Dean Kaplan, a graduate educatee, chats with Sarah Heintz in the kitchen of the flat they share in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since the Great Recession, more than Americans accept "doubled upward" in shared living quarters. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Earth via Getty Images)

This decade will likely be the first in at least 160 years in which American households have more peopleOver the course of the nation's history, there has been a slow but steady decrease in the size of the average U.S. household – from 5.79 people per household in 1790 to 2.58 in 2010. But this decade volition likely be the first since the one that began in 1850 to break this long-running trend, according to newly released Census Bureau data. In 2018 there were 2.63 people per household.

Since 2010, household growth has trailed population growthHouseholds are increasing in size mathematically because the growth in the number of households is trailing population growth. The newly released data indicates that the population residing in households has grown vi% since 2010 (the smallest population growth since the 1930s), while the number of households has grown at a slower rate (4%, from 116.7 million in 2010 to 121.5 1000000 in 2018).

The increase in household size is significant because it could have implications for national economic growth. Ascent household size reduces the demand for housing, resulting in less residential structure and less demand for dwelling house appliances and furniture. In general, it leads to a less vigorous housing sector – fewer apartment leases and home purchases, likewise as less spending related to housing, such as cable company subscriptions and dwelling house accessories suppliers.

The long-running decline in American household size can exist tied to at least two demographic trends. The size of firsthand families has declined over time as women accept had fewer children. In 1790, the total fertility rate of white women was 7.0 births (pregnant a white adult female had, on average, seven births in her lifetime). By 1870 information technology had fallen to 4.6 births, and by 1940 it stood at two.ii. For black women, the total fertility rates were 7.7 and two.8 births for 1870 and 1940, respectively.

Furthermore, the rise of the nuclear family resulted in fewer extended family living arrangements and smaller households. In 1850, well-nigh seventy% of those ages 65 and older lived with their adult children. Past 2000, fewer than 15% did so. These demographic changes may reflect more cardinal societal changes such as industrialization, urbanization, rising living standards (especially for older adults) and constricted immigration in the first half of the 1900s.

This decade's likely upturn in average household size reflects several demographic trends.

A growing share of the population resides in multigenerational family unit households. Past 2016, 20% of Americans lived in a multigenerational household, up from 12% in 1980. On average, these families have about ii more members than other households. This partly reflects the country'due south increasing racial and ethnic diversity. The Asian, black and Hispanic populations are more likely to live in multigenerational households than non-Hispanic whites.

In improver, more Americans in the wake of the Great Recession are "doubled up" in shared living quarters. This organization refers to the presence of an "actress developed" in the household, who might be an adult kid or parent of the householder, or simply a roommate or boarder in the household. In 2019, 20% of households are shared households, upward from 17% in 2007.

Since 2010, more adults ages 35 and older live in households with at least three peopleNear age groups are living in larger households this decade. The alter is most apparent for adults ages 35 and older. For instance, in 2017, 67% of 35- to 54-year-olds lived in a household with three or more than people, an increase from 64% in 2010. A like increment in households of iii or more is credible among 55- to 64-twelvemonth-olds.

While bigger households may exist bad for the wider economy, they are often advantageous for the households themselves. The additional household members may be working adults who contribute to household income. The widely noted organization of immature adults residing with their parents demonstrates the economical benefits of bigger households. Last twelvemonth, 6% of families that had at least one adult kid historic period 25 to 34 living in the home were in poverty. The Census Bureau estimates that the poverty charge per unit for these families would have been 11.5% if the immature adult were not a fellow member of the household.

Average household size will likely exceed ii.58 persons in 2020 if the current pace of household growth holds.

Notation: There are two ways to look at trends regarding households in the U.S. In this analysis, which treats all households equally, the average household has 2.six people. Other analyses look at it through the prism of the average person and find that the average person lives in a household with 3.4 people. The average based on people gives more weight to larger households since there are more people residing in them.

Richard Fry is a senior researcher focusing on economics and education at Pew Research Center.