U.S. Census Bureau
 American Housing Survey (AHS)




American Housing Survey for the United States: 2001


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Table 4-6. Failures in Equipment--Renter Occupied Units
[Numbers in thousands.  Consistent with the 1990 Census.  ... means not applicable or sample too small.  - means zero or rounds to zero.]
Housing unit characteristics
Physical problems
Household characteristics
In MSAs
Urban
Rural
Regions
Total
occupied
units		 New con-
struction
4 years		 Manu-
factured/
mobile
homes		 Severe Moderate Black Hispanic Elderly
(65 years
and over)		 Moved in
past year		 Below
poverty
level		 Total
occupied
units		 Central
cities		 Suburbs Outside
MSAs		 Total Outside
MSAs		 Total Suburbs Outside
MSAs		 Northeast Midwest South West

Total		 33996 1163 1218 1178 2528 6974 5083 4299 11412 7889 33996 14861 14153 4982 29646 2627 4351 1938 2355 7334 6709 11353 8600

Water Supply Stoppage

With hot and cold piped water		 33840 1162 1218 1021 2528 6915 5066 4265 11356 7800 33840 14757 14132 4951 29527 2615 4313 1931 2336 7295 6672 11306 8566
No stoppage in last 3 months 31699 1103 1118 867 2324 6471 4746 4054 10675 7287 31699 13749 13281 4670 27685 2474 4015 1776 2195 6819 6298 10564 8018
With stoppage in last 3 months 1773 46 79 154 178 348 301 169 576 407 1773 829 716 227 1519 109 253 135 119 395 306 587 485
No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more 667 13 28 29 54 110 127 89 227 144 667 296 294 77 597 49 70 42 28 119 122 224 203
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 678 23 27 56 84 139 104 47 226 163 678 304 262 111 554 43 123 55 69 144 130 225 178
2 times 219 4 7 23 22 51 25 13 74 41 219 107 102 11 194 6 25 20 5 55 30 74 60
3 times 79 0 10 11 3 19 13 7 19 18 79 41 21 17 61 5 18 6 11 26 17 26 11
4 times or more 114 5 5 35 12 29 27 13 20 36 114 73 30 11 99 5 15 9 6 45 6 35 28
Number of times not reported 15 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 10 5 15 8 7 0 14 0 2 2 0 6 2 2 5
Stoppage not reported 368 13 21 0 26 96 19 43 105 106 368 178 135 54 323 32 45 21 22 80 69 155 64

Flush Toilet Breakdowns

With one or more flush toilets		 33826 1162 1218 1008 2528 6934 5061 4267 11347 7796 33826 14739 14124 4963 29508 2621 4318 1934 2342 7279 6675 11321 8551
With at least one working toilet at all
times in last 3 months		 31557 1088 1119 829 2145 6305 4704 4082 10406 7108 31557 13678 13260 4619 27485 2410 4072 1823 2209 6819 6270 10468 7999
None working some time in last 3 months 1790 61 75 138 346 504 323 130 796 556 1790 819 713 258 1609 163 180 86 95 358 305 659 467
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 829 35 36 40 74 206 146 72 404 219 829 342 352 135 746 93 83 41 42 154 132 305 238
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 581 21 19 41 84 152 103 45 248 188 581 287 216 78 526 48 54 24 30 113 104 203 160
2 times 174 5 5 26 20 58 35 12 55 64 174 81 75 18 162 11 12 5 7 38 37 67 31
3 times 88 0 0 11 77 41 14 0 34 34 88 41 37 11 80 8 9 7 2 22 15 35 17
4 times or more 109 0 15 20 88 48 23 0 48 46 109 64 29 16 89 2 20 7 13 28 12 49 19
Number of times not reported 9 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 7 5 9 4 5 0 7 0 2 2 0 2 4 0 2
Breakdowns not reported 479 13 23 40 37 125 33 56 145 132 479 242 152 86 414 48 66 25 38 101 100 193 85

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns

With public sewer		 31368 1084 563 1112 2295 6770 4917 3984 10702 7284 31368 14762 12893 3713 29148 2586 2220 1047 1127 6867 6244 10102 8155
No breakdowns in last 3 months 30680 1071 544 1057 2177 6528 4811 3948 10458 7105 30680 14395 12650 3635 28499 2519 2182 1021 1117 6754 6098 9849 7979
With breakdowns in last 3 months 688 13 19 55 118 242 106 36 243 179 688 367 243 78 649 68 39 26 10 113 145 253 176
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 244 3 10 0 27 70 38 19 87 64 244 113 96 35 228 33 15 14 2 39 44 97 63
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 283 6 6 15 45 101 31 16 107 61 283 158 101 25 264 20 19 13 4 42 71 86 84
2 times 61 4 0 13 11 20 19 2 18 18 61 39 14 8 57 4 4 0 4 9 15 23 14
3 times 43 0 0 6 19 22 8 0 14 21 43 35 8 0 43 0 0 0 0 12 8 18 6
4 times or more 57 0 2 20 16 28 10 0 17 15 57 23 24 10 57 10 0 0 0 11 8 28 9

