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 4-6. Failures in Equipment--Renter 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		 33604 1018 1340 1038 2525 6811 5931 4277 11633 7902 33604 14599 14041 4965 29061 2643 4543 2154 2323 7169 6599 11446 8390

Water Supply Stoppage

With hot and cold piped water		 33485 1018 1320 919 2525 6790 5912 4254 11591 7828 33485 14552 14001 4932 28982 2629 4503 2134 2303 7147 6586 11390 8361
No stoppage in last 3 months 31437 968 1221 833 2261 6364 5553 4064 10898 7344 31437 13642 13142 4653 27209 2508 4228 2019 2145 6723 6254 10678 7783
With stoppage in last 3 months 1601 37 82 79 217 304 305 155 548 371 1601 701 675 224 1368 87 233 93 137 271 265 575 490
No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more 636 16 29 23 66 95 138 113 190 152 636 275 285 76 550 28 86 37 48 97 93 243 203
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 557 12 27 26 71 108 108 23 212 92 557 222 228 108 465 45 92 29 63 110 94 179 175
2 times 200 6 17 5 35 50 33 6 77 60 200 88 83 29 159 10 41 19 19 28 49 76 47
3 times 72 0 5 12 10 8 11 5 32 23 72 48 20 4 69 3 3 1 2 9 10 25 29
4 times or more 122 3 4 13 33 39 15 2 34 42 122 65 50 7 110 2 12 7 5 27 18 48 29
Number of times not reported 14 0 0 0 2 4 1 5 3 2 14 3 10 0 14 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 7
Stoppage not reported 447 12 17 7 48 121 54 35 144 113 447 208 184 54 405 34 42 22 20 153 67 137 89

Flush Toilet Breakdowns

With one or more flush toilets		 33512 1018 1340 947 2525 6795 5921 4259 11598 7847 33512 14542 14021 4949 28999 2643 4514 2143 2307 7153 6592 11420 8347
With at least one working toilet at all
times in last 3 months		 31493 985 1265 778 2116 6267 5542 4073 10790 7202 31493 13598 13258 4637 27176 2433 4317 2050 2204 6648 6283 10697 7865
None working some time in last 3 months 1415 20 33 91 346 372 284 119 617 460 1415 661 529 224 1288 150 127 52 74 286 229 521 379
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 627 7 13 24 74 141 124 70 300 191 627 284 239 104 572 68 55 18 37 146 104 199 178
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 457 8 9 20 87 132 72 34 191 152 457 200 188 69 406 42 51 25 26 78 83 170 126
2 times 132 6 3 8 34 37 37 3 69 39 132 76 32 24 129 24 2 2 0 19 21 59 33
3 times 43 0 0 3 40 17 11 6 14 8 43 32 11 0 43 0 0 0 0 13 6 18 5
4 times or more 141 0 9 35 106 37 35 1 37 55 141 65 53 23 123 11 18 7 12 28 15 64 34
Number of times not reported 15 0 0 0 5 7 5 5 5 15 15 5 6 5 15 5 0 0 0 3 0 9 3
Breakdowns not reported 605 12 41 78 63 157 96 67 191 186 605 282 234 89 535 60 70 41 29 219 80 203 103

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns

With public sewer		 30996 958 676 930 2314 6620 5770 3937 10948 7311 30996 14510 12756 3730 28650 2599 2346 1168 1131 6710 6125 10153 8009
No breakdowns in last 3 months 30402 949 653 879 2209 6451 5653 3902 10744 7103 30402 14183 12574 3645 28082 2528 2320 1156 1117 6629 5988 9913 7872
With breakdowns in last 3 months 593 10 23 51 105 169 117 35 203 208 593 327 182 85 567 71 26 12 13 80 136 239 137
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 180 2 6 11 12 43 46 19 45 58 180 107 54 19 173 17 7 5 2 34 29 67 50
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 247 4 11 19 40 71 29 6 113 85 247 118 93 36 232 26 15 5 10 20 79 84 64
2 times 65 0 3 3 10 26 16 6 17 25 65 42 13 11 63 11 3 3 0 6 13 38 8
3 times 28 3 4 5 11 7 6 0 14 14 28 21 6 2 27 0 2 0 2 3 4 15 7
4 times or more 73 0 0 13 33 22 20 4 15 27 73 40 16 17 73 17 0 0 0 17 12 35 8

