New Houses Today Have Twice The Square Feet Per Person As In 1973

New Houses Today Have Twice The Square Feet Per Person As In 1973 by Mark J. Perry, Foundation For Economic Education

Another Sign the Middle Class Isn't Stagnating

The Census Bureau recently released its annual report on “Characteristics of New Housing,” with more than 700 pages of detailed data on the characteristics of new single-family houses and multifamily buildings in 2015.

Here are some interesting details of new single-family houses built last year:

1. Average/Median House Size

In 2015, the average size of new houses built in the US increased to an all-time high of 2,687 square feet (see dark blue line in the chart above), and the median size new house...