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Census 2000 Brief: Housing Costs of Homeowners: 2000

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Report Number C2KBR-27

Census 2000 counted 69.8 million owner-occupied housing units, or about two-thirds of the 105.5 million occupied housing units in the United States. Owner-occupied units included those with one or more mortgages (including home equity loans) as well as those owned free and clear.

This report, part of a series that presents population and housing data collected from Census 2000, examines mortgage status, selected monthly owner costs, and selected monthly owner costs as a percentage of household income in 1999 for specified owner-occupied housing units. The data show how these measures vary geographically (by regions, states, and large cities), by age of the householder, by race and Hispanic origin of the householder, and by some housing characteristics.

The Census Bureau collected mortgage status on the decennial censuses in 1940 and 1950, ceased collecting these data in the 1960 and 1970 censuses, then resumed in 1980. The Residential Finance Survey (RFS) filled the gap in 1960 and 1970. Selected monthly owner costs include the sum of payments for mortgages, deeds of trust, or similar debts on the property (including payments for the first mortgage, second or junior mortgages, and home equity loans); real estate taxes; fire, hazard, and flood insurance on the property; utilities (electricity, gas, water, and sewer); and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.). It also includes, where appropriate, monthly condominium fees. The components of selected monthly owner costs are presented in Figure 1. Selected monthly owner costs consisted of the same components in both 1990 and 2000. Medians in this report are computed for owner-occupied one-family houses on less than 10 acres with no business or commercial establishment on the property, referred to in this report as specified owner-occupied units. Census 2000 counted 55.2 million of these units, almost 80 percent of the total owner-occupied housing inventory. The Census Bureau began collecting data and tabulating data on selected monthly owner costs as a percentage of household income in 1980.

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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