With septic tank or cesspool		 2568 60 664 67 212 184 158 326 670 557 2568 72 1274 1222 392 44 2176 978 1179 455 471 1276 365
No breakdowns in last 3 months 2503 60 650 67 196 181 158 319 654 547 2503 72 1241 1190 377 41 2126 957 1149 444 458 1243 358
With breakdowns in last 3 months 65 0 15 1 16 3 0 6 16 10 65 0 32 32 14 3 50 21 30 11 13 33 7
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 26 0 5 0 5 0 0 3 12 7 26 0 20 6 9 0 17 11 6 3 1 19 3
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 30 0 5 0 5 3 0 4 0 2 30 0 10 20 0 0 30 10 20 7 11 7 4
2 times 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 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 6 0 4 1 3 0 0 0 4 0 6 0 2 3 2 0 3 0 3 2 1 3 0

Heating Problems

With heating equipment and
occupied last winter		 27066 664 1046 915 1992 5601 4733 4003 5286 6214 27066 11883 11186 3998 23326 2033 3741 1725 1965 6328 5283 8886 6569
Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or
more last winter		 23619 619 844 522 1546 4721 4094 3681 4536 5269 23619 10204 9904 3511 20344 1788 3274 1507 1724 5298 4659 7841 5821
Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more
last winter@5		 2939 34 170 387 393 741 547 271 607 818 2939 1451 1078 410 2510 187 429 198 224 865 556 880 637
Equipment breakdowns 986 7 34 329 95 272 241 81 188 254 986 554 329 103 896 55 90 39 48 382 172 230 202
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours
or more		 60 0 0 0 8 13 19 12 13 32 60 37 21 2 58 0 2 0 2 10 15 12 24
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 437 5 23 9 51 109 87 45 88 103 437 203 169 65 374 30 64 28 35 151 103 125 59
2 times 151 2 5 5 34 46 36 9 26 39 151 90 45 15 140 12 11 7 3 70 21 30 30
3 times 92 0 4 92 0 30 20 7 14 19 92 60 23 9 84 4 8 0 5 51 16 22 3
4 times or more 220 0 3 220 0 66 71 6 39 58 220 148 61 11 214 9 6 3 2 92 19 33 76
Number of times not reported 23 0 0 2 2 5 8 2 4 4 23 13 10 0 23 0 0 0 0 8 0 5 10
Other causes 2023 27 140 101 302 459 323 195 456 586 2023 926 778 319 1673 134 350 161 185 492 400 674 459
Utility interruption 475 13 62 10 37 112 42 40 83 120 475 178 215 82 331 24 144 82 58 73 60 309 33
Inadequate heating capacity 552 5 19 40 97 139 111 62 126 198 552 291 189 72 495 30 57 15 42 175 106 143 129
Inadequate insulation 506 6 39 40 111 137 83 27 142 165 506 245 177 84 419 41 87 44 43 131 119 137 119
Cost of heating 261 0 27 5 52 35 60 15 88 67 261 88 122 51 225 27 36 11 25 49 53 49 110
Other 523 8 31 32 62 90 91 64 87 134 523 254 168 101 446 44 76 19 57 153 115 121 134
Not reported 30 0 0 3 5 9 6 8 2 11 30 17 11 2 28 2 2 2 0 16 3 0 11
Reason for discomfort not reported 46 0 0 0 10 25 16 3 8 9 46 31 11 3 46 3 0 0 0 26 12 5 2
Discomfort not reported 509 10 32 6 53 139 92 51 144 127 509 228 205 76 472 59 37 20 17 164 68 165 111

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers

With electrical wiring		 33575 1018 1338 1024 2525 6811 5921 4267 11621 7891 33575 14588 14022 4965 29042 2643 4533 2144 2323 7164 6593 11431 8387
No fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 29791 960 1158 838 2059 6028 5362 3980 10332 7005 29791 12876 12528 4386 25793 2338 3998 1887 2049 6271 5832 10191 7497
With fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 2878 43 134 161 390 555 392 187 1019 635 2878 1276 1110 492 2433 256 446 207 236 629 627 925 698
1 time 1362 25 45 63 160 261 189 111 487 241 1362 639 531 193 1171 107 191 103 86 307 323 432 300
2 times 667 8 31 28 86 140 81 48 245 165 667 303 246 118 546 53 121 56 65 140 151 199 177
3 times 213 2 7 11 24 47 32 8 57 49 213 96 81 35 183 16 29 10 20 30 41 83 59
4 times or more 617 8 50 58 112 96 87 17 223 173 617 225 250 143 514 77 104 38 66 144 113 202 159
Number of times not reported 19 0 0 0 8 12 3 2 8 8 19 12 3 4 19 4 0 0 0 7 0 9 2
Problem not reported or don't know 906 15 46 25 76 228 166 100 270 250 906 436 383 86 816 49 89 50 38 264 134 315 192
@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

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division
Last Revised: May 27, 2005