About this tool
This page shows how many starter homes America has lost since 2015, where new starter homes are still being built, and how allowing smaller lots could add more. It also tracks which states have passed or proposed smaller-lot laws and what the public thinks of the idea. It matters because it ties rising home prices to a specific reform lawmakers can act on.
- Shows
- The net loss of starter homes from 2015 to 2024 (14.2 million lost versus 1.4 million built), starter homes built by state, the estimated 2.4 million starter homes that capping minimum lot sizes at 1,000 square feet in new neighborhoods could have added, the status of state smaller-lot bills, and national survey results on support for starter homes and smaller lots.
- Places
- Nation, States
- Years
- 2015 to 2024 for starter homes built and lost; home values as of December 2025; state bill status as of October 19, 2026; page updated October 23, 2026
Questions it answers
- How many starter homes has America lost since 2015?
- Which states build the most starter homes, and which build the fewest per household?
- How many more starter homes could smaller minimum lot sizes have added?
- Which states have passed or proposed laws to allow smaller lots?
- Do Americans support smaller lots to make starter homes possible?
Limits
- A starter home is a single-family home valued at or below 4 times its county's median household income.
- Some figures are estimates, and about 10% of the homes that existed in 2014 are probability-based rather than observed.
- The loss figure leaves out about 3% of 2014 homes because their state has no 2014 home values.
- The 2.4 million estimate covers new neighborhoods only and assumes no local rule requires a lot larger than 1,000 square feet.
- Home values are December 2025 estimates, and incomes come from the Census Bureau's ACS 2020-2024 5-year survey.
- The state map covers state-level counts; looking up a metro, county or city is done through linked tools.
- Survey support depends on how the reform is described, and support in a survey does not by itself pass a law.