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 7-6. Failures in Equipment--Occupied Units With Elderly Householder
Numbers in thousands. Weighting consistent with the 2000 Census.

Housing unit characteristics
Tenure
Physical problems
Household characteristics
In MSAs
Urban
Rural
Regions
Total
occupied
units		 Owner Renter New con-
struction
4 years		 Manu-
factured/
mobile
homes		 Severe Moderate Black alone Hispanic 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		 21627 17350 4277 672 1487 386 738 2045 1221 991 3853 21627 5853 10455 5318 15349 1872 6278 2778 3446 4617 5188 7678 4144

Water Supply Stoppage

With hot and cold piped water		 21566 17312 4254 668 1481 325 738 2027 1217 990 3823 21566 5850 10423 5293 15334 1870 6232 2755 3423 4612 5175 7639 4139
No stoppage in last 3 months 20786 16722 4064 627 1383 311 693 1976 1169 935 3702 20786 5674 10024 5088 14833 1815 5953 2626 3272 4482 5027 7298 3978
With stoppage in last 3 months 518 363 155 29 79 9 27 24 39 42 68 518 104 278 136 315 24 204 92 112 73 101 216 128
No stoppage lasting 6 hours or more 298 184 113 16 24 7 12 10 30 26 49 298 75 148 75 198 14 100 39 61 47 42 135 73
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 144 121 23 9 31 2 8 7 4 8 9 144 23 79 42 75 10 69 37 32 18 37 54 34
2 times 32 26 6 2 13 0 0 0 2 4 2 32 2 19 11 19 0 14 2 11 2 11 8 11
3 times 9 4 5 0 3 0 4 4 3 0 1 9 2 7 0 7 0 3 3 0 0 4 0 5
4 times or more 24 22 2 2 5 0 3 0 0 3 5 24 1 19 4 11 0 13 8 4 3 6 12 3
Number of times not reported 11 6 5 0 2 0 2 3 0 0 2 11 1 7 4 5 0 6 2 4 3 0 6 2
Stoppage not reported 262 227 35 13 20 5 18 27 9 14 54 262 72 121 69 187 30 76 37 39 57 47 126 33

Flush Toilet Breakdowns

With one or more flush toilets		 21593 17334 4259 672 1487 352 738 2037 1219 990 3835 21593 5853 10441 5299 15348 1872 6245 2764 3427 4617 5187 7646 4143
With at least one working toilet at all
times in last 3 months		 20996 16922 4073 652 1449 300 681 1955 1169 953 3671 20996 5663 10183 5149 14905 1812 6090 2698 3338 4456 5087 7414 4040
None working some time in last 3 months 258 139 119 4 13 6 39 27 38 18 76 258 80 117 61 197 23 62 23 39 63 40 91 64
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 129 60 70 1 2 6 8 6 18 16 30 129 52 50 27 99 7 30 10 20 32 16 45 36
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 92 58 34 3 5 0 11 11 16 2 30 92 10 52 29 68 13 24 7 17 24 20 22 25
2 times 14 10 3 0 2 0 1 7 0 0 7 14 6 7 0 11 0 2 2 0 6 1 4 2
3 times 6 0 6 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 1 6 5 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
4 times or more 10 9 1 0 3 0 10 0 4 0 5 10 4 7 0 7 0 3 3 0 0 3 7 1
Number of times not reported 7 2 5 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 5 7 2 0 5 5 2 2 0 2 0 0 7 0
Breakdowns not reported 339 272 67 16 26 46 18 55 12 19 88 339 111 140 88 246 38 93 43 50 98 61 142 39

Sewage Disposal Breakdowns

With public sewer		 16655 12718 3937 494 792 298 543 1748 1127 867 2943 16655 5698 8002 2956 14465 1777 2191 995 1179 3709 4160 5303 3484
No breakdowns in last 3 months 16482 12580 3902 494 784 295 531 1720 1111 862 2915 16482 5637 7925 2920 14318 1754 2164 981 1166 3686 4112 5236 3449
With breakdowns in last 3 months 173 139 35 0 8 3 11 28 16 5 28 173 61 77 36 147 23 26 14 12 23 48 67 35
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 79 60 19 0 3 3 2 14 9 2 13 79 33 30 16 67 10 12 6 6 12 21 27 19
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 71 65 6 0 5 0 4 7 4 3 10 71 16 39 16 59 9 12 5 7 10 26 19 16
2 times 12 7 6 0 0 0 3 1 3 0 0 12 7 6 0 10 0 2 2 0 1 1 10 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 0
4 times or more 11 6 4 0 0 0 2 6 0 0 4 11 4 2 4 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 11 0

