Purpose

The American Housing Survey (AHS) is sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The survey provides up-to-date information about the size, composition, and quality of the nation’s housing and measures changes in our housing stock as it ages. The survey also includes questions about:

• the physical condition of homes and neighborhoods,
• the costs of financing and maintaining homes, and
• the characteristics of people who live in these homes.

Uses of AHS

Eligible Survey Participants

Sponsoring Agency / Legal Authority

Periodicity

Release of Results

Historical Background

Survey Instrument

Topical Coverage

Outlook

Uses of AHS

Policy analysts, program managers, budget analysts, and Congressional staff use AHS data to monitor supply and demand, as well as changes in housing quality and housing costs, in order to assess the housing needs of homeowners and renters.  AHS data also help federal state and local government agencies design housing policies and administer housing laws.

HUD uses the AHS to create a biennial Worst Case Needs report to Congress, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of housing programs, and design programs appropriate for different target groups, such as low-income families, first-time home buyers, and the elderly. HUD also uses the data to allocate funds to resolve housing problems, determine qualifications for low-income housing assistance programs, and plan community development (e.g. roads, schools).

Academic researchers and private organizations also use AHS data to analyze trends in the housing market in efforts of specific interest and concern to their respective communities.

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Eligible Survey Participants

• Occupied Housing Units – A household respondent, who must be a knowledgeable household member 16 years of age or over, provides information on the unit, the household composition, and income. We prefer to select the reference person or spouse as the household respondent.
• Vacant Housing Units – A landlord, owner, real estate agent, or knowledgeable neighbor can provide data on the unit.
  • Exceptions - The following types of vacant units are excluded from the survey:
    • tents, caves, boats, railroad cars, and the like;
    • structures intended for nonresidential use;
    • units used for business storage; and
    • units unfit for human habitation (roofs, walls, windows, or doors no longer protect the interior from weather, or there is positive evidence, such as a sign on the house or block, that the unit is to be demolished or is condemned.)

The AHS defines a “housing unit” as any house, townhouse, apartment, mobile home or trailer, single room, group of rooms, or other location that is occupied as separate living quarters, or if vacant, is intended for occupancy as separate living quarters.

Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other people in the structure and that have direct access from the outside of the structure or through a common hall, lobby, or vestibule that is used or intended for use by the occupants of more than one unit or by the general public.

Some special living situations, including boats, self-propelling RVs, tents, etc. qualify as housing units only if they are occupied by someone who considers the unit to be their current residence.

The AHS excludes group quarters (e.g. orphanages, nursing homes, penitentiaries, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and military housing for singles).

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Sponsoring Agency and Legal Authorities

Congress requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to collect this information under the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 (Title 12 of the U.S.C., Section 1701z-1, 1701z-2(g), and 1701z-10a). The Census Bureau conducts the survey on behalf of HUD under the authority of Title 13 of the U.S.C. 8(b). The U.S. Census Bureau is required by law to protect your information. The Census Bureau is not permitted to release publicly individual responses in a way that could identify a particular household. Federal law protects your privacy and keeps your answers confidential (Title 13, United States Code, Section 9(a)).

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Periodicity

The AHS is conducted biennially between May and September in odd-numbered years. HUD sometimes adjusts this schedule and/or sample depending on budget constraints.  While national data are always collected, typically no more than 30 metropolitan areas are sampled in one survey year, due to budget constraints. See Methodology for more information about geography.

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Release of results

The U.S. Census Bureau releases public use file (PUF) microdata and summary tables and/or reports approximately 12 months after data collection.

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Historical Background

Pre-1973:

Before the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development joined forces in producing the AHS, the only information about the Nation’s housing inventory available from the Census Bureau was from the decennial censuses, one-time sample surveys, and a survey of vacant housing units. Although the decennial censuses provide a multitude of facts, these data are only available once every 10 years. The Federal Government recognized the need for more information on the general condition of the Nation’s housing to determine the need for, as well as the effectiveness of, government-sponsored programs. Congress modified Title 13 of the U.S. Code in 1939 to provide for the 1940 Census of Housing, which was conducted with the population census every 10 years until 2000. To understand fully the Nation’s housing, however, information is needed more frequently than once every decade.

