Historical Census of Housing Tables

Vacation Homes

Units that are classified as vacant for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use make up a class that is often referred to as "vacation" homes.  These may be large summer estates on Long Island, time-sharing condos in Fort Lauderdale, or simple fishing cabins in northern Michigan.  Analysts often use this category to estimate the number of second homes in a given area.

Florida was the clear leader in the number of these units over the last three censuses, but, before 1980, the clear leader was New York.  On a percentage basis, the three northern New England states (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) have been at the top since the first housing census in 1940 (see graph).

In order to make the vacation home category consistent over the decades, "seasonal", "held for occasional use", and "for migrant workers" are combined.  The "occasional use" category was not used prior to the 1960 census, which could partly explain a surge in vacation housing in 1960.  It is also true that the number of units recorded for this first-time classification in 1960 was very small.  Counts of seasonal and occasional use vacant units are separately provided from 1960 to 1980, but they were combined beginning in 1990 because evidence indicated enumerators had great difficulty determining the difference.

Counts of housing units for migrant workers were included with seasonal units before 1990.  For comparability, this housing type was added beginning with the 1990 count of seasonal, recreational, or occasional units.  Separate counts of migratory vacant units are provided beginning with 1990, for data users who would like to exclude them from the count of vacation homes.  The number of units for migrant workers has been very small over the decades.

           1          9          9          0       All          For seasonal,       housing      recreational,       units        or occasional                    use                               Migratory                      Number   Per-                               centUS    102,263,678  3,116,867    3.0%                      34,944AL      1,670,379     35,904    2.1%                         295AK        232,608     17,190    7.4%                         199AZ      1,659,430     97,030    5.8%                         926AR      1,000,667     18,667    1.9%                         443CA     11,182,882    198,436    1.8%                       3,051CO      1,477,349     64,621    4.4%                         807CT      1,320,850     20,475    1.6%                          47DE        289,919     19,365    6.7%                          37DC        278,489      1,663    0.6%                          88FL      6,100,262    421,003    6.9%                       3,333GA      2,638,418     34,254    1.3%                         617HI        389,810     12,888    3.3%                          82ID        413,327     25,342    6.1%                       1,090IL      4,506,275     25,263    0.6%                         207IN      2,246,046     37,065    1.7%                         120IA      1,143,669     14,696    1.3%                          52KS      1,044,112      7,531    0.7%                         195KY      1,506,845     21,159    1.4%                         197LA      1,716,241     30,786    1.8%                         453ME        587,045     88,206   15.0%                         167MD      1,891,917     42,486    2.2%                         218MA      2,472,711     90,501    3.7%                         134MI      3,847,926    226,621    5.9%                       3,072MN      1,848,445    105,659    5.7%                         537MS      1,010,423     16,348    1.6%                         346MO      2,199,129     55,847    2.5%                         355MT        361,155     21,069    5.8%                         588NE        660,621     11,329    1.7%                         351NV        518,858     11,522    2.2%                         264NH        503,904     57,177   11.3%                          42NJ      3,075,310    100,858    3.3%                         267NM        632,058     22,464    3.6%                         602NY      7,226,891    213,436    3.0%                         811NC      2,818,193    100,143    3.6%                       1,429ND        276,340      7,746    2.8%                         510OH      4,371,945     