Housing vacancy rate, explained

What it measures

The housing vacancy rate is the percentage of all housing units in a place that are not occupied as a usual residence on the survey date. The numerator includes units for rent, units for sale, units rented or sold but not yet occupied, units used seasonally or for migrant workers, units held for occasional use by their owners (vacation homes), and units that are vacant for other reasons. The denominator is total housing units (occupied plus vacant).

This is the Census definition of vacancy, which is broader than the popular conception. A second home in a vacation area that is occupied by its owner for two weeks a year is counted as "vacant" because it is not anyone's usual residence, even though it is in active use most weeks during the season.

Why it matters

Vacancy rate is one of the more interpretive metrics in the Census collection because high vacancy can mean two opposite things. In vacation areas (Outer Banks NC, Cape Cod, the Florida Keys, ski towns in Colorado and Utah), high vacancy reflects strong second-home demand and is associated with high home values and economic vitality. In declining industrial cities (Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, parts of rural West Virginia), high vacancy reflects abandonment and is associated with low values and decline. Looking at vacancy alone is misleading; pair it with home values, population trends, and the breakdown of vacancy categories to interpret.

How the Census measures it

ACS Table B25002, Occupancy Status. The Census Bureau categorizes every housing unit by whether it is occupied or vacant; vacant units are further categorized by reason in Table B25004. CensusEasy reports vacancy as vacant / total housing units × 100. Decennial census counts the same way and is the higher-quality source for vacancy for years ending in zero.

How to read the numbers

The US vacancy rate is about 12%. State rates range from roughly 7% (Connecticut, California) to over 20% (Maine, Vermont, driven by seasonal second homes). Among counties and cities, the extremes split between vacation-economy areas (Aspen-area Colorado counties, Outer Banks NC, parts of coastal Florida above 50% vacancy because most homes are seasonal) and depopulated rural and industrial areas. For metro areas, vacancy rates over 15% indicate either strong vacation demand or weak structural demand; the supporting data (vacancy reason breakdown, home-value trend) tells you which.

Caveats and limitations

The headline vacancy rate does not distinguish between seasonal-use vacancy (a positive economic signal) and abandonment (a negative one). The Bureau publishes the breakdown in B25004 but it is not commonly cited. Vacancy rates also lag market conditions, units that go vacant during the survey period may have already been re-occupied by publication. Pair vacancy with home values and population trend before interpreting.