Map: Are Single- or Multi-Story Homes More Common?

Information obtained from the US Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and tabulated by NAHB, shows that the share of two-story homes continued to decrease and the share of two or more stories homes started was equal to one story homes in 2020. The Mountain division was the only region for which the number of stories changed in 2020, though the shares of one and two or more stories remained similar to the past few years.

Nationwide, the share of new homes with two or more stories fell from 52% in 2019 to 50% in 2020, while the share of new homes with one story grew from 48% to 50%. New England was the only region that saw a decline in the share of one story homes in 2020. Shares of single-story homes in the South region have increased for three straight years. Though two or more stories new homes are more common in Middle Atlantic, there was a significant growth (from 22% to 28%) of the share of single-story homes from 2019 to 2020.

Looking deeper, four of the nine divisions saw a greater share of newly-built two or more stories homes. Among these four divisions, New England and Middle Atlantic had a significantly higher proportion (85% and 72%) of two or more stories homes. New homes started with two or more stories in South Atlantic and Pacific were 52% and 61%. The greatest concentrations of two-or-more story homes were in divisions along the coasts of the country.

New homes started in the Midwest and South showed a stronger preference of single-story homes, except for the South Atlantic division in the South. In the Midwest (East North Central and West North Central), 56% and 57% of new homes started were one-story, while the shares in the East South Central and West South Central were 61% and 62%.