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




American Housing Survey for the United States: 2003


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American Housing Survey 2003
Table 3-6. Failures in Equipment--Owner Occupied Units
Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with the 2000 Census.

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 alone 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		 72238 4673 5514 932 1795 6193 5106 17350 5609 6058 72238 16701 39724 15813 49307 4844 22931 11702 10969 12964 17889 26699 14686

Water Supply Stoppage

With hot and cold piped water		 72132 4669 5497 826 1795 6169 5100 17312 5602 6014 72132 16688 39674 15770 49275 4841 22858 11669 10929 12944 17861 26651 14677
No stoppage in last 3 months 69257 4505 5019 775 1662 5952 4935 16722 5353 5694 69257 16155 38125 14976 47623 4679 21634 11103 10298 12435 17143 25578 14101
With stoppage in last 3 months 2013 132 418 42 74 122 124 363 179 183 2013 329 1085 599 1025 86 988 451 513 329 529 724 432
No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more 688 45 119 16 18 33 51 184 45 54 688 142 369 177 399 36 289 136 141 106 147 268 166
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 958 56 199 13 38 50 45 121 89 76 958 142 524 291 467 37 491 225 254 156 281 335 185
2 times 172 17 49 2 4 13 18 26 28 16 172 27 86 59 77 0 94 35 59 35 42 51 43
3 times 55 3 17 0 3 10 5 4 3 6 55 6 27 22 24 2 31 12 19 7 23 18 6
4 times or more 124 11 28 10 9 14 2 22 13 28 124 13 71 39 54 8 70 38 32 22 29 44 29
Number of times not reported 18 0 6 0 0 1 3 6 1 4 18 0 7 10 5 2 13 5 8 2 7 6 3
Stoppage not reported 863 32 60 9 59 96 41 227 70 137 863 204 464 195 626 77 236 115 118 180 190 349 143

Flush Toilet Breakdowns

With one or more flush toilets		 72191 4673 5514 885 1795 6185 5106 17334 5607 6036 72191 16701 39708 15782 49305 4844 22886 11688 10938 12964 17876 26667 14683
With at least one working toilet at all
times in last 3 months		 70332 4595 5387 771 1616 5985 4931 16922 5410 5761 70332 16203 38785 15343 47968 4675 22364 11446 10668 12608 17454 25963 14306
None working some time in last 3 months 860 38 53 32 118 83 118 139 121 99 860 248 407 206 627 84 233 105 122 135 198 315 212
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 334 11 13 14 28 30 47 60 46 29 334 105 163 66 257 32 77 43 34 43 53 128 110
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 400 17 34 12 29 36 52 58 60 52 400 99 185 116 274 46 126 49 70 74 106 140 80
2 times 71 3 2 3 11 10 7 10 7 9 71 26 32 14 53 3 18 8 11 15 21 18 17
3 times 10 0 0 3 8 4 2 0 0 0 10 5 4 2 8 0 2 0 2 0 8 2 0
4 times or more 42 7 3 0 42 3 9 9 7 9 42 13 24 5 34 3 8 5 2 3 10 24 5
Number of times not reported 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 0
Breakdowns not reported 999 39 75 82 61 117 57 272 77 176 999 251 516 233 710 84 289 137 148 222 224 389 165

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns

With public sewer		 53069 3279 2432 705 1233 5243 4548 12718 4435 4135 53069 16068 29179 7821 45488 4495 7581 4151 3327 9279 13613 17800 12377
No breakdowns in last 3 months 52406 3268 2385 684 1191 5160 4449 12580 4376 4080 52406 15830 28868 7707 44921 4422 7484 4098 3285 9181 13415 17606 12203
With breakdowns in last 3 months 663 11 48 21 41 82 99 139 59 55 663 238 311 114 566 73 97 53 41 98 198 194 174
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 257 2 16 8 8 36 37 60 17 19 257 99 123 35 228 25 29 19 10 52 64 89 52
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 302 6 29 8 15 30 36 65 30 19 302 96 153 52 252 30 50 26 22 37 102 76 87
2 times 42 2 3 2 8 3 10 7 5 3 42 17 14 11 37 9 5 2 2 4 7 14 16
3 times 17 0 0 0 3 0 5 0 3 5 17 8 3 6 11 0 6 0 6 0 8 3 6
4 times or more 47 0 0 3 7 13 11 6 4 8 47 17 18 11 39 9 8 6 2 4 17 12 14

