Where Americans Build the Biggest Homes

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analyzed the 2019 Survey of Construction (SOC) data, which shows a trend of declining home size across the country before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The NAHB predicts that this trend is likely to reverse in the years to come, however, there are some regions of the country that have large homes built today. The NAHB reports which areas of the United States have some of the largest single-family homes.

According to the 2019 Survey of Construction, the three regions of America with the largest homes built are the Middle Atlantic, Mountain States, the West South Central, and the South Atlantic. Middle Atlantic states include New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. The Mountain States include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

The West South Central region is made up of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Lastly, the South Atlantic region consists of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as the District of Columbia.

The median square footage of new single-family homes started in the U.S. last year was 2,300 square feet. This includes finished areas of the basement and attic. The median square footage was 2,500 square feet for new single-family homes started in the Middle Atlantic region of America in 2019. That same year, single-family homes started in the Mountain States, as well as the West South Central and South Atlantic regions, all had a median square footage of 2,300 square feet.

The NAHB also reports that there were substantial differences in square footage between single-family attached and detached homes. In single-family attached homes, the median square foot area of completely finished floor space nationwide was 1,800 square feet. For detached single-family homes, the median square footage was 2,400. 

The Middle Atlantic is the top region in the country for building some of the largest attached and detached homes, with a median of 2,400 square feet and detached 2,600 square feet, respectively.  Meanwhile, the New England area, where new single-family attached homes are more common than in any other region, had a median square footage of 1,800 for attached homes in 2019. 

Analyzing spec homes compared with custom homes built by contractors and owners also reveals some variation in new home sizes. Across the country, new single-family homes built by contractors have a median square foot area of completely finished floor space of 2,400 square feet. 

By comparison, homes built by owners are typically smaller, with about half of them reporting square footage of 2,000 square feet or less. New single-family homes built for sale tend to be about the same size as those built by contractors, with a median square footage of 2,300 square feet.

The NAHB provides more detailed data on the square footage of new single-family homes in its full analysis.