As the size of the typical American home continues to grow, lots are continuing to shrink and, in 2015, they reached their smallest size on record, dropping under 8,600 square feet for the first time on record, the NAHB’s Eye on Housing reports.
In an effort to help visualize this, consider that 5.6 median lots in 2015 would fit between the goal lines on a football field. However, as is the norm, there are pretty drastic regional differences in lot size.
For example, the median lot size in the New England region is 0.51 acres, but across the country in the Pacific region the median lot size is just 0.15 acres. The middle of the country also falls into the middle of the spectrum for lot sizes. The East North Central region has a median size of 0.24 acres while the West North Central region is slightly smaller at 0.22 acres. For the most part, as you head west across the country, lots diminish in size.
Median lot size was used in the NAHB’s analysis instead of average lot size because extreme outliers can heavily skew averages.
For the full breakdown of median lot sizes across the country, click the link below.
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