With septic tank or cesspool		 4942 4616 326 178 695 61 196 292 92 124 892 4942 156 2446 2341 884 95 4058 1774 2246 908 1028 2347 659
No breakdowns in last 3 months 4877 4558 319 178 679 61 194 287 92 122 875 4877 156 2413 2308 877 95 4000 1749 2213 897 1015 2323 642
With breakdowns in last 3 months 65 59 6 0 16 0 2 5 0 2 18 65 0 32 33 7 0 58 25 33 11 14 24 16
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours or more 20 18 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 6 20 0 9 12 0 0 20 9 12 5 5 8 2
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 40 36 4 0 14 0 0 2 0 0 12 40 0 21 19 4 0 36 17 19 6 9 13 12
2 times 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 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 0
4 times or more 5 5 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 0 5 0 2 2 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 2

Heating Problems

With heating equipment and
occupied last winter		 21124 17121 4003 594 1439 377 718 1990 1161 585 3736 21124 5712 10199 5213 14945 1816 6179 2728 3397 4556 5081 7495 3991
Not uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or
more last winter		 19782 16101 3681 566 1339 316 629 1812 1074 536 3437 19782 5320 9594 4868 14030 1698 5752 2530 3169 4257 4781 6945 3800
Uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more
last winter@5		 1047 776 271 16 84 54 72 146 78 31 230 1047 306 477 265 701 81 346 161 183 233 236 421 157
Equipment breakdowns 265 185 81 2 17 41 22 47 21 9 57 265 96 131 39 207 12 59 32 27 84 78 59 44
No breakdowns lasting 6 hours
or more		 32 20 12 0 3 0 2 6 5 0 12 32 14 19 0 27 0 6 6 0 12 2 15 4
1 time lasting 6 hours or more 158 114 45 2 11 5 14 15 9 4 26 158 49 81 28 117 9 42 24 18 55 52 34 18
2 times 37 28 9 0 0 2 3 11 4 3 9 37 16 17 4 30 0 7 3 4 6 13 7 12
3 times 15 8 7 0 0 15 0 8 0 0 4 15 7 3 4 13 2 2 0 2 7 6 2 0
4 times or more 19 13 6 0 2 19 0 7 2 2 2 19 8 8 2 16 0 2 0 2 5 5 2 5
Number of times not reported 4 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 4 1 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
Other causes 789 594 195 14 67 15 53 102 54 21 177 789 215 348 226 502 69 287 129 156 148 166 362 114
Utility interruption 392 352 40 6 41 1 22 32 14 2 75 392 84 202 106 215 34 177 105 72 48 66 245 33
Inadequate heating capacity 121 59 62 0 6 5 11 22 24 3 47 121 34 53 35 89 7 33 4 28 32 27 30 32
Inadequate insulation 79 53 27 3 8 5 11 19 14 8 22 79 29 20 30 50 9 29 6 21 14 25 28 12
Cost of heating 71 56 15 0 9 5 5 7 11 2 22 71 8 38 24 48 7 22 5 17 14 23 16 18
Other 173 110 64 8 8 4 6 30 9 8 28 173 64 61 48 123 15 50 17 33 52 33 59 30
Not reported 11 3 8 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 11 8 1 2 9 0 2 0 2 5 2 2 2
Reason for discomfort not reported 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 5 3 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0
Discomfort not reported 295 244 51 11 16 7 17 31 9 18 69 295 86 128 81 213 36 81 37 45 66 65 129 34

Electric Fuses and Circuit Breakers

With electrical wiring		 21609 17342 4267 666 1484 372 738 2042 1221 991 3845 21609 5851 10439 5318 15345 1872 6264 2764 3446 4614 5186 7664 4144
No fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 19925 15944 3980 601 1343 337 671 1885 1133 902 3609 19925 5371 9660 4894 14151 1708 5774 2534 3185 4254 4766 7052 3853
With fuses or breakers blown in last
3 months		 1195 1008 187 50 100 27 42 115 68 66 134 1195 323 538 334 826 120 369 155 214 236 319 412 228
1 time 761 650 111 39 51 17 20 72 41 25 88 761 208 349 205 528 84 233 111 121 142 227 261 131
2 times 218 170 48 8 14 2 6 23 16 17 25 218 65 97 56 150 15 68 28 40 60 48 60 50
3 times 82 74 8 1 12 4 3 5 2 2 9 82 18 37 27 65 13 17 2 15 11 12 39 20
4 times or more 117 100 17 2 23 4 13 10 9 23 10 117 27 46 43 73 8 44 9 35 24 29 42 22
Number of times not reported 17 14 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 2 17 5 9 2 10 0 7 5 2 0 3 9 4
Problem not reported or don't know 489 390 100 15 41 8 25 42 19 23 102 489 157 241 91 368 44 122 75 47 124 101 200 64
@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