United States Census Data

The American Housing Survey is sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey is the most comprehensive national housing survey in the United States, containing information about region, tenure, quality, value, age, size and more.  See Variables BELOW.

• Frequency : Biennial from 2007 to 2023; annual from 1973-2005.
• Population : All occupied units (renters and homeowners- some variables limited to either owner-occupied, rental units; or vacation units).
• Temporal Scope : 1973 to 2023 (2011 to 2023 only online)
• Geographic Scope : United States and District of Columbia, excluding Puerto Rico and other territories and dependencies.  Some variables (e.g. Rent Control) have further limited geographic scope.
• Spatial Units of Analysis : Nation, State, Statistical Metropolitan Area. NOTE: GIS spatial data not included.

Search for data and create custom table HERE

More information about survey items, accuracy and survey changes HERE 

• Direct URL : https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/tech-documentation/def-errors-changes.2023.html

Data Dictionary

• Direct URL : https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/2023/2023%20AHS%20Definitions.pdf

Last updated : 27 Nov. 2024

For complete 2023 variable index, click HERE 

Direct URL : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zcm_j7n7u2azkipX3JQmyFJHyAeKiFmqsUeHH-1O4to/edit?usp=sharing

Tables and summary of variables

• General Housing : Includes units in and/or type of structure, year built, storeys, point of access and stairs, foundation type, characteristics of manufactures homes.
• Rooms, Size, and Amenities : Includes number of rooms, person per room, bedrooms, persons per bedroom, bathrooms, square footage, square feet per person, lot size, select amenities (e.g. porch, fireplace etc.), parking, phone type
• Heating, Air Conditioning, and Appliances : Includes fuel type, heating and cooling apparatus
• Plumbing, Water, and Sewage Disposal : Includes source of water and sewerage type
• Housing Quality : Includes condition and functionality of utilities and appliances, presence of pests, apparatus functionality, outside shading, emergency room visits due to HVAC apparatus failure, power outages and induced food and medicine spoilage, missed work, frozen pipes, leaks; external building condition, environmental issues like mold etc.
• Housing Migration : Includes aspects of housing mobility, change in housing costs, reason for move, condition of new hoe, mode of finding new home, etc.
• Household demographics : Includes racial, ethnic age, education immigrant status, year of move-in presence of children veteran/military status and time.
• Disabilities : Includes presence of disabled persons, and type of disability
• Income Characteristics : Includes income, poverty status, income source, housing costs, proportion of income used for housing, mortgage amount and payments, utilities and other costs.
• Value and Purchase Price Owner-occupied units : Housing value, down payments, monthly payments, presence of lead pipes
• Mortgage Characteristics : Includes amount borrowed, mortgage term, interest rate, year of mortgage, outstanding principal, mortgage payment amount, type of mortgage and origination.
• Home Improvement Characteristics, Owner-occupied Units :  Includes maintenance and renovation costs.
• Home Improvement Costs : Disaster mitigation and repairs, renovation costs by room or other feature including outside.
• Rent Subsidies and Rental Property Management ; Includes types of rent controls and subsidies and presence of rental manager on-sight.
• Neighborhoods : Includes general characteristics of neighborhood like housing type, vandalism, noise, and opinions on crime and amenities. 
• Health and Safety Characteristics : Health characteristics of respondents including sleeping, asthma, presence of extension cords, stairs, electrical outlets, and air quality.
• Housing Insecurity :  Includes missed payments, musty smells, threats of eviction or foreclosure.
• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) of Respondent : Sexual identity of respondents
• Housing Unit Characteristics : Overall characteristics, some duplicates of foregoing; sale and vacancy status, select appliances.

See also Data dictionary 

Direct URL : https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/2023/2023%20AHS%20Definitions.pdf

The American Housing Survey reporting data available for the following geographic areas:

United States and District of Columbia, excluding dependencies and territories.

Select States:

• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Texas
• Virginia

Top 15 Metro Areas (Each metropolitan area is represented by a separate column):

• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
• Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
• Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
• Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
• New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
• Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
• San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

• Anaheim-Santa Ana
• Atlanta
• Austin
• Baltimore
• Birmingham
• Boston
• Buffalo
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Cincinnati
• Cleveland
• Columbus
• Dallas
• Denver
• Detroit
• Fort-Worth-Arlington
• Hartford
• Houston
• Indianapolis
• Jacksonville
• Kansas City
• Las Vegas
• Los  Angeles-Long Beach
• Louisville
• Memphis
• Miami
• Milwaukee
• Minneapolis-St Paul
• Nashville
• New Orleans
• New York City
• Northern New Jersey
• Oakland
• Oklahoma City
• Orlando
• Philadelhpia
• Phoenix
• Pittsburgh
• Portland, OR
• Providence
• Raleigh
• Richmond
• Riverside-San Bernardino
• Rochester, NY
• Sacremento
• San Antonio
• San Diego
• San Fransisco
• San Jose
• Seattle
• St. Louis
• Tampa-St. Petersburgh
• Tucson
• Virginia Beach-Norfolk
• Washington, DC