Americans Are Squatting on a Lot of Unused Space

Before the rise of McMansions that began springing up in the '80s, Americans typically bought homes with just enough space for everyone living there. Today, homeowners are squatting on more unused space than ever, as measured by a record level of spare bedrooms, reports NBC News. Two big reasons explain the trend, says Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com. "Homes getting bigger and household size getting smaller."

• By the numbers: The number of extra bedrooms jumped to 31.9 million in 2024, up from 31.3 million in 2022. This is in contrast to the number of homes that had excess bedrooms in 1980—7 million. Today, there is a record low level of people living in a given household—2.5 in 2023 compared to a high of 3.1 in 1970. Despite the number of people per home shrinking, the number of bedrooms per home has grown over the last 50 years—2.8 rooms in 2023 compared to 2.5 in 1970.
• Highest, lowest: Houses with extra bedrooms tend to crop up regionally, with more concentrated in the "mountain west" and south, where there's more space to build, than in the northeast and west. Ogden, Utah; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah, ranked highest in the analysis for extra bedrooms, each with over 12% of houses qualifying. The lowest levels of spare bedrooms were found in Miami (5.9%); Sarasota, Florida (6.4%); and New York City (6.5%).
• Space cost: According to Axios, buying a home with more cushion drives up the price significantly. Though costs vary regionally, an average three-bedroom home in the US runs $336,839. Going up to a four-bedroom raises that to $496,089.

(You can soon check for a home's "climate risk.")