This New House

— Illustration by: Nathan Fox

The American Dream just keeps growing. Since 1970 the size of the average new home has ballooned by 50 percent. “Great rooms,” Viking ranges, 10-acre lots—can moats and turrets be far behind?

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To view this article with Nathan Fox's illustration, as it appeared in the March/April 2005 issue of Mother Jones magazine, download the following PDFs:

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MJ027.pdf (8.4 MB)


  • Since 1950, the average new house has increased by 1,247 sq. ft. Meanwhile, the average household has shrunk by 1 person.

  • The National Association of Home Builders’ “showcase home” for 2005 is 5,950 sq. ft. That’s 15% bigger than last year’s model.

  • The Unabomber’s legal defense team cited the size of his shack—10’ x 12’—to buttress his insanity plea.

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Continued From Above

  • 1 in 4 Americans want at least a 3-car garage.

  • 88% of American commuters drive to work.

  • 76% of those drivers commute alone.

  • The number of Americans with commutes of longer than 90 minutes each way has increased 95% since 1990.

  • Since 1982, 35 million acres—an area the equivalent of New York state—have been developed.

  • More than 50% of exurban lots are 10 acres or larger. Exurban homes account for 80% of residential development since 1994.

  • In 1950, 1 in 100 homes had 2.5 baths or more. Today, 1 in 2 do.

  • 14 million households own 4 or more TVs.

  • Americans spend more to power home audio and video equipment that is “off” but still plugged in than they do to power such devices while actually in use.

  • Such “energy vampires” consume 5% of the nation’s electricity.

  • Extreme Makeover: Home Edition recently gave a 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 7-television house to a family of 4.

  • Americans with cable TV have 30 hours of home-improvement programming available to them each day.

  • Sales of Sub-Zero and other “premium” and “superpremium” refrigerators have been rising by 15% a year.

  • 1 in 5 new homes is larger than 3,000 sq. ft.—the size at which it becomes unmanageable to clean without hired help.

  • The average cost of a luxury kitchen remodel is $57,000. That’s $10,000 more than it costs to build a typical Habitat for Humanity home.

  • Suburban and urban kids use illegal drugs, have sex, fight, and steal at the same rates, but suburban kids are more likely to drink and smoke.

  • 0.03% of U.S. homes are fueled by solar energy. 0.4% lack complete plumbing facilities.

  • People who live in cities use half as much energy as suburbanites.

  • If Americans bought only appliances with an“Energy Star” rating over the next 15 years, the reduction in greenhouse gases would equate to taking 17 million cars off the road.

  • 1/3 of a home’s heating oil is used for hot water. Multiple-head shower systems can drain a 40-gallon tank in less than 4 minutes.

  • The average new home requires 13,837 board feet of lumber and 19 tons of cement.

  • Since 1976, federal housing assistance has been slashed by 48%.

  • Last spring, the Bush administration proposed an additional $1 billion cut to the Section 8 housing subsidy.

  • 87% of homeowners are white.

  • Overall, blacks receive subprime loans 2.83 times more often than whites. The disparity increases when affluent blacks are compared to affluent whites.

  • If it were a state, New York City would rank 51st in energy use per capita.

  • Suburban white men weigh 10 pounds more than men in cities.

  • Only 2.7% of San Francisco’s teachers, 5.7% of its cops, and 4.2% of its nurses can afford to buy a home there.

  • 1 in 4 Californians are considering moving out of state to reduce their housing costs.

  • Rush Limbaugh’s Palm Beach estate is worth 15 times the value of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Chappaqua, N.Y., home.

  • 7% of all homes are in gated communities.

  • 7% of all homes are mobile homes.

  • Since 2001, the number of Americans who have bought second homes has increased by 24%.



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    Comments

    Submitted by Alicia (not verified) on Mon Jun. 11, 2007 7:43 AM PDT.

    On the fact about Extreme Makeover Home Edition, you failed to mention that the house was also functioning as a bed and breakfast inn.

    Submitted by Jenn (not verified) on Thu Jul. 5, 2007 8:20 PM PDT.

    And Urban Black Women weigh 20 pounds more thatn Suburban White Men.

    Submitted by PJ (not verified) on Sun Jul. 15, 2007 11:19 AM PDT.

    Love the stats! Very interesting ... maybe even useful. Thanks

    Submitted by LouisM (not verified) on Tue Mar. 25, 2008 8:24 PM PDT.

    "Suburban white men weigh 10 pounds more than men in cities."
    If you have been to a Walmart lately... you know this is am understatement. The heavier they were, the bigger the TV screen they were buying. I love the stats also. 14 million have 4 TVs. Am the only one with none? Okay I do watch Olbermann on my computer. But I don't know what reality TV is and I am never bothered by commercials unless it is in line at BofA because they have a freakin' TV in the teller line! Oh! OOOHHH! Sorry, couldn't help doing Sam Kinison...

    Submitted by Chris (not verified) on Mon Apr. 28, 2008 4:42 PM PDT.

    Some staggering statistics about the growing gap between the haves and have-nots.

    the american commuter stats

    Submitted by home improvement (not verified) on Tue Jun. 30, 2009 1:27 PM PDT.

    the american commuter stats should have fallen. I know alot of people that work from home. I would think it would be around 75%. I just love the stats.

    its all about people having

    Submitted by home improvement tips (not verified) on Thu Jul. 2, 2009 8:25 PM PDT.

    its all about people having the biggest house. So people can brag on their house. People are so arrogant sometimes.

    interesting

    Submitted by Crystal (not verified) on Sun Aug. 9, 2009 3:59 PM PDT.

    intereting info at this post thanks!!!! i really like it

    I use it

    Submitted by Spa Massage (not verified) on Thu Aug. 27, 2009 9:57 PM PDT.

    very nice post thanks! i really like it

    Love the stats! Very

    Submitted by louis vuitton (not verified) on Sat Sep. 12, 2009 2:39 AM PDT.

    Love the stats! Very interesting ... maybe even useful. Thanks

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