | 5,761 | 16% |
| Colorado | 4,939 | 568 | 11% |
| Connecticut | 3,501 | 331 | 9% |
| Delaware | 873 | 82 | 9% |
| District of Columbia | 592 | 181 | 31% |
| Florida | 18,328 | 1,919 | 10% |
| Georgia | 9,686 | 958 | 10% |
| Hawaii | 1,288 | 178 | 14% |
| Idaho | 1,524 | 75 | 5% |
| Illinois | 12,902 | 1,263 | 10% |
| Indiana | 6,377 | 490 | 8% |
| Iowa | 3,003 | 233 | 8% |
| Kansas | 2,802 | 197 | 7% |
| Kentucky | 4,269 | 278 | 7% |
| Louisiana | 4,411 | 252 | 6% |
| Maine | 1,316 | 79 | 6% |
| Maryland | 5,634 | 691 | 12% |
| Massachusetts | 6,498 | 700 | 11% |
| Michigan | 10,003 | 735 | 7% |
| Minnesota | 5,220 | 505 | 10% |
| Mississippi | 2,939 | 178 | 6% |
| Missouri | 5,912 | 367 | 6% |
| Montana | 967 | 55 | 6% |
| Nebraska | 1,783 | 149 | 8% |
| Nevada | 2,600 | 363 | 14% |
| New Hampshire | 1,316 | 110 | 8% |
| New Jersey | 8,683 | 1,015 | 12% |
| New Mexico | 1,984 | 125 | 6% |
| New York | 19,490 | 4,373 | 22% |
| North Carolina | 9,222 | 687 | 7% |
| North Dakota | 641 | 80 | 13% |
| Ohio | 11,486 | 919 | 8% |
| Oklahoma | 3,642 | 245 | 7% |
| Oregon | 3,790 | 387 | 10% |
| Pennsylvania | 12,448 | 791 | 6% |
| Rhode Island | 1,051 | 91 | 9% |
| South Carolina | 4,480 | 293 | 7% |
| South Dakota | 804 | 65 | 8% |
| Tennessee | 6,215 | 460 | 7% |
| Texas | 24,327 | 3,039 | 12% |
| Utah | 2,736 | 221 | 8% |
| Vermont | 621 | 31 | 5% |
| Virginia | 7,769 | 808 | 10% |
| Washington | 6,549 | 767 | 12% |
| West Virginia | 1,814 | 83 | 5% |
| Wisconsin | 5,628 | 460 | 8% |
| Wyoming | 533 | 23 | 4% |
| Source: 2008 American Community Survey (ACS), US Census Bureau. More information about the ACS is available at http://www.census.gov/acs. Updated 12/31/2009 | |||

