From the news reports and social media posts, you might think “tiny homes” are a big deal (pun intended).
But as of 2024, there were an estimated 10,000 tiny homes in the U.S.
Less than 0.01% of homes in the country are true tiny homes.
By comparison, there are nearly 7 million occupied “mobile homes” (manufactured small homes) or about 5% of all homes. The average “single wide” is near 1000 square feet and the average double wide is 1,600 to 1,800 square feet.
Some stories use a broad definition including small homes in the 600-900 square foot range – which are not tiny homes at all. Indeed, our own first home was 950 square feet and prior to 1960, that was a common average home size.
The conclusion is that the media has hyped the tiny home market – a market that truly is very tiny.