37,781    0.9%                         457OK      1,406,499     25,547    1.8%                         378OR      1,193,567     31,679    2.7%                       1,479PA      4,938,140    144,571    2.9%                         212RI        414,572     12,053    2.9%                          16SC      1,424,155     50,203    3.5%                         360SD        292,436      8,484    2.9%                          93TN      2,026,067     23,689    1.2%                         300TX      7,008,999    157,649    2.2%                       5,730UT        598,388     21,203    3.5%                         180VT        271,214     45,443   16.8%                          38VA      2,496,334     42,209    1.7%                         467WA      2,032,378     58,342    2.9%                       2,510WV        781,295     22,526    2.9%                         123WI      2,055,774    150,761    7.3%                         160WY        203,411      9,977    4.9%                         509           1          9          8          0       All          For seasonal or     Seasonal          Occasional       housing      occasional use                        use       units                      Number   Per-     Number   Per-     Number   Per-                               cent              cent              centUS     88,411,263  2,794,054    3.2% 1,718,440    1.9% 1,075,614    1.2%AL      1,467,374     30,283    2.1%    17,363    1.2%    12,920    0.9%AK        162,825     11,996    7.4%     8,654    5.3%     3,342    2.1%AZ      1,110,558     66,498    6.0%    44,121    4.0%    22,377    2.0%AR        898,593     20,965    2.3%     9,853    1.1%    11,112    1.2%CA      9,279,036    181,620    2.0%    58,615    0.6%   123,005    1.3%CO      1,194,253     48,116    4.0%    25,572    2.1%    22,544    1.9%CT      1,158,884     20,696    1.8%    14,831    1.3%     5,865    0.5%DE        238,611     16,243    6.8%     8,504    3.6%     7,739    3.2%DC        276,984        903    0.3%       192    0.1%       711    0.3%FL      4,378,691    304,607    7.0%   108,300    2.5%   196,307    4.5%GA      2,028,350     31,025    1.5%    15,710    0.8%    15,315    0.8%HI        334,235      6,431    1.9%     2,022    0.6%     4,409    1.3%ID        375,127     22,737    6.1%    15,371    4.1%     7,366    2.0%IL      4,319,672     31,610    0.7%    16,809    0.4%    14,801    0.3%IN      2,091,795     41,727    2.0%    28,678    1.4%    13,049    0.6%IA      1,131,299     15,803    1.4%    10,100    0.9%     5,703    0.5%KS        954,906     10,272    1.1%     4,755    0.5%     5,517    0.6%KY      1,369,125     22,288    1.6%    14,117    1.0%     8,171    0.6%LA      1,548,419     29,750    1.9%    13,098    0.8%    16,652    1.1%ME        501,093     79,876   15.9%    73,716   14.7%     6,160    1.2%MD      1,570,907     34,269    2.2%    21,688    1.4%    12,581    0.8%MA      2,208,146     81,955    3.7%    68,005    3.1%    13,950    0.6%MI      3,589,912    215,958    6.0%   141,577    3.9%    74,381    2.1%MN      1,612,960     97,753    6.1%    83,597    5.2%    14,156    0.9%MS        911,627     20,036    2.2%     7,549    0.8%    12,487    1.4%MO      1,988,915     53,371    2.7%    27,752    1.4%    25,619    1.3%MT        328,465     19,046    5.8%    13,450    4.1%     5,596    1.7%NE        624,829     10,623    1.7%     6,130    1.0%     4,493    0.7%NV        339,949      7,494    2.2%     2,458    0.7%     5,036    1.5%NH        386,381     45,884   11.9%    37,166    9.6%     8,718    2.3%NJ      2,772,149    105,825    3.8%    84,395    3.0%    21,430    0.8%NM        507,513     24,069    4.7%    14,221    2.8%     9,848    1.9%NY      6,867,638    215,920    3.1%   168,554    2.5%    47,366    0.7%NC      2,274,737     84,233    3.7%    51,730    2.3%    32,503    1.4%ND        258,772      9,353    3.6%     6,154    2.4%     3,199    1.2%OH      4,108,105     45,195    1.1%    30,829    0.8%    14,366    0.3%OK      1,237,040     20,265    1.6%     8,361    0.7%    11,904    1.0%OR      1,083,285     30,237    2.8%    11,991    1.1%    18,246    1.7%PA      4,596,431    125,052    2.7%    87,099    1.9%    37,953    0.8%RI        372,672     12,057    3.2%    10,039    2.7%     2,018    0.5%SC      1,153,709     43,992    3.8%    32,261    2.8%    11,731    1.0%SD        276,997     10,706    3.9%     7,503    2.7%     3,203    1.2%TN      