U.S. Households by Size, 1790–2006

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The following table shows the number of U.S. households, the percent distribution of the number of people in those households, and the average population per household for select years from 1790 to 2006.

Year Number of
households
(in thousands)
Percent distribution of number of households Avg.
pop. per
house-
hold
1 per-
son
2 persons 3 per-
sons
4 per-
sons
5 per-
sons
6 per-
sons
7 or
more
per-
sons
1790 (Mar.) 558 3.7% 7.8% 11.7% 13.8% 13.9% 13.2% 35.8%
1890 (June) 12,690 3.6 13.2 16.7 16.8 15.1 11.6 23.0 4.93
1900 (Mar.) 15,964 5.1 15.0 17.6 16.9 14.2 10.9 20.4
1930 (Apr.) 29,905 7.9 23.4 20.8 17.5 12.0 7.6 10.9 4.11
1940 (Apr.) 34,949 7.1 24.8 22.4 18.1 11.5 6.8 9.3 3.67
1950 (Apr.)1 43,468 10.9 28.8 22.6 17.8 10.0 5.1 4.9 3.37
1955 (Mar.) 47,788 10.9 28.5 20.4 18.9 11.1 5.4 4.9 3.33
1960 (Mar.) 52,610 13.1 27.8 18.9 17.6 11.5 5.7 5.4 3.35
1965 (Mar.) 57,251 15.0 28.1 17.9 16.1 11.0 5.8 6.1 3.32
1970 (Mar.) 62,874 17.0 28.8 17.3 15.8 10.4 5.6 5.1 3.14
1975 (Mar.) 71,120 19.6 30.6 17.4 15.6 9.0 4.3 3.5 2.94
1980 (Mar.) 80,776 22.7 31.3 17.5 15.7 7.5 3.1 2.2 2.76
1985 (Mar.) 86,789 23.7 31.6 17.8 15.7 7.0 2.6 1.5 2.69
1990 (Mar.) 93,347 24.6 32.2 17.2 15.5 6.7 2.3 1.4 2.63
1995 (Mar.) 98,990 25.0 32.1 17.0 15.5 6.7 2.3 1.4 2.65
2000 (Mar.) 104,705 25.5 33.1 16.4 14.6 6.7 2.3 1.4 2.62
2003 (Mar.)2 111,278 26.4 33.3 16.1 14.3 6.3 2.3 1.2 2.57
2004 (Mar.)2 112,000 26.4 33.4 16.0 14.3 6.4 2.2 1.2 2.57
2005 (Mar.)2 113,300 27.0 33.0 16.0 14.0 6.0 2.0 1.0
2006 (Mar.)2 114,400 27.0 33.0 17.0 14.0 6.0 2.0 1.0
1. Covers related persons only; therefore, not strictly comparable with other years.
2. Based on Census 2000 and an expanded sample of households.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Web: www.census.gov .

Families by Type, Race, and Hispanic Origin, 2002 Household and Family Statistics Households, Families, and Married Couples, 1890–2002
Household and Family Statistics
Sources +