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U.S. Household Size, at a Record Low, May Finally Be Bottoming Out
One possible cause: Americans are tired of living alone.
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The average U.S. household had 2.52 people in 2019, the Census Bureau estimates. That’s the country’s lowest size ever. It’s precisely half of the number in 1880 and down a quarter from the Baby Boom-era average of 3.36.
This long decline in household size is linked to all sorts of economic and social phenomena: urbanization, the forgoing of marriage and childbirth—even the rise in spending on restaurants relative to groceries, as smaller households save less by preparing meals at home. Smaller households also use more energy per person, a hurdle for combating climate change as household sizes decrease around the world.