1,747,422     21,676    1.2%    10,575    0.6%    11,101    0.6%TX      5,549,352    154,974    2.8%    68,936    1.2%    86,038    1.6%UT        490,006     12,602    2.6%     9,262    1.9%     3,340    0.7%VT        223,199     34,279   15.4%    27,255   12.2%     7,024    3.1%VA      2,020,941     39,589    2.0%    22,248    1.1%    17,341    0.9%WA      1,689,450     56,304    3.3%    39,039    2.3%    17,265    1.0%WV        747,810     18,923    2.5%    11,458    1.5%     7,465    1.0%WI      1,863,897    140,401    7.5%   110,928    6.0%    29,473    1.6%WY        188,217      8,567    4.6%     5,849    3.1%     2,718    1.4%           1          9          7          0       All          For seasonal or    Seasonal           Occasional       Migra-       housing      occasional use                        use              tory       units                      Number   Per-     Number   Per-     Number   Per-                               cent              cent              centUS     68,679,030  2,020,087    2.9% 1,022,464    1.5%   997,623    1.5%   54,122AL      1,120,220     24,797    2.2%     5,580    0.5%    19,217    1.7%AK         90,729      5,187    5.7%     2,386    2.6%     2,801    3.1%AZ        584,171     15,598    2.7%     5,681    1.0%     9,917    1.7%AR        675,611     17,117    2.5%     2,816    0.4%    14,301    2.1%CA      6,996,990    129,593    1.9%    20,246    0.3%   109,347    1.6%CO        757,070     31,610    4.2%    15,420    2.0%    16,190    2.1%CT        981,158     19,678    2.0%    13,090    1.3%     6,588    0.7%DE        180,233      7,506    4.2%     5,490    3.0%     2,016    1.1%DC        278,444      1,073    0.4%        70    0.0%     1,003    0.4%FL      2,526,612     84,921    3.4%    37,644    1.5%    47,277    1.9%GA      1,470,557     22,984    1.6%     4,289    0.3%    18,695    1.3%HI        216,085      3,066    1.4%       188    0.1%     2,878    1.3%ID        244,695     13,166    5.4%     6,572    2.7%     6,594    2.7%IL      3,703,367     31,417    0.8%    10,452    0.3%    20,965    0.6%IN      1,730,099     36,070    2.1%    18,231    1.1%    17,839    1.0%IA        964,060     17,687    1.8%     9,259    1.0%     8,428    0.9%KS        789,196     10,888    1.4%     1,774    0.2%     9,114    1.2%KY      1,064,451     20,039    1.9%     4,087    0.4%    15,952    1.5%LA      1,150,235     24,285    2.1%     4,354    0.4%    19,931    1.7%ME        397,169     76,062   19.2%    60,162   15.1%    15,900    4.0%MD      1,249,177     25,210    2.0%    14,668    1.2%    10,542    0.8%MA      1,890,400     68,382    3.6%    54,202    2.9%    14,180    0.8%MI      2,954,570    178,143    6.0%   112,743    3.8%    65,400    2.2%MN      1,276,198     74,153    5.8%    57,498    4.5%    16,655    1.3%MS        699,150     17,176    2.5%     2,056    0.3%    15,120    2.2%MO      1,673,361     46,514    2.8%     9,238    0.6%    37,276    2.2%MT        246,603     13,297    5.4%     6,299    2.6%     6,998    2.8%NE        515,069      9,294    1.8%     3,178    0.6%     6,116    1.2%NV        172,558      3,617    2.1%       923    0.5%     2,694    1.6%NH        280,962     44,045   15.7%    33,954   12.1%    10,091    3.6%NJ      2,388,011    108,292    4.5%    85,402    3.6%    22,890    1.0%NM        325,722     11,072    3.4%     3,824    1.2%     7,248    2.2%NY      6,298,663    208,018    3.3%   146,400    2.3%    61,618    1.0%NC      1,641,222     48,811    3.0%    23,119    1.4%    25,692    1.6%ND        204,222      8,047    3.9%     3,888    1.9%     4,159    2.0%OH      3,465,356     38,505    1.1%    18,188    0.5%    20,317    0.6%OK        939,681     19,859    2.1%     2,041    0.2%    17,818    1.9%OR        744,616     19,403    2.6%     9,373    1.3%    10,030    1.3%PA      3,924,757     84,114    2.1%    48,546    1.2%    35,568    0.9%RI        316,477     11,621    3.7%     9,976    3.2%     1,645    0.5%SC        815,123     27,631    3.4%    10,368    1.3%    17,263    2.1%SD        225,253      8,281    3.7%     3,533    1.6%     4,748    2.1%TN      1,300,908     19,432    1.5%     3,902    0.3%    15,530    1.2%TX      3,829,502    112,657    2.9%    21,096    0.6%    91,561    2.4%UT        315,765      7,117    2.3%     3,951    1.3%     3,166    1.0%VT        165,068     25,324   15.3%    15,967    9.7%     9,357    5.7%VA      1,492,954     31,306    2.1%     8,803    0.6%    22,503    1.5%WA      1,220,475     40,263    3.3%    16,288    1.3%    23,975    2.0%WV        597,266     17,649    3.0%     4,895    0.8%    12,754    2.1%WI      1,472,466     94,932    6.4%    58,361    4.0%    36,571    2.5%WY        116,323      5,178    4.5%     1,993    1.7%     3,185    2.7%Counts of seasonal vacants are from 100-percent data for 1980while counts of occasional use vacants are from sample data. This is a result of a 100-percent computer edit that shiftedmany occasional use to "other" vacant units.           