With septic tank or cesspool		 2606 78 654 45 233 195 166 307 707 595 2606 94 1254 1258 491 41 2115 889 1217 467 464 1235 440
No breakdowns in last 3 months 2550 78 638 45 217 195 163 307 681 583 2550 94 1217 1240 477 41 2073 865 1199 462 457 1199 432
With breakdowns in last 3 months 56 0 17 0 16 0 3 0 26 11 56 0 38 19 14 0 42 23 19 5 7 37 8
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 20 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 12 5 20 0 15 5 5 0 15 10 5 2 5 7 6
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 21 0 5 0 5 0 0 0 5 4 21 0 9 12 7 0 14 2 12 2 2 14 3
2 times 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
3 times 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 times or more 14 0 9 0 7 0 0 0 9 2 14 0 11 2 0 0 14 11 2 0 0 14 0

Heating Problems

With heating equipment and
occupied last winter		 25563 631 856 997 1949 5473 3757 3937 3175 5932 25563 11284 10673 3606 22230 1763 3332 1439 1842 6278 5027 7953 6304
Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or
more last winter		 22043 590 693 473 1508 4546 3148 3639 2580 4953 22043 9550 9363 3130 19163 1543 2879 1247 1586 5207 4345 7005 5485
Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more
last winter@5		 3001 22 136 507 401 810 569 243 446 828 3001 1482 1115 404 2595 170 406 170 234 933 569 791 707
Equipment breakdowns 1103 10 37 425 117 339 210 86 137 303 1103 591 405 107 991 40 111 42 67 419 217 241 225
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours
or more		 51 0 4 0 3 8 9 7 4 22 51 23 24 4 49 2 2 0 2 17 12 15 7
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 443 10 26 22 60 104 63 39 61 119 443 208 175 61 371 17 72 28 44 137 102 123 81
2 times 201 0 2 10 48 66 39 11 22 37 201 115 69 17 183 6 18 4 11 68 45 42 47
3 times 96 0 0 96 0 42 17 11 15 20 96 61 30 5 91 2 5 2 2 58 13 14 10
4 times or more 298 0 5 298 0 112 81 18 35 103 298 177 100 21 283 13 15 7 8 128 46 45 79
Number of times not reported 14 0 0 0 6 6 0 0 0 3 14 7 7 0 14 0 0 0 0 11 0 2 0
Other causes 2011 13 101 151 311 496 390 169 319 562 2011 983 723 305 1708 130 302 128 174 562 374 570 505
Utility interruption 303 5 21 10 33 90 33 40 33 73 303 147 101 54 213 11 90 46 44 56 36 159 51
Inadequate heating capacity 621 5 14 50 136 179 132 39 88 191 621 328 213 79 566 44 54 20 35 192 117 149 162
Inadequate insulation 548 6 21 36 104 122 119 21 114 138 548 259 199 90 489 43 59 12 47 154 127 103 165
Cost of heating 378 0 28 20 39 59 64 24 69 104 378 148 155 75 319 41 59 25 34 78 61 73 165
Other 530 0 36 65 90 123 108 58 85 160 530 259 209 62 453 28 77 43 34 188 97 140 106
Not reported 30 0 0 4 0 5 15 5 0 12 30 16 11 2 25 0 5 2 2 9 0 12 9
Reason for discomfort not reported 39 0 0 2 0 17 9 3 6 13 39 22 17 0 37 0 2 2 0 26 9 2 2
Discomfort not reported 519 19 28 17 40 116 39 54 149 150 519 253 195 72 472 49 47 22 22 138 112 157 111

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers

With electrical wiring		 33989 1162 1218 1177 2528 6974 5083 4299 11409 7884 33989 14858 14149 4982 29639 2627 4351 1938 2355 7331 6708 11350 8600
No fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 29673 1050 1047 943 2055 6060 4522 3960 9959 6935 29673 12775 12493 4405 25904 2336 3769 1646 2070 6245 5733 9969 7726
With fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 3514 89 142 219 404 724 436 233 1206 710 3514 1694 1342 478 3026 243 488 251 235 879 839 1082 714
1 time 1669 54 70 70 159 305 252 128 624 323 1669 793 650 226 1452 123 217 114 103 400 385 490 395
2 times 715 16 16 48 71 166 75 60 226 140 715 368 251 97 619 38 96 36 58 213 167 224 111
3 times 347 8 27 34 42 84 33 15 112 74 347 160 138 48 282 21 64 37 27 54 100 126 66
4 times or more 771 11 30 67 132 164 73 29 240 171 771 369 297 105 662 60 108 64 45 207 184 241 139
Number of times not reported 13 0 0 0 1 5 3 1 3 1 13 4 7 2 11 0 2 0 2 6 4 0 3
Problem not reported or don't know 802 22 28 15 69 190 125 105 244 239 802 389 314 99 709 49 93 41 50 206 135 300 160
@5Other causes and equipment breakdowns may not add to total as both may be reported.

Go to American Housing Survey for the United States: 2001
Contact the American Housing Survey Branch by email or by phone at 301-763-3235 or 1-888-518-7365, or visit ask.census.gov for further information on American Housing Survey Data.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division
Last Revised: February 18, 2005