With septic tank or cesspool		 19129 1394 3080 189 562 948 559 4616 1170 1907 19129 633 10534 7962 3817 349 15312 7543 7613 3683 4263 8873 2310
No breakdowns in last 3 months 18855 1386 3027 189 541 936 549 4558 1155 1854 18855 625 10377 7853 3755 344 15100 7435 7509 3626 4212 8739 2277
With breakdowns in last 3 months 274 8 53 0 21 13 10 59 15 53 274 8 157 109 62 5 212 108 103 57 51 134 32
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 77 3 21 0 4 3 0 18 0 17 77 0 57 20 19 0 58 38 20 19 14 26 18
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 171 5 26 0 13 9 10 36 12 33 171 8 86 78 40 5 131 58 72 31 32 96 12
2 times 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 5 9 0 0 14 5 9 5 3 7 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 12 0 5 0 5 0 0 5 2 3 12 0 10 2 3 0 9 7 2 3 2 5 2

Heating Problems

With heating equipment and
occupied last winter		 69583 4092 5319 901 1705 5996 4840 17121 3212 5858 69583 16070 38182 15331 47379 4685 22204 11306 10646 12652 17341 25676 13914
Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or
more last winter		 64352 3895 4843 641 1434 5404 4451 16101 2906 5210 64352 14776 35406 14170 43988 4368 20365 10324 9802 11604 16142 23557 13050
Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more
last winter@5		 4327 165 423 244 218 492 351 776 243 509 4327 1078 2282 967 2720 240 1607 866 727 864 988 1779 696
Equipment breakdowns 1186 34 103 196 57 163 127 185 74 133 1186 333 640 213 838 65 348 200 148 295 320 353 218
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours
or more		 90 0 4 0 2 7 10 20 6 15 90 26 45 19 65 6 25 12 13 32 18 32 9
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 730 24 50 8 38 81 77 114 46 74 730 217 388 124 533 47 196 119 77 173 211 204 142
2 times 180 6 23 5 17 33 16 28 16 8 180 39 114 27 113 3 67 43 24 55 49 43 32
3 times 48 2 4 48 0 11 4 8 0 5 48 10 27 11 30 5 18 12 6 19 14 9 6
4 times or more 135 2 23 135 0 32 18 13 6 30 135 39 64 32 94 5 42 14 28 16 28 65 26
Number of times not reported 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 3 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Other causes 3215 131 323 71 164 339 231 594 174 382 3215 776 1673 766 1934 179 1280 680 587 591 678 1451 494
Utility interruption 1642 75 175 13 41 152 44 352 58 146 1642 349 919 374 877 72 765 458 302 295 272 954 121
Inadequate heating capacity 337 13 39 16 41 40 56 59 27 64 337 90 146 102 194 18 144 60 84 64 87 117 69
Inadequate insulation 354 8 49 20 34 52 37 53 38 60 354 92 159 104 233 25 121 40 79 69 123 101 60
Cost of heating 377 11 36 10 35 38 49 56 20 76 377 112 170 95 266 24 111 40 71 75 101 89 111
Other 729 27 48 26 45 84 79 110 56 77 729 171 371 186 475 51 254 112 136 147 160 252 169
Not reported 26 0 0 0 2 4 0 3 0 2 26 11 13 2 16 0 10 7 2 6 10 6 4
Reason for discomfort not reported 8 0 2 0 2 2 0 2 0 2 8 4 2 2 6 0 2 0 2 0 1 4 3
Discomfort not reported 904 32 54 16 53 100 37 244 62 139 904 216 495 193 672 77 232 115 117 184 212 340 169

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers

With electrical wiring		 72193 4664 5511 896 1793 6190 5106 17342 5600 6042 72193 16699 39702 15792 49296 4844 22897 11689 10948 12961 17870 26684 14678
No fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 64014 4200 4948 796 1460 5484 4620 15944 4818 5379 64014 14674 35210 14130 43581 4295 20433 10379 9835 11383 15753 23861 13016
With fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 6661 400 458 80 258 559 423 1008 681 441 6661 1624 3626 1411 4609 446 2052 1052 965 1229 1770 2274 1388
1 time 3705 243 244 41 104 294 233 650 339 217 3705 866 2078 761 2559 270 1145 634 491 648 1025 1269 762
2 times 1338 59 69 9 60 142 77 170 143 79 1338 344 736 258 933 64 405 208 194 281 363 418 275
3 times 681 31 46 14 18 46 35 74 70 47 681 193 344 144 472 38 210 93 106 126 144 265 146
4 times or more 886 67 97 16 73 66 76 100 125 86 886 210 433 243 602 72 284 113 172 163 226 299 198
Number of times not reported 51 0 2 0 3 10 2 14 5 12 51 12 34 5 43 2 8 6 2 11 11 23 6
Problem not reported or don't know 1519 64 105 19 76 148 64 390 101 222 1519 401 867 251 1106 103 412 258 148 349 347 548 274
@5Other causes and equipment breakdowns may not add to total as both may be reported.


Go to American Housing Survey for the United States: 2003

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: May 27, 2005