1          9          6          0       All          For seasonal or    Seasonal          Occasional       housing      occasional use                       use       units                      Number   Per-     Number   Per-     Number   Per-                               cent              cent              centUS     58,326,357  2,024,381    3.5% 1,742,465    3.0%   281,916    0.5%AL        967,466     21,680    2.2%    18,156    1.9%     3,524    0.4%AK         67,193      4,157    6.2%     3,079    4.6%     1,078    1.6%AZ        415,834     17,323    4.2%    15,686    3.8%     1,637    0.4%AR        586,552     22,309    3.8%    19,113    3.3%     3,196    0.5%CA      5,465,870    128,870    2.4%    89,854    1.6%    39,016    0.7%CO        594,522     28,690    4.8%    24,523    4.1%     4,167    0.7%CT        818,544     31,550    3.9%    28,237    3.4%     3,313    0.4%DE        143,725      6,429    4.5%     6,054    4.2%       375    0.3%DC        262,641        610    0.2%       354    0.1%       256    0.1%FL      1,776,961     73,926    4.2%    63,531    3.6%    10,395    0.6%GA      1,170,039     23,337    2.0%    18,642    1.6%     4,695    0.4%HI        165,506      2,960    1.8%     1,541    0.9%     1,419    0.9%ID        223,533     14,837    6.6%    13,668    6.1%     1,169    0.5%IL      3,275,799     37,424    1.1%    30,608    0.9%     6,816    0.2%IN      1,503,148     39,780    2.6%    33,955    2.3%     5,825    0.4%IA        905,295     18,129    2.0%    15,940    1.8%     2,189    0.2%KS        740,335     12,100    1.6%     9,877    1.3%     2,223    0.3%KY        925,572     17,078    1.8%    12,858    1.4%     4,220    0.5%LA        978,452     22,114    2.3%    17,514    1.8%     4,600    0.5%ME        364,617     64,718   17.7%    61,102   16.8%     3,616    1.0%MD        934,552     24,996    2.7%    20,868    2.2%     4,128    0.4%MA      1,690,998     87,019    5.1%    80,525    4.8%     6,494    0.4%MI      2,548,792    170,932    6.7%   153,138    6.0%    17,794    0.7%MN      1,119,271     77,627    6.9%    72,607    6.5%     5,020    0.4%MS        628,945     18,243    2.9%    15,516    2.5%     2,727    0.4%MO      1,491,397     37,125    2.5%    29,195    2.0%     7,930    0.5%MT        233,310     14,091    6.0%    12,766    5.5%     1,325    0.6%NE        472,950     10,003    2.1%     8,263    1.7%     1,740    0.4%NV        101,623      2,573    2.5%     2,180    2.1%       393    0.4%NH        224,440     33,882   15.1%    31,590   14.1%     2,292    1.0%NJ      1,998,940    122,152    6.1%   113,189    5.7%     8,963    0.4%NM        281,976     10,110    3.6%     8,961    3.2%     1,149    0.4%NY      5,695,880    247,977    4.4%   225,169    4.0%    22,808    0.4%NC      1,322,957     36,583    2.8%    29,616    2.2%     6,967    0.5%ND        194,597      7,395    3.8%     6,500    3.3%       895    0.5%OH      3,041,151     41,790    1.4%    33,670    1.1%     8,120    0.3%OK        815,685     18,670    2.3%    13,262    1.6%     5,408    0.7%OR        622,853     23,612    3.8%    16,924    2.7%     6,688    1.1%PA      3,581,877     85,121    2.4%    75,403    2.1%     9,718    0.3%RI        286,757     14,521    5.1%    13,709    4.8%       812    0.3%SC        678,379     21,189    3.1%    17,185    2.5%     4,004    0.6%SD        216,449      8,102    3.7%     7,224    3.3%       878    0.4%TN      1,084,365     17,073    1.6%    12,979    1.2%     4,094    0.4%TX      3,153,127    107,159    3.4%    82,487    2.6%    24,672    0.8%UT        262,670      5,518    2.1%     4,821    1.8%       697    0.3%VT        136,307     18,171   13.3%    16,517   12.1%     1,654    1.2%VA      1,168,913     23,770    2.0%    18,450    1.6%     5,320    0.5%WA      1,009,519     42,372    4.2%    37,339    3.7%     5,033    0.5%WV        574,357     13,909    2.4%    10,543    1.8%     3,366    0.6%WI      1,288,620     88,130    6.8%    81,581    6.3%     6,549    0.5%WY        113,096      6,545    5.8%     5,996    5.3%       549    0.5%Any occasional use vacants enumerated as "dilapidated" would not be included in the vacant counts above for 1960.           