The Housing Act of 1949 fortified America's national commitment to the housing goal of "a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family." The Federal Housing Act, which is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, expanded previous legislation to prohibit discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex and disability status.

The idea for the AHS dates back to the early 1960s to help HUD assess the current housing situation and create programs to achieve these goals, but funds were not available. Title V of the 1970 Housing Act authorized programs of "research, studies, testing, and demonstrations relating to the missions and programs of the Department”. As a result, HUD received money that paved the way for the AHS in 1972 and HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), the office responsible for the AHS, was established in 1973.

HUD envisioned the AHS as a database that would assess the quality of the housing stock, analyze its characteristics, record what Americans were paying for housing and related services, and monitor how housing units changed over time. The U.S. Census Bureau worked with HUD to convert this idea into a full-fledged survey—complete with sampling frame, questionnaires, and survey procedures. With HUD funding, the Census Bureau launched the first AHS in 1973, and the Census Bureau continues to collect information on housing for HUD through the AHS to this day.

1973-present:

The Census Bureau conducted the first AHS in 1973, under the name of the Annual Housing Survey, with a sample size of 60,000 housing units. The survey was conducted on an annual basis from 1973 to 1981. Due to budget constraints, it became biennial, therefore changing its name to the American Housing Survey.

The national sample underwent a redesign in 1985 based on data from the 1980 decennial census, with a base sample size of approximately 47,000 housing units. In 2005, the national sample was improved in two ways. Mobile home coverage was adjusted by replacing the units currently in the sample with mobile homes selected from Census 2000 and assisted living housing units selected from Census 2000 were introduced into the sample, thereby improving coverage of the elderly population.

A new representative national sample of approximately 85,000 housing units was drawn for the 2015 AHS using the Master Address File (MAF) as the sampling frame with additional oversampling of selected metropolitan areas and HUD-assisted housing units. The total sample size beginning in 2015 is about 115,000 housing units. This sample will be used until a new sample is drawn in 2025.

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Survey Instrument

The Census Bureau eliminated the paper questionnaire in 1997. All interviews from that point on were conducted by computer–assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) using laptop computers. The 1997 AHS National-level data were also the first AHS data processed under a redesigned system using SAS software. In 2007, the newly converted Blaise CAPI survey instrument was adopted. The Census Bureau implemented a Spanish version of the instrument in 2009.

Beginning with the 2011 AHS, the survey instrument consists of a permanent core questionnaire plus topical supplements that will rotate in and out of the questionnaire on a yet to be determined schedule.

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Topical Coverage

The AHS provides current information on a wide range of “core” housing subjects, including but not limited to the following:

• size and composition of the nation's housing inventory
• vacancies,
• owners and renters,
• physical conditions of housing units,
• equipment breakdowns,
• characteristics of occupants,
• housing and neighborhood quality,
• mortgages and other housing costs,
• fuel usage,
• home improvements,
• persons eligible for and beneficiaries of assisted housing,
• characteristics of recent movers, and
• home values.

In addition to the “core” data, the AHS collected “topical” or supplemental data using a series of modules that will rotate in and out of future surveys.  The 2023 topics included:

• housing insecurity,
• urbanization,
• healthy homes,
• parents' place of birth,
• power outages
• sexual orientation
  
• first generation homeowners
• heat risk
• cooling problems
• disaster related moves

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Outlook

Historically AHS has collected data for a limited number of months, every two years.  Beginning in 2025, the AHS will begin continuous data collection meaning data will be collected in every month of every year.  The sample size will be about 175,000 housing units, divided into twelve interview periods spanning a two-year interview period. AHS will continue to be longitudinal, interviewing the same housing unit about every two years until 2034.  Continuous data collection will begin May 2025. More information on upcoming data products will be available in calendar year 2026.

Topical content for the 2025-26 survey cycle include:

• arts and culture
• home accessibility
• climate risk and insurance

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