Hi friends, I am looking for data on the square footage of different types of housing (single-family, townhouse, multi-family, etc..), and trying to understand the trend since the 1950s (or 1970s). Does ACS or Decennial Census or any other program collect such data? Where can I find such data? Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
By the way, I do find articles referring to Census Bureau for such data (e.g., https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/todays-new-homes-are-1000-square-feet-larger-than-in-1973-and-the-living-space-per-person-has-doubled-over-last-40-years/#:~:text=Over%20the%20last%2040%20years,2%2C679%20square%20feet%20last%20year), but could not figure out where to start looking. Thank you,
I'm guessing the American Housing Survey. Here's the data tool:
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/interactive/ahstablecreator.html?s_areas=00000&s_year=2021&s_tablename=TABLE1&s_bygroup1=1&s_bygroup2=1&s_filtergroup1=1&s_filtergroup2=1
There is BDSP and/or RMSP in the ACS PUMS data. You might be able to use this as a proxy for square footage. You probably want to leverage this with other PUMS variables as covariates. You would also need a regression model going from rooms and other variables to square footage. You may be able to build a regression model using the AHS microdata file. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/2021/ahs-2021-public-use-file--puf-/ahs-2021-national-public-use-file--puf-.html The AHS has variables like number of bedrooms, number of rooms that match the ACS PUMS data. The AHS also has "square footage for unit" The AHS coverage comprises many Metro Areas and 9 states.