1          9          5          0       All              Seasonal       housing       units                               Number   Per-                               centUS     45,983,398  1,050,466    2.3%AL        843,857      6,307    0.7%AK         33,072        263    0.8%AZ        240,750      5,487    2.3%AR        575,163      7,294    1.3%CA      3,590,660     59,355    1.7%CO        436,226     19,924    4.6%CT        611,162     22,658    3.7%DE         97,013      3,031    3.1%DC        229,738        129    0.1%FL        952,131     25,121    2.6%GA        966,672      7,493    0.8%HI        120,606         NA     NAID        188,328      5,408    2.9%IL      2,671,647     20,102    0.8%IN      1,232,314     21,710    1.8%IA        811,912      7,538    0.9%KS        625,148      3,890    0.6%KY        820,141      4,586    0.6%LA        777,672      6,269    0.8%ME        311,441     37,754   12.1%MD        689,116     18,071    2.6%MA      1,400,185     56,916    4.1%MI      1,971,842    100,534    5.1%MN        918,434     41,330    4.5%MS        609,329      6,235    1.0%MO      1,268,354     12,639    1.0%MT        194,256      5,504    2.8%NE        417,245      3,036    0.7%NV         56,515        791    1.4%NH        190,563     24,184   12.7%NJ      1,501,473     78,320    5.2%NM        199,706      4,248    2.1%NY      4,633,806    161,474    3.5%NC      1,058,367     13,525    1.3%ND        175,769      2,242    1.3%OH      2,402,565     23,522    1.0%OK        715,691      5,523    0.8%OR        524,003     12,657    2.4%PA      3,036,494     43,071    1.4%RI        244,147     11,024    4.5%SC        557,672      7,776    1.4%SD        194,573      2,789    1.4%TN        921,837      5,534    0.6%TX      2,393,828     42,540    1.8%UT        200,554      2,243    1.1%VT        121,911     10,582    8.7%VA        901,483      9,639    1.1%WA        809,701     21,945    2.7%WV        544,075      4,267    0.8%WI      1,055,843     52,107    4.9%WY         92,086      2,142    2.3%Alaska and Hawaii are not included in U.S. total for 1950.           1          9          4          0       All              Seasonal       housing       units                               Number   Per-                               centUS     37,325,470    739,594    2.0% AL        708,043      1,964    0.3%AK             NA         NA     NAAZ        147,079      4,725    3.2%AR        520,613      2,252    0.4%CA      2,340,373     60,684    2.6%CO        354,660     14,806    4.2%CT        488,543     23,293    4.8%DE         75,567      2,435    3.2%DC        185,128         37    0.0%FL        590,451     22,572    3.8%GA        796,715      2,878    0.4%HI             NA         NA     NAID        152,835      2,626    1.7%IL      2,280,826     17,253    0.8%IN      1,005,952     14,994    1.5%IA        726,654      4,867    0.7%KS        545,721      1,295    0.2%KY        729,206      1,110    0.2%LA        619,233      2,231    0.4%ME        260,659     26,220   10.1%MD        500,156     11,752    2.3%MA      1,221,252     46,366    3.8%MI      1,519,378     60,486    4.0%MN        773,042     22,576    2.9%MS        557,246      1,528    0.3%MO      1,140,493      9,169    0.8%MT        177,443      3,302    1.9%NE        387,368      1,431    0.4%NV         36,770        691    1.9%NH        158,044     15,838   10.0%NJ      1,223,887     65,801    5.4%NM        145,642      4,656    3.2%NY      4,032,460    116,960    2.9%NC        820,888      5,711    0.7%ND        162,881        749    0.5%OH      1,977,693     18,401    0.9%OK        647,485      2,374    0.4%OR        369,811      8,890    2.4%PA      2,618,056     26,376    1.0%RI        203,469      9,130    4.5%SC        458,899      3,269    0.7%SD        179,744      1,706    0.9%TN        742,030      2,236    0.3%TX      1,804,884     23,240    1.3%UT        147,291      1,198    0.8%VT        106,362      7,052    6.6%VA        659,787      4,560    0.7%WA        590,439     15,106    2.6%WV        459,725      1,407    0.3%WI        897,719     39,666    4.4%WY         76,868      